Memory (?) And Image Issue

[greybeardgunner70]

I am hosting a Harnmaster game (using corerpg) with a stable, highspeed connection and graphics capabilites (as well as RAM) that far exceed FGU's requirements. However, I have noticed issues with the character sheets after a few hours of play. Sections of data on the Main tab start to disappear from view. If the player hits the edit list button a couple times (essentially redrawing the data) they can see the data again. Also, the CS will start dumping random text in the chat when the player makes a roll off the CS. I imagine this is a memory or cache problem. Is there a fix? Is the issue something I am doing on my end?

I'm pretty this one is on my end, just looking for some clarification on the cause. Often, I will share an image with my players and all they get is an image with a big red X on it. I imagine I am messing up the process of moving images from the assets box to my in game images. But some clarification on what would cause the system to return a big red X when sharing an image would be helpful.

Thanks!

[Moon Wizard]

General questions:
* Are you running any extensions to CoreRPG?

Specific questions:
* I haven't seen this before; but I'm not regularly running games for several hours at a time. Is the disappearing data happening on the GM as well?
* The big red X is separate, and is an indicator that the client was not able to load the asset specified for some reason. When moving assets from the Assets box to the Images list, are they always from the Images section of the Assets window? Where are the assets located? (FG main data directory in the images folder, FG campaign data directory in the images folder, ...)
* Do the missing assets for images only happen after several hours, or does it happen right away?
* Do you have an example of an affected image?

Thanks,
JPG

[greybeardgunner70]

Gen 1: I have a bunch of theme and PF2E extensions, as well as the Audioseer extensions in my Extensions folder. For my Harn (CoreRPG) campaign, I only load Audiseer and this theme: Theme_5E_Hearth_v1.2_SirMottesMagnificentDarkness. ext I haven't noticed any issues with buttonology so I have continued to use it in CoreRPG, but won't next few sessions and see if I notice a difference in performance.

Spec 1: Yes, the data disappears when I view/manipulate the data as well. For example, if I enter something into the modifier box next to a skill on a player's CS, the section will disappear. Again this only happens after having the game running for a couple+ hours.
Spec 2: I now realize I have been using a mix of the two, some images in the main images folder, others in the specific campaign images folder. Is there a preference for one over the other? Does the client not download the images (or have access) to the ones in the main images folder?
Spec 3: It was throughout the session and happened even after I right clicked on an image on my FG desktop and shared it.
Spec 4: Some players could not load this image:40212 It is in the campaign images folder.

[ZoranDob]

Just on the issue of image size. I read somewhere that FG can only share images of less than 1mb in size. And i certainly have noticed this in the past with my images. Has this been increased over the last few updates? What is the largest recommended size of images to be shared? Thanks.

[greybeardgunner70]

Yes, that could be my issue as well. I knew there was a recommended size, but wasn't aware it was hard coded.

[Kelrugem]

That is not hard-coded, just an advice due to (possible) limitations of your bandwidth and networking (especially parental control, flood protection and so one, or simply bad internet) :) And in FGC there was also the problem that it was 32 bit such that the RAM usage got quickly a problem with too big images, and this advice is especially from FGC times :) (Though RAM is of course still limited by your system itself, and used and shared images still load into RAM)

So, it is a guideline, not hard-coded :)

[Moon Wizard]

There's no hard limit; though we have thought about adding one to prevent outrageously sized maps from causing issues. The reality is that larger images affect performance and network transfer times; so plan accordingly. For FGC, any images over 2Kx2K suffer greater performance loss; and images over 4Kx4K can cause crash conditions. FGU uses a completely different engine that can handle larger images more safely, but can still be performance impacted. (Our recommended size limits for images in official material is 2Kx2K and 1MB, when possible.)

The location of the files shouldn't matter; but I'm asking in order to try and figure out the issue.
* Are newly shared images missing for players right away (after a cache folder delete); or only after a couple+ hours like the other issue?

Thanks,
JPG

[greybeardgunner70]

Its right away. I have a game tonight (with PF2 ruleset) and have started putting my images in using the wiki suggested import function (vs drag and drop or copy/paste). We'll see if I have any issues. Might be able to narrow it down to CoreRPG.

[Zacchaeus]

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to preshare the images as well. That way the players will download them when they join rather than the image being shared all at once during the game.

[Moon Wizard]

If the players have deleted the cache folder, and the resources are still missing when they log in after that; then I would like to get a copy of your campaign folder zipped up.

