Performance issues with Icewind Dale

[Rafael Martins]

I'm having the same lag problems, and I can assure you with 100% certainty that the cause is the Icewind Dale module. This is because I am currently running 5 campaigns on the fantasy grounds, I have 30 players, since the beginning of the year, I had absolutely no performance problems with the fantasy grounds. My oldest campaign, Tomb of Anihilation, has a gigantic folder, full of extra content that has already been added as maps and heavy images, and even so I have no performance problems. All of my campaigns run with more than 10 extensions working at the same time, and I’ve never experienced slowness. My computer is high performance, I work with game development and I use 3D modeling software and graphic editors that demand a lot. That said, yesterday I bought the Icewind Dale - Rime of the Frostmaiden module on steam, opened a new campaign for it, and immediately noticed performance problems and slowness, dice with lag and so on. My other campaigns continue to perform normally, the problem happens only with the Icewind Dale campaign.

[Trenloe]

Moved this post to a brand new thread so that this specific issue can be addressed, and not get confused with 11 pages of a thread that's over 2 years old.

[Zacchaeus]

Both modules that you mention were created the same way so there shouldn't be any difference at least in the structure. Can you say if you are talking about Unity or Classic; does the lag happen as soon as you load the module or is something else happening such as when opening a map; if so which map. A bit more information would be useful here on exactly when the lag happens.

[Rafael Martins]

Ok, well, I'm using Fantasy Grounds Classic, and I'm not running on steam. I've been working with it for about ten years now, before FG was even available on steam, so I never really use steam. Yesterday I bought ID-RotF on steam, and once installed, I noticed lag issues as soon as the campaign is opened. I thought it was just a problem with this module, but I am checking my other campaigns, they are also having this problem now! Did steam change any settings on my system? I already deleted some old unused campaigns to free up more space, it didn't help.

[Rafael Martins]

I also disabled anti-aliasing and a lot of other features for FG in my NVIDIA options, but the problem persists.

[Rafael Martins]

I have an i5-4460 CPU with 16GB RAM and FG is using 2.5 GB, my system is using 40% of total memory and 8% of CPU, GPU is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 - but again, this never had happen before, only after I installed Icewind Dale

GPU usage is at 11%, but when I grab de dice it goes to 44%, when release de die it goes back to 11%

[Zacchaeus]

Steam isn't the issue - unless you are using the Steam overlay - since the module comes from Smiteworks no matter where you buy it. 2.5Gb is getting close to the limit for a 32 bit application so that suggests you have a lot of other stuff loaded as well as the module. Try in a new campaign with only the Icewindale module and no extensions or themes loaded.

[Rafael Martins]

Didn't work, same issue. I imagined that extensions were not the problem, since my campaigns were running normally with all extensions working, until yesterday.

[Zacchaeus]

I'm at a bit of a loss then. The module as a whole is bigger than ToA is but that shouldn't cause any issues in and of itself. I had a look at the images and none of them are over the recommended limits for FGC - in fact most of them are considerably smaller that a lot of the ToA maps. I can't reproduce any dice lag - or any other lag that I can see - even with a bunch of other modules open. Rolling dice causes GPU usage to go up to about 10 or 11% so I'm not seeing the spikes that you reported above. There's no reason that I can think of that this module on it's own would cause any kind of issues. And if you experience dice lag I''d imagine it would be a general thing rather than a specific thing - there have been some reports of dice lag on some newer laptops with integrated graphics or in high end machines where the graphics cards don't handle DX9 all that well.

Maybe someone else has some insight, but I can't diagnose anything from the given details.

[Trenloe]

I thought it was just a problem with this module, but I am checking my other campaigns, they are also having this problem now! Did steam change any settings on my system? I already deleted some old unused campaigns to free up more space, it didn't help.
Just running an update won't have changed any system settings. It may have installed a new FantasyGrounds.exe application file, which your system (especially your graphics card/drivers) may be handling differently.

With FG showing the lag you've noticed, open the Windows Task Manager and see what GPU FantasyGrounds.exe is using, and then check that GPU on the "Performance" tab. Maybe provide some screenshots showing the performance tab and the Processes tab when things are lagging.

[Rafael Martins]

As I said, my GPU usage goes from 11% to 50% when I click the dice. Fantasy Grounds is using around 40% when I click the dice, before that, uses nothing at all.

[Trenloe]

If you have a second GPU, try forcing FantasyGrounds.exe to use that.

Try updating the graphics card drivers, or rolling them back to an earlier version.

Try minimizing all 3D settings for FantasyGrounds.exe in your graphics card advanced settings.

