Quake3World

I'm finding my FPS is consistent with 6 players maximum. If any server goes any higher my FPS fluctuates like mad.

AMD 3800 x2, 7800 GT, 2 gigs ram, SB XFI

Anyone else finding this to be true?

What? more than 6 players are playing Quake 4 at the same time? That's hard to believe.

Anyhow, is it a netcode issue or is it because my own computer is struggling at working with more than 6 players?

My comp does the same, only diff is that it's a 7900 GT with a gig of ram.

And by 3800 x2 do you mean dual core?

Lower in-game settings, lower or turn of aa/af in video card control panel, set image quality options as high performance in video card control panel, play game at 800x600, disable vsync and force a decent refresh rate (120), don't have too many things running while playing game (disable apps not needed, esp. virus scanners etc.), tweak windows by disabling unused services etc. and lastly read the upset chaps q4 guide on getting max tweakage out of the game for fps. Or play mods like q4max that allow vertex lightning. or try dratchs fps map packs (which really speeds things up).

Yes, dual core.

Hrm, yep tried all those tweaks, strangely it's all the same results.

My server in the begining would be full (16 players) and I never had a problem. Played just like Quake 3.

It's like that with every server I join. I think it's my personal connection. Only 384 upload and 1.2 mb download. Yah, most people on servers say everything is smooth.

iluvquake4 wrote:It's like that with every server I join. I think it's my personal connection. Only 384 upload and 1.2 mb download. Yah, most people on servers say everything is smooth.

I think it's your upload because I have twice as much upload.

Ah okay. Time to look into cable as an option. Strange that upload would effect the FPS like that. I switched it to ISDN setting and it does feel quite a bit smoother and FPS tends to be more consistent. I wonder if it tweaks the client prediction?

The more often i read about this, the more i start to believe that there's some fundamental flaw somewhere in the code, some part that's coded particularly badly, making FPS drop with a considerable number of players on a server (regardless of the render detail settings). Perhaps when Q4 is completely dead and forgotten, within 6-12 months or so, the problem will be patched and Q4 will run fine with stable FPS and perhaps even consistent sounds. Who knows... :icon29:

Anyway, I decided not to touch the game until some nice Freeze Tag and/or CPMa-type mod (not Q4W, that's crap) shows up perhaps.

It sounds like the netcode code has issues. Strangely, Doom 3 ROE's netcode is very smooth, however the game typically doesn't have more than 6 players on a server either.

I'm starting to think it's the sound system, whether it be default or open al. It doesn't seem to be the visual rendering, because there can only be a few players in the same room, but when there are tons of sounds going on, the FPS drops like mad.

Using SB XFI here.

The final fix was to set everything at low quality but all the advanced stuff cranked up. Now I get a constant 60 FPS. I guess I just gotta face the fact that High Quality is for next year's computer.

I'm curious, would a SLI setup have made a difference? I'm wierd and I like to run the game in a 640x480 window.

3800 x2 (dual core), 7800 GT, 2 gigs Corsair, SB XFI.

I'm wierd and I like to run the game in a 640x480 window.

That is pretty weird.

I run 2 6600's in SLI with 2 gig ram, and an AMD 3000+ OC'd
I keep a steady 60 fps in most games.
I have cable 384 up, and 3mb down.
Settings on med to high with 2x AA.

It must be my connection. I just ordered cable Internet which is supposed to be 6mb/384 to my current DSL 1.2/384.