Thanks,
JPG

[greybeardgunner70]

No issues last night with PF2 ruleset, played for 4 hours.
I think I have identified a few things that I can do differently that might solve the possible memory problem with CoreRPG. I would like to try those fixes and play again Monday night, see if I am still having issues. If so, I will send you the module.

How does one "clear cache" in FGU? I thought that was a classic thing.

Is it possible to pre-share images in FGU?

[LordEntrails]

There is no clear cache button in FGU, but you can go into the FG Data/cache folder and delete the folder that corresponds to the campaign you are a plyer in.

There is no pre-share, but just share the image and it will be made public and downloaded as soon as someone joins. (Unlike FGC that would only share to those currently connected, I think)

[greybeardgunner70]

Two more questions...

Which folder does the client load images from? For example, I have an image of the Combat Tables from HarnMaster. I want that image to be available to the players in my campaign every session without having to re-share it every game. Do they have access to only what's shared in the campaign images folder or are all shared images accessible regardless of folder location from session to session?

If I move a "campaign image" from one image folder to another, than I'm guessing that "share" link is broken. Does modifying the image break that link as well, if the name/location isn't changed (but I add to it, change its resolution, etc.)?

[Moon Wizard]

The GM loads images from the following folders:
<FGData>\images\
<FGData>\campaigns\<CampaignName>\images\
<FGData>\tokens\
<FGData>\campaign\<CampaignName>\tokens\
<FGData>\portraits\
<FGData>\vault\<ProductID>.dat

The player client loads their images from the cache first (if available); then from local disk. The player client requests files when the hash of the file used by GM doesn't match local copy; then stores it in the cache.

Since the path of each asset is defined by it's location on disk, if you move files, then you are breaking the link to the file, which will result in missing graphics for players and GM.

Regards,
JPG

[Reaulphh]

There's no hard limit; though we have thought about adding one to prevent outrageously sized maps from causing issues. The reality is that larger images affect performance and network transfer times; so plan accordingly. For FGC, any images over 2Kx2K suffer greater performance loss; and images over 4Kx4K can cause crash conditions. FGU uses a completely different engine that can handle larger images more safely, but can still be performance impacted. (Our recommended size limits for images in official material is 2Kx2K and 1MB, when possible.)

The location of the files shouldn't matter; but I'm asking in order to try and figure out the issue.
* Are newly shared images missing for players right away (after a cache folder delete); or only after a couple+ hours like the other issue?

Thanks,
JPG

Moon Wizard - Just to clarify... Would a 417MB highly detailed map of Tegel Manor fit the description of "outrageously sized maps"? I mean once you share it and they have it - does it really affect performance that much?

[LordEntrails]

Moon Wizard - Just to clarify... Would a 417MB highly detailed map of Tegel Manor fit the description of "outrageously sized maps"? I mean once you share it and they have it - does it really affect performance that much?
If it doesn't affect performance for your players, then it's fine. I think there are reports of folks using maps of several gigabytes, though some of those also report errors/issues.

[Moon Wizard]

It affects everything about displaying the map at various zoom levels, sharing the map with players, and is going to depend on your machine specs and what else you are doing on the map (LoS, FX, etc.). But, yeah, that would be a problematic size; and one that would probably be blocked if we implemented size constraints in the future. At some point, we have to limit asset complexity in order to maintain speed...

EDIT: Carl clarified for me that the extra-large images do not affect the performance directly in play; but it still affects memory usage, load times and transfer times. He also let me know that the size of the image window itself does have an impact on performance. (i.e. size of camera view)

Regards,
JPG

[greybeardgunner70]

Apologies for taking awhile to get back to this. We played about a 4 hour session Monday night. However, one of my players noticed the bug/issue with the CS as soon as he joined (screenshots below). I had no issues with images not being available to players, so that was user error and I appreciate the kid gloves when letting me know what I needed to pay closer attention to.

The Character Sheet issue in CoreRPG. The main tab was the most suitable place to put the majority of the CS info on and Harnmaster has a lot, so that particular tab in my campaign is pretty crowded. It has 9+ different sections, depending on how many weapons a PC is carrying. The issue is that at random times the sections will disappear when the player clicks on them. When the player clicks on the "Edit List" button, the section will reappear. Screenshots attached. I can also send you a copy of the CS xml, which you should be able to open to CoreRPG and look at (just need to know where/how). If you need my entire campaign folder, I can PM that to you.

40446
40447
40448

[Moon Wizard]

Yeah, it will probably be easiest to get a copy of your campaign folder in order to see the list issue. I have to figure out if it's just the wrapping or something else.

Thanks,
JPG