FGC Lag on Win10 Laptop (running 5e ruleset)

[BrettM]

I've searched the forum, and found a few suggestions, re: closing modules not required (I've only done this on my side (DM), not player side), and although it dropped the memory usage for that session from ~900K to ~300K, it didn't remove the lag, described below, and the next session I'm back up to ~600K, if that is any indicator.

The lag is typing (FGC only - other apps open at the same time seem to have no lag), click-and-drag -- whether dragging a window, a pointer, etc., and sometime opening "windows" (Notes; Tables; etc. - I can't remember the FGC name).

This started happening in the last month, when I switched FGC from my older desktop to my new laptop, as well as running the laptop through dual monitors (same ones as the desktop), so obviously a possibility. Anything I should be checking (computer RAM; FGC settings; etc.) to determine the issue? My thanks!

Brett.

[Moon Wizard]

I haven't heard of anything specifically like that before.

Some things to look at:
* Perhaps you could try adjusting your graphics card settings in your video card control panel to turn off capabilities to see if that helps? (anti-aliasing, shadows, etc.)
* How large is your campaign data file (db.xml) in your FG campaign folder?
* How many files are in your FG campaign folder under the images subfolder? (and how big?)
* How many files are in your FG data folder under the tokens subfolder? (and how big?)

Regards,
JPG

[BrettM]

Thanks JPG. I’ll look into those and report back. My thanks!

Brett.

[BrettM]

I haven't heard of anything specifically like that before.

Some things to look at:
1) Perhaps you could try adjusting your graphics card settings in your video card control panel to turn off capabilities to see if that helps? (anti-aliasing, shadows, etc.)
2) How large is your campaign data file (db.xml) in your FG campaign folder?
3) How many files are in your FG campaign folder under the images subfolder? (and how big?)
4) How many files are in your FG data folder under the tokens subfolder? (and how big?)

Regards,
JPG

Moon Wizard:

1) will look at / adjust later;
2) 3.77MB
3) 63 files - 41.4 MB (I didn't think this mattered, but only mattered what was open in FGC. I'm guessing FGC opens/caches a bunch of stuff in the background?)
4) Only two folders under the FG\tokens folder - host & shared; host is 2 items @ 18.3 KB total; shared is 8 items @ 740 KB total (surprised here - there are other PC tokens in game) - is FG\tokens the subfolder to which you're referring?

My thanks,
Brett.

[Moon Wizard]

2) 3.8MB is pretty big for a db.xml file; and might be impacting. (It doesn't seem obviously too big; but much bigger than most campaigns I've seen.) Did you input a lot of data into your campaign? Are you using any extensions?

3) Images are supposed to be loaded as needed in FGC. What is the resolution on your images? (Images over 2Kx2K will run slower; and images over 4Kx4K will cause issues)

4) These are fairly small. All the rest of the tokens are bundled into module data packs.

Regards,
JPG

[Trenloe]

1 - Does the issue occur when you don't have any monitors attached to your laptop?
2 - Do you start FGC through Steam or from a non-Steam shortcut?
3- Check that "Cross platform compatibility..." option on the FG setting window (accessed from the startup screen). If it is, turn if off. If it isn't, turn it on to see if it makes a difference.

[BrettM]

2) 3.8MB is pretty big for a db.xml file; and might be impacting. (It doesn't seem obviously too big; but much bigger than most campaigns I've seen.) Did you input a lot of data into your campaign? Are you using any extensions?

3) Images are supposed to be loaded as needed in FGC. What is the resolution on your images? (Images over 2Kx2K will run slower; and images over 4Kx4K will cause issues)

4) These are fairly small. All the rest of the tokens are bundled into module data packs.

2) I don't believe I input a lot of data into my campaign - virtually everything is run using 5e Monster Manual, WotC adventures, etc. What types of input would you be referring? Re: extensions, only a few I think - two from Rob Twohy: 5E Conditions & Effects, and 5E Magic Shops and Random Item Rarity Tables. Any way I can quickly tell of either a large amount of input data and/or extensions so I can confirm?

3) I checked the image subfolder and of the main images I use, the highest is 1920 x 1801, then reduce down to 1280 x 720. There are some in that folder that are 11520 x 6480 but never used them (from a battlemap pack I bought, and I reduced the one map I liked down to 1728 x 972). There are two images I use now and again, but not up for long, at 4500 x 1860 & 4763 x 3185. Any need to delete the large, unused images and/or reduce the large images I use now and again?

[BrettM]

1 - Does the issue occur when you don't have any monitors attached to your laptop?
2 - Do you start FGC through Steam or from a non-Steam shortcut?
3- Check that "Cross platform compatibility..." option on the FG setting window (accessed from the startup screen). If it is, turn if off. If it isn't, turn it on to see if it makes a difference.

1) I haven't tried. I can test, but reluctant to do so as I know/believe FGC moves the FG windows if FGC is opened on different screens / resolutions. Yeah - I'm picky that way, but can test if needed.

2) I don't use Steam for FGC - I launch it from the icon / Windows 10 shortcut.

