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  1. #1

    Graphical performance hit when drawing text

    I've been testing FG's performance on my laptop, hoping I could find some way to improve it, but haven't had much luck. I understand this is probably not something that can be fixed, at least not easily. The FGC engine uses DirectX9 and the Intel HD Graphics 620 chip in this likely just isn't optimized for that. I'm patient and can wait for FGU, which will probably fix this naturally.

    Or, maybe there's some adjustment the devs can make/suggest that will help? It can't hurt to post what I found in the hopes that there is something that can be done!

    So, on to the details...
    I had noticed that with a few windows open in FG, the frame rate of just about everything in FG would drop considerably (not just the 3d dice, but even just dragging windows around). My first thought was that I probably had too many images open, but after playing around for a while, images don't seem to affect the performance much at all. If I open *every* image in the DMG Maps module, but no other windows, FG still runs smooth as silk. But, if I instead open a single story entry with more than a few lines of text, frame rate goes to hell. It seems like drawing text is quite intensive.

    This is a fresh install and a fresh campaign. Default theme, no extensions or modules open (except the DMG Maps module when I was testing with images). Latest graphics driver. Clean system.

    I made a quick video to demonstrate the performance hit that drawing text has on this system:


    As you can see, performance is good when there's not a lot of text, or when the text is not actively being re-drawn (not being dragged around or nothing passing in front of it). When there's a lot of text moving or has something passing in front of it, performance drops significantly.

    I've tried just about every variation of settings in the Intel Graphics Settings control panel app. No changes there made any noticeable difference. I also have my laptop's power settings jacked up to best performance.

    I did the same test on my gaming PC and it's always nice and smooth no matter what I throw at it, but that system is a different animal altogether. Either its nVidia card is better at DX9 or its sheer power hides any such symptoms (probably both are true). But, it's not at all convenient to bring the gaming PC to where I play, so I'm hoping to improve how it works on the laptop.

    Also, please save the comments about the crappy Intel GPU. These GPUs are quite common in laptops and perform surprisingly well in modern games (within reason). It can certainly handle a few paragraphs of text. This laptop serves me quite well for every other use, and it's not worth buying another laptop just for FG.

    Some details about the laptop, in case it makes a difference:
    Lenovo X270 from late 2017
    Intel Core i5-7300U 2.6GHz CPU
    8 GB RAM
    Intel HD Graphics 620 GPU with the latest driver currently available from Lenovo (version 23.20.16.4973)
    1366x768 resolution (native for this screen)
    512 GB SSD
    Windows 10 build 1709
    Fantasy Grounds 3.3.5A (visible in the chat box in the video, but kinda hard to see)
    Last edited by notrealdan; May 9th, 2018 at 22:41.

  2. #2
    Well it has been shown on more than a few occasions that despite how well integrated graphics chips work with modern games, they just aren't optimized well for FG. And in fact i have exactly the same issue with a new PC with intel graphics HD 2500. It's now recommended that you use a dedicated graphics card for FG. I plan on getting one for my PC later in the summer.

    But yeah my issue is exactly the same. And i recall reading a thread on here where someone was having issues with your exact chip.

  3. #3
    Understood. But changing the GPU isn't really possible, and I'm not going to buy a new laptop just for FG. The rest of the UI can be drawn just fine. It's only text that slows down, so maybe this is indicative of a bug or something in FG that can be corrected.

    For example, I started a thread ages ago about a similar performance issue whenever the combat tracker was simply open, and it turned out there was something wrong in the WoTC 5e theme, and FG was able to fix it (going from memory, this was a long time ago). I'm hopeful there might be something that can be done to optimize text drawing. If not, I can accept that, but I didn't want to not ask!

  4. #4
    Yeah hopefully FGU will have better optimization for integrated graphics. But if you ever find a fix for your issue do let me know. Lol

  5. #5
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Good job isolating this to text. That being the case though, I'm not hopeful SW can find a solution until FGU.

    In FGC, text is not handled like in other applications. I don't really know the details, but I do know that fonts have to be converted into an FG font which I think is a bitmap rather than a vector (i.e. no longer a TTF or similar).

    Hopefully someone has some ideas, the only WAG I can suggest it to try some of the themes that use different fonts (like the Big Font's and simple grey etc).

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
    On Licensing & Distributing Community Content
    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  6. #6
    I had big font turned on at one point and was still getting this issue.

  7. #7
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shadelon View Post
    I had big font turned on at one point and was still getting this issue.
    Yea, I didn't expect it to help, but the only WAG I could think of.

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
    On Licensing & Distributing Community Content
    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  8. #8
    I have recognized the same exact issue. I would like to add that player tokens on the combat map move EXTREMELY slowly on host and client machines when I accept their move, if I have multiple text windows open simultaneously. I close the story windows and it moves quickly and smooth as butter. Definitely related to text display somehow. I'm using a 12 point font and Hero Points extensions, and rob2e's class/feat/race/spell effects modules. I haven't tried it without the extensions, but based on OP's comments I doubt they are affecting anything.
    Last edited by RoleforFun; May 10th, 2018 at 10:46. Reason: Spelling and Grammar errors

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by LordEntrails View Post
    I don't really know the details, but I do know that fonts have to be converted into an FG font which I think is a bitmap rather than a vector (i.e. no longer a TTF or similar).
    well this isn't true since June 8th, 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Moon Wizard View Post
    At this point, I'm feeling fairly comfortable with it, since it's been in the client since v3.0.0.

    Format is:
    Code:
    <font name="FG Font Name">
      <ttf file="TTF File Path" name="TTF Font Name" size="Desired Font Height" />
      <color value="Color Hex Value" />
    </font>
    Code:
    	<font name="reference-h">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="660000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="reference-r">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="reference-i">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="reference-b">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="reference-bi">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="reference-b-large">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	
    	<!--Following taken from CoreRPG 3.1.2-->
    	
    	<!-- Chat fonts - REQUIRED -->
    	<font name="chatfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#261A12" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="emotefont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#880000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="narratorfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#261A12" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="systemfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#660066" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="msgfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#660066" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="oocfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#005500" />
    	</font>
    	
    	<!-- Chat fonts -->
    	<font name="chatnpcfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000066" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="chatgmfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#000000" />
    	</font>
    	<font name="whisperfont">
    		<ttf file="graphics/fonts/hatari.ttf" name="Hatari" size="20" />
    		<color value="#660066" />
    	</font>


    i just replace the 5e clear font extension fonts with the TTF and assigned it the size, and you can see the results. which means the problem with text probably IS the FGF format?
    try a font extension that uses only TTF files with the same story posted in the opening post and see if the same problem occurs on the laptop to see if it is ALL text, or text drawn with FGF fonts, vs text drawn with TTF fonts.

    NOTE: if you are trying the 5e extension in another ruleset like coreRPG, remember to delete this part or it won't show in the launcher for use with any ruleset other than 5e.

    Code:
    		<ruleset>
    			<name>5E</name>
    		</ruleset>
    screenshot0011.png

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by shadzar View Post
    try a font extension that uses only TTF files with the same story posted in the opening post and see if the same problem occurs on the laptop to see if it is ALL text, or text drawn with FGF fonts, vs text drawn with TTF fonts.
    Do you have or know of such an extension I could try? I'd be happy to give it a shot.

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