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.