[Rafael Martins]

I appreciate the help, but I believe the problem is not with my system. I've already disabled all options on my GPU, as I said earlier. I don't have another GPU. All drivers are up to date. I understand that you are trying to help me, checking the reasons why my system would be operating with a need for memory or processing capacity, but see, Fantasy Grounds does not demand (or should not) as much of the system as, for example, programs that I use for game development and 3d graphics, like Unreal Engine, Blender, etc. - all working perfectly, with no lag or performance issues. Fantasy Grounds worked perfectly until yesterday, before I installed Icewind Dale. If I had a problem with my system, regarding low performance, shouldn't this problem have been happening before? Why did this problem only appear after I installed the new module, if I didn't change any settings on my system after installing it, and before that everything was fine? Anyway, I thank you again for trying to solve the problem, but I believe it has nothing to do with the lack of performance in my system.

[Trenloe]

I don't think this is performance related directly - it will be software/OS related. As the forums aren't inundated with lots of people having the same issue, it's a good guess that *something* has changed on your setup and this is not directly caused by installing a new module. Even if you you didn't change anything specifically within your system, settings and software are changing all the time on a Windows computer.

Fantasy Grounds classic uses an old version of Windows DirectX for it's graphics. Recent graphics drivers can sometimes not process this correctly - i.e. if you have higher performance from a more recent graphics card, this could cause issues with Fantasy Grounds. Hence the suggestions I made in post #12.

[Rafael Martins]

Unfortunately, I don't have another GPU, my card driver is up to date, and I can't revert the drivers to an older version, since I need them updated to work. I don't understand how that can be, because until Sunday I was working with everything updated, direct X12 in the latest version, and Fantasy Grounds ran smoothly. I also minimized all 3D settings for Fantasy Grounds in my graphics card advanced settings. Anyway, thank you very much for your help. I'm using the program anyway, it's disheartening, but at least everything else is working normally, with the exception of 3d dice. My players are not experiencing this problem, which is great. I'm considering updating to the new Unity version, I would like to know, the modules I purchased are still valid, or will I have to buy them again? And the extensions I have, would they also work, or would I lose functions due to lack of compatibility?

[Trenloe]

I would like to know, the modules I purchased are still valid, or will I have to buy them again? And the extensions I have, would they also work, or would I lose functions due to lack of compatibility?
Official modules and extensions should migrate over OK and you don't need to re-purchase them. Some third party/community creations may need updating for Unity.

[Rafael Martins]

Cool, tank you again

[Nylanfs]

Unless you wanted to throw money at the developers... :D

[Rafael Martins]

So I have to buy "Fantasy Grounds Unity" and "Fantasy Grounds Unity - Ultimate License Upgrade", correct? I see there's a bundle called "Buy Upgrade from FG Classic to FG Unity (Ultimate license)", but it seems to include Fantasy Grounds and Fantasy Grounds Ultimate Upgrade, witch I don't need to buy again since I already have, correct? I'm confused

Also can I have both programs at the same time on my computer, to choose witch one I will use, or once I buy the Unity upgrade I will lose the Classic version?

[Sulimo]

So I have to buy "Fantasy Grounds Unity" and "Fantasy Grounds Unity - Ultimate License Upgrade", correct? I see there's a bundle called "Buy Upgrade from FG Classic to FG Unity (Ultimate license)", but it seems to include Fantasy Grounds and Fantasy Grounds Ultimate Upgrade, witch I don't need to buy again since I already have, correct? I'm confused

I believe this is because you are buying on Steam. I have read previously (sorry don't have the link atm) that for Steam if you purchase the Classic/Unity Upgrade and already have Classic it will be removed from your cart at checkout. You'll probably want to wait for someone from Smiteworks to weigh in though (I did not purchase via Steam, so I cannot confirm).



Also can I have both programs at the same time on my computer, to choose witch one I will use, or once I buy the Unity upgrade I will lose the Classic version?

Yes you can have both installed at the same time. The key is to make sure they are not installed to the same directory (FGC installs to \Program Files (x86) while FGU installs to \Program Files by default), and keep the data directories separate. I think they do this by default, but I have moved the directories for both applications on my computer and I am not 100% certain where the data directories are any more (I think they are %appdata%\roaming\fantasy grounds for FGC and %appdata%\roaming\smitworks\fantasy grounds for FGU).

Here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?62479-Running-Classic-and-Unity-on-the-Same-Computer&p=547089&viewfull=1#post547089) is a good post on running FGC and FGU on the same computer and how to migrate your campaigns from FGC to FGU.

[Rafael Martins]

Awesome! Thank you very much!