3) That setting is OFF. (It also only refers to Linux and Mac.) I can turn it on before I next load the campaign to test.

My thanks Trenloe!

[Zacchaeus]

Anything you create in the campaign goes into the db.xml file. So when you roll on a table which creates a parcel it goes in the database. Creating characters goes into the database. Everything you add to the character goes into the database even if it is just a link. I don’t know what those extensions do but if they create a lot of output then it will fill up the data. (Are those actually extensions or are they modules?)

[BrettM]

Zacchaeus - I guess you could say I do an ok amount of what you’re describing. I’m not sure how to tell if I do a lot or little, vs. what is considered heavy use by FGC standards.

Not knowing the inner workings of FGC, a lot of what you’re describing sounds like it would just add text data and not be space heavy, vs. images and/or videos?

Re: extensions vs. modules, admittedly the naming confuses me. If I open the launch screen it lists “extensions”, of which maybe 5 are turned on. The ones I refer above I guess are modules? I access them via the library screen.

[Zacchaeus]

What I think Moon Wizard is referring to isn’t necessarily space as in memory use but more processing time. If the db.xml is big then it can take a while for information to process, which could cause lag.

[LordEntrails]

Yea, story results, table results are not heavy. Images are. You can tell if you have a lot of 'things' by opening up one of the lists, like stories, if it says "Page 1 of 10" or so, not a problem. If is says "Page 1 of 10,000" then you got issues!

Extensions change the programming of FG, and are selected before you launch the campaign. Modules contain gaming content and are loaded and unloaded via the Library window. Anything loaded from modules will not reside in your db.xml unless you have copied or modified it.

[BrettM]

5 Extensions: 3 Decals (CoS; SCAG; XGtE), 1 Feature (D&D Official Fonts) and 1 Theme (D&D Official)

I opened up all the "things" and Items was the only window with 1-20 pages, all others were 1-10 pages, so doesn't look like that's the issue.

I'll circle back to the other items from earlier some time this week and see where I get. My thanks!

[BrettM]

I'd like to circle back on this. I tried FGU hoping it would be better, but it was actually more of a lag. FGC was running around 900K in Windows Task Manager, which I got to 300K, but still lag. FGU is now at 1,260K with lag. FGU is also taking 2mins 20secs to load my campaign on LAN. Much longer than the same campaign on FGC (which would be about 30 secs).

I appreciate any help. We've been using FG for 3+ years, with the Ultimate License, and backed FGU, and so really looking forward to solving this. It could be computer related - as mentioned this issue happened when I went from an older desktop to a newer laptop. Same dual monitors. The only difference is running the dual monitors through a USB-C hub connected to my laptop where the old desktop was connected directly to the monitors with no hub.

Any of the following I should be focusing on first, and confirming / eliminating that as an issue, and moving down the list?


Yea, story results, table results are not heavy. Images are. You can tell if you have a lot of 'things' by opening up one of the lists, like stories, if it says "Page 1 of 10" or so, not a problem. If is says "Page 1 of 10,000" then you got issues!

I opened up all the "things" and Items was the only window with 1-20 pages, all others were 1-10 pages, so doesn't look like that's the issue.

Re: Images, I backed up the campaign folder then deleted all images from the Images folder, ran FGU again, and same issue - 2+ minutes to open and 1,200K of Task Manager memory.


Extensions change the programming of FG, and are selected before you launch the campaign. Modules contain gaming content and are loaded and unloaded via the Library window. Anything loaded from modules will not reside in your db.xml unless you have copied or modified it.

5 Extensions: 3 Decals (CoS; SCAG; XGtE), 1 Feature (D&D Official Fonts) and 1 Theme (D&D Official)


What I think Moon Wizard is referring to isn’t necessarily space as in memory use but more processing time. If the db.xml is big then it can take a while for information to process, which could cause lag.

Please see a bit further below to Moon Wizard's questions on this, and my answers.


1 - Does the issue occur when you don't have any monitors attached to your laptop?
2 - Do you start FGC through Steam or from a non-Steam shortcut?
3- Check that "Cross platform compatibility..." option on the FG setting window (accessed from the startup screen). If it is, turn if off. If it isn't, turn it on to see if it makes a difference.

1) I'm testing this now, and so far the answer is no, but I don't have players connected - I'll try that on my next game.

2) non-Steam shortcut (I don't use Steam for FGC/U)

3) Where is this in FGU? (I found it in FGC, but hoping to switch to FGU now.)


2) 3.8MB is pretty big for a db.xml file; and might be impacting. (It doesn't seem obviously too big; but much bigger than most campaigns I've seen.) Did you input a lot of data into your campaign? Are you using any extensions?


I found an older db.session.backup file in the same campaign at 600K vs. the 3,800K, and loaded the 600K and same issue, re: Task Manager showing 1,100K of memory usage. I would have to test more with players connected. See above, re: input data & extensions.


3) Images are supposed to be loaded as needed in FGC. What is the resolution on your images? (Images over 2Kx2K will run slower; and images over 4Kx4K will cause issues)


I deleted all the files in the images folder (I have a backup) and again, still running at 1,100K memory in Task Manager.


