Frames Per Second very unstable (v.1.1.1.1)

[kidicaroots]

Hello, First of all congratulation on the emulator e the whole project. It's already a very big improvement from FreeDO.

I've installed the lastest version of 4DO on my notebook and I'm having some trouble with the framerate. It falls constantly and the game I'm playing (Lucienne's Quest) is running quite slow. Not only visually, but the sound is also stutterin. I'd like to find out what's up with this. My configs are: Pentium P6100 2.00 GHZ ; 2GB RAM ; Windows 7 Starter 32 bit Service Pack 1 ; Intel HD Graphics. I know it's not the best possible machine to run it, but I am able to run other 32 bit emultars (EPSXE, SSF) without problems.

I'm using a Bios (3DO - FZ-10) file with .bin extension. Could this be influencing the performance? Is there a specific Bios version or extension you would reccomend?

Also, I'm running the game from an ISO img, created with MagicIso. Would it be better to run it from a CD?

Is there any config I can do on the Windows to improve the 4DO perfomance?

[BryWI]

You might be running into one of the timing issues that happens on some systems. I know it's being looked into, but there is no time frame as to when this will be fixed. The only advice I can really give to speed up things would be to close any background apps that are running to free up resources. Once these issues get cleared up, you should be able to run 4DO fine. Also some games will be more difficult to get running fullspeed. I have not personally tested Lucienne's Quest yet.

[kidicaroots]

Thanks for the response. For anyone reading this post, I'd like to make clear the emulator looks great and sounds great, right from the first boot. The intro fmv runs perfect. The problems I described probably are not found when using 4do on a high end machine.

Maybe more config options could help each user tweek their 4do to perfection...

[Johnny]

I concur that you're probably running into the "timing problems" BryWI mentions. This seems to only affect some machines. Resolving this elusive issue is my current current priority. It's a confusing one! In fact, I previously assumed it was Windows XP only.

Just so you know, I have tried out Lucienne's Quest once before. It works fine on my machine.

I also updated the compatibility list! http://wiki.fourdo.com/index.php?title=Compatibility_List

[DJoneK]

Versions 1.1.4.0 and 1.1.4.1

I'm also having the same or similar problem. Emulator seems to freeze every second or two. Even when configuring input with no bios or game loaded, the emulator seems to freeze since I sometimes need to keep hitting the buttons on the controller in order for them to register.

My specs:
E6420 Core2Duo 2.13ghz
Intel P965 Express Chipset
4gb RAM
Nvidia Geforce 450gts
Vista Ultimate 32bit

It's actually THIS with the ram and video card upgraded.

EDIT: Just tried disconnecting the USB receiver for my wireless keyboard/mouse and it seemed to almost fix the stuttering completely. Still dips in frames every second or two though.

[Johnny]

DJoneK,

Thank you for the feedback. I know someone else who is seeing a slowdown issue once every second. What you've found fits an emerging theory of mine...

The emulation checks for new joystick/input devices every 60 frames (which is normally once every 60 seconds). I am beginning to wonder if this operation is negligible on some machines but slow on others. I should be able to test this relatively easily, and if that's the problem I'm expecting the fix to be easy.

[Viiral]

I got Lucienne's Quest running smoothly on the latest build.

[DJoneK]

Just tried the latest build (1.1.5.0 beta) and still does it. Its definitely something with the input. If I disconnect the usb dongle for keyboard/mouse and another usb receiver for a media center remote, the stuttering goes away.

I recall there being a very similar problem with some retail games. I think the problem was sadly never fixed by the developers. Mini Ninjas and Kane and Lynch for PC seemed to have that very same problem. Workaround was to remove all HID-compliant stuff from device manager (or just disconnect them), but then you'd lose functionality.

Hopefully this annoyance can be squashed in due time. Other than that stuttering, this emulator seems very promising already so kudos on that. I'll keep testing new versions as they come and keep posting if I notice any changes.

[Viiral]

Iv never experienced such a problem. I played 30 min without any problems just to check.

for the record im using the SVN r256 build

http://www.emucr.com/2012/02/fourdo-svn-r256.html

I also use USB game pad.

[DJoneK]

FIXED! My input stuttering problem was indeed fixed on version 1.1.5.1 beta. Impressive how you managed to fix this so quickly while big time developers couldn't/didn't do it for big time retail games. Awesome.

Time to test some games I guess