Please help PS3 graphic problems

[Araye]

I have read posts that this happens on PC too. So stop it.

This was a terrible issue for me. I did as OP and turned everything off that I could. A little better. Few things to draw.

I changed to a minimumly populated server. MUCH better. Fewer things to draw.

But I had this problem in dungeon instances as well on the JP server. Only things in an instance four players, some pets, and mobs. Few things to draw.

I still have this issue, but to a lesser extent on the minimumly populated server.

I have a feeling (and it is just a feeling) that the server isn't telling the client to draw. Therefore nothing draws and often when it does draw, the location is incorrect.

I have heard MANY suspicions as to why this happens: latency, lag, server lag, mob draw priority incorrect, PS3 sucks, PCs are underpowered, ISP throttling, intranode lag, middleman throttling, modem/router old, phases of the moon, etc... nothing truly explains it.
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[Araye]

For every reason, I have seen someone post that they have the problem but their situation clearly destroys the reason given as the culprit. For example, a guy on PS3 living in Montreal with 23ms ping and can't see Garuda.

Only thing left for me to believe is that this is a problem where the server is not telling the client what and where to draw it.

Masha

[Iecerint]

I find that mobs are drawn more quickly on the PS3 if the player has tagged them.

So, during FATEs, one strategy might be to use a self-targeted AoE to try to tag some mobs. This usually jump-starts all of the mobs appearing in my experience.

Since you can improve function by making a specific action, I agree that there is a coding issue with this.

[Rivienne]

For every reason, I have seen someone post that they have the problem but their situation clearly destroys the reason given as the culprit. For example, a guy on PS3 living in Montreal with 23ms ping and can't see Garuda.

Only thing left for me to believe is that this is a problem where the server is not telling the client what and where to draw it.

Masha

No this isn't a server to client issue. If it were then it would be consistent for all people, whereas it is definitely a bigger issue for low end systems, and hdd, and gpu, and cpu, etc. It happens on all systems, but it consistently happens more for lower end systems and PS3, ruling out the server as the problem, leaving the client. You could potentially suggest the client isn't requesting positional information for everything, though that is unlikely.

I find that mobs are drawn more quickly on the PS3 if the player has tagged them.

So, during FATEs, one strategy might be to use a self-targeted AoE to try to tag some mobs. This usually jump-starts all of the mobs appearing in my experience.

Since you can improve function by making a specific action, I agree that there is a coding issue with this.

Right. Which is why I keep bringing up drawing priority and other people mention culling. Fundamental issue with a 3d rendering engine of any kind. If the system can't load objects fast enough, it won't draw them correctly if at all, and similarly if there isn't enough memory to load them all, things get dropped, and then further if the CPU load is to high, things get dropped. All of this is unavoidable. Thus you need to determine what gets prioritized so that the most important things are loaded/displayed first, to minimize the chance of something critical not showing in time. And clearly this system isn't doing that.

There are various tricks you can do with both PC and PS3 when this happens to force things to appear, by forcing it load everything. Problem is, it will be things that cause everything to lock while it does, where it is basically forcing the system to wait for it to load everything, which can be deadly in a fight. Example of tagging, tagging changes the priority of mobs to higher priority, forcing your system to show them. But if they weren't already visible, you are now waiting for the system to load them, while they are already potentially attacking you invisibly.

This is also (hypothetically) why hard drive upgrades to SSD especially seem to make a difference: texture files can be loaded faster, improving the chance the objects won't get dropped even if it was loaded in a poor priority.

[Andrien]

PC has a similar problem too. like not loading monsters in heavily crowded places. But that is more of a server side issue than a PC/PS3 issue.

[Araye]

@Rivienne

Offtopic: how do you get more than 1000 characters?

On topic: explain how this is client side...

Common problem for me: I'm standing in Revenant Toll, choco summoned, waiting for a FATE. Fate pops, I start running towards it. I have both my macro (server side) map and micro (client side) map up. On the macro map, I can see my choco following me. On my mini map, choco is still standing next to aetheryte munching greens. I go back to get my choco because I can't see him follow me on mini map and sure enough, there he is. So I run off again, no choco. But on the macro map he is following me. Screw it... I do the fate and strangely my choco is healing me. That's because he is there, I just can see him because server hasn't told client to update location. Client thinks it is still at the last place it got a location update.

[Rivienne]

@Rivienne

Offtopic: how do you get more than 1000 characters?

Type up your entire response, then create a placeholder post with 10 characters . Edit, and paste your whole text then save. The 1000 characters is only for the original post. Edits allow much bigger.

On topic: explain how this is client side...

Common problem for me: I'm standing in Revenant Toll, choco summoned, waiting for a FATE. Fate pops, I start running towards it. I have both my macro (server side) map and micro (client side) map up. On the macro map, I can see my choco following me. On my mini map, choco is still standing next to aetheryte munching greens. I go back to get my choco because I can't see him follow me on mini map and sure enough, there he is. So I run off again, no choco. But on the macro map he is following me. Screw it... I do the fate and strangely my choco is healing me. That's because he is there, I just can see him because server hasn't told client to update location. Client thinks it is still at the last place it got a location update.

Hit post to soon. Misunderstood question, rewriting an answer for you.

EDIT: I made the mistake(since it cut into my play time) of looking at your problem the way I would tackle solving an obscure infrastructure problem for a contract, and I just spent 2 hours working on a logic chart of the various branches of your situation, and what it implied, and which branches would mean server, and which client. I realized there is no way I am cleaning up and posting that thing in here, even assuming anyone wanted to read it. So.. I will summarize a few key points for you and hope I am coherent about it.

1) In an environment like this the server doesn't constantly push data to the client so much as the client pushes data to the server, and in return requests other data/updates, which the server sends back in reply. That is, if the server isn't returning something, it means either the client isn't requesting it, or the server isn't returning everything the client requests. There are lots of variables involved here, but suffice to say, if you are correct that the macro map is getting the choco position from server data, then we already know the server is returning the positional data when requested, meaning the fault is almost certainly on the client.

2) If you are wrong about that, then there is still only one rational case (apart from the chocobo issue being its own unique bug) that would put the blame partly on the server, instead of all on the client. You got me thinking however, and I will not discount the possibility. It would still be the same core problem however, of prioritization. It would just mean that the fault was the way the server prioritized objects to return to the client, rather than being just the way in which the client drew the objects the server returned. I.E. Server capped objects based on client request, didn't 100% make sure key objects got returned, client culls objects further when it can't cope with the full list returned.

Short of it: it probably isn't server, but if it is it is almost certainly still the same object prioritization issue I keep bringing up, it just might be partly server side object prioritization, instead of all client.

[Araye]

snip

You are genius!!!