4) These are fairly small. All the rest of the tokens are bundled into module data packs.


Assuming no issue then?



* Perhaps you could try adjusting your graphics card settings in your video card control panel to turn off capabilities to see if that helps? (anti-aliasing, shadows, etc.)


I haven't done this yet. I have to find this in Win10 settings.



* How large is your campaign data file (db.xml) in your FG campaign folder?


3.77MB - discussed above.



* How many files are in your FG campaign folder under the images subfolder? (and how big?)

Discussed above, re: deleted all files in the images folder.



* How many files are in your FG data folder under the tokens subfolder? (and how big?)


Discussed above.


Again my thanks for any help to solve this!

[Moon Wizard]

Can you zip up the campaign folder, load onto a file share service, and send that link and link to this thread to [email protected]?

Thanks,
JPG

[BrettM]

Can you zip up the campaign folder, load onto a file share service, and send that link and link to this thread to [email protected]?


Done - my thanks!

[BrettM]

UPDATE: I ran today's session from my MacBook. Similar issues, re: FGU was using 2.3G of memory and was slowing down other applications. E.g., I went to open GMail with FGU open, and GMail was very slow. I closed FGU and reopened GMail, and opened a quickly as usual. Thanks!

[Moon Wizard]

I took a look at the campaign you sent me today. The maps you have in your campaign are too large for FGC. The recommended resolution for maps in FGC is 2Kx2K; and anything over 4Kx4K will cause performance issues.

You have over 50 images in the campaign over that recommended size; which will cause issues when used.

Regards,
JPG

[BrettM]

You have over 50 images in the campaign over that recommended size; which will cause issues when used.


Thanks Moon Wizard. I‘ll delete those images from the Image folder for the next session and see if there is a difference. Is that all I’ll need to do (delete them from the Images folder), or should I remove them another way?

Also does that mean FG preloads most / all images in the Image folder regardless of use? I haven’t open those images for a month or more as we’re running CoS right now. My thanks again!

[Moon Wizard]

After deleting those images, then make sure to start the campaign, so it can clean out the old image records linked to those images.

Also, since you had been using such large images; try reviewing your "tokens" subfolder in the FG data folder to see how many images are there and how big they are as well. These all get loaded with the tabletop; in order to be available at a moment's notice.

Regards,
JPG

[BrettM]

After deleting those images, then make sure to start the campaign, so it can clean out the old image records linked to those images.

Also, since you had been using such large images; try reviewing your "tokens" subfolder in the FG data folder to see how many images are there and how big they are as well. These all get loaded with the tabletop; in order to be available at a moment's notice.

Regards,
JPG

EDIT

Thanks. Image folder empty. Token folder has one file - 237 K.

I've started the campaign and assume it cleaned out the image records as described above. FGU still took ~1m30s to open the campaign while the task manager showed the Memory building to 1,230,000 K before the campaign was accessible. I have it open now and getting small lag on other applications (e.g., as I type this in the forum). We'll see how tomorrow's game goes!

[BrettM]

UPDATE: Sadly I'm still running into lag after doing the above steps. The lag is both my Windows laptop and MacBook (using FGU), and both show RAM use of 1,000M+. Windows laptop lags a bit more than the MacBook.

Other than restarting a fresh campaign (or at least doing that to test - just thought of it now, and will do at some point this week), I'm not sure what other solutions I have. Any thoughts would be helpful. I appreciate you can't troubleshoot every set up out there. The fact it's happening on two different machines has be believing it's the files vs. the hardware, although I could be wrong. FG ran fine up to about 3 months ago. My thanks.

[Moon Wizard]

Have you tried moving your files, and running with a brand new installation?
If the brand new installation runs without lagging, then you could bring over and try different campaigns to see which files might be triggering slowdowns.
Once we have an idea of what is causing slowdowns, then it becomes easier to narrow the cause.

Regards,
JPG

[BrettM]

Have you tried moving your files, and running with a brand new installation?
If the brand new installation runs without lagging, then you could bring over and try different campaigns to see which files might be triggering slowdowns.
Once we have an idea of what is causing slowdowns, then it becomes easier to narrow the cause.


Thanks. So essentially start with a vanilla install of FGU/FGC (after backing up my files elsewhere)?

[Moon Wizard]

Yeah. By starting with a vanilla install, we can determine if it's a core hardware or core software issue vs. a files issue.

Thanks,
JPG

[BrettM]

UPDATE: Complete uninstall & reinstall of FGU on PC Laptop. Slight lag noticeable in both FGU and other apps (e.g., Chrome open with 4 tabs - the lag was in either accessing website and/or a CTRL-F on a website to find text), but less lag than before.

This was a clean install of FGU, and the only items I added were: a) created a new 5e campaign; b) one .mod file (a FGU adventure from DMs Guild); and c) three PCs imported from the backup of FGU I made before the re-install.

Next session I will do a clean reinstall on my MacBook Pro, and then add the above .mod/PCs and transfer the above campaign, .mod file, and PCs to the MacBook Pro to see if there is any different results between the two computers. Thanks!