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 | Tfc is super laggy - need some help | |
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 | [IOD]Snips wrote:
rate 8000000
Too low a number and you'll get choke and other lag related issues is the important thing. This was mostly important for fine tuning 28.8 dialup vs 56k dialup internet connections 24 years ago. Not sure if there's much of a difference between 800000 vs 8000000 | |
errrr | |
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
|  | | P: | 04/22/2024 02:05 EST |
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First thing to do is write down where your half-life folder is so that you remember. And copy the entire folder elsewhere as a backup.
A typical path on steam is likely:
C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Half-Life
The reason you want to do this is as people begin suggesting you change this file or that, alter your config.cfg, and you begin changing rates and other variables, you want to have the ability to undo everything and go back to how it is right now. There is a real possibility of causing more problems before you find the solution. | |
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
| | | P: | 04/22/2024 02:10 EST |
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I would absolutely change the rate higher then 10000. Also I always play with "net_graph 3" which shows my fps, and also displays the packetloss and choke to better understand what's occurring during a lag spike or just typical behavior. If your fps or latency/ping become unusual, this gives you the ability to monitor that better. The 1999 server is currently having a lag spike issue with their host mostly for comcast/xfinity customers this past week, not fixed yet but they're working on it. When this occurs it shows packetloss of over 80 for 2sec as it goes back down to 0. Getting choke can be a sign of the server acting up, but you can definitely get choke with settings too low also. Packetloss can occur regularly if your internet overall is bad or if you're playing on wifi that is weak or during brief signal strengths changes.
Run some speedtests online from different websites, make sure you're getting what you're paying for, for download/upload bandwidth speeds. You likely are with Fiber but just double check. Also check your jitter for download, upload and idle too, this is even more important for realtime applications such as online gaming. Jitter is the difference inbetween your lowest and highest pings.
The anniversary update came out last year & the OP said he's had this issue for 2-3 years so that can't be the source. Did your problems occur the exact time you moved? Before you moved did you still have Fiber?
You should follow what Xen suggested and change it back to legacy or the opposite of whatever it is right now for you. Also like he said, would be helpful to hear the specs of your computer. What videocard are you using? | |
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
| | | P: | 04/22/2024 02:42 EST |
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| Okay, tinkered around with some rates made it worse, set them back and it was still bad. Created my own server and it was still there. | |
Okay earlier you said in other games they are great, this lag is specific to TFC. The biggest thing you've mentioned so far is you created your own server and the lag is still there. So this isn't internet related, because you can run a server without internet and you're still seeing the laggy performance with a 0 ping. Cant be mouse/keyboard delayed in the operating system or a delay from a new monitor as other games are lag free.
It has to be one of three specific settings on your pc:
1. TFC in-game settings
Mouse tab
uncheck "mouse filter" and make sure the next one here is checked active:"raw mouse input".
Video tab
Set to Opengl, set the resolution to the same as in windows and choose widescreen. In windows, make sure your monitor hz is as high as it can go. There are some displays that can handle 2160p (4k) at 60hz maximum but will also do 1080p at 120hz, so in windows you'd want to set it to 1080p and 120hz refresh rate for a faster response & reduced input lag in that case. If windows has your refresh rate set to 30hz, TFC is going to be a nightmare.
"wait for vertical sync" you want this unchecked and turned off. That would activate double buffering v-sync adding a huge amount of input lag, especially when the fps fails to match your hz. There are ways of forcing triple buffering v-sync which reduces this delay significantly at the expense of a large amount of video memory usage. But in first person shooters having vsync off is best for the fastest responses and lowest input delays, but there will be screen tearing.
Try checking "low video quality" in the video tab in the in-game settings to see if this helps. If you see this option then you know you're on the legacy version of TFC. If you don't see it, it's because they removed it in the anniversary version and that's what you're using.
2. NVIDIA or AMD videocard settings
This is where all the good stuff is. With Nvidia you can set maximum performance, force vsync off, reduce preframes to ultra low latency, high power high performance mode & other stuff. These settings override in-game settings, and TFC is so old that it doesn't have built in options for many things such as AA or Anisotropic filtering. If your videocard drivers are over a year old it's time to update them too.
3. In-game console commands or config.cfg
Stuff like rate, cl_updaterate, cl_cmdrate and others are stored in your config.cfg. Setting console commands can change a huge amount of different options ingame, most of which don't show up inside the in-game menu or in-game settings. | |
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
| | | P: | 04/22/2024 02:50 EST |
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| All grenades are delayed, rockets, shotgun. When I die, I get that "lag" skip frame and next thing I know I'm randomly dead, laying on the ground. Feels like I am in a constant lag state with relatively loss/choke 0 or sometimes minor choke. | |
My Guess:
Running a server on your own computer alone is resulting in a very laggy TFC experience based on what you said earlier. There are only so many in-game or console commands that could cause this in single player. Or if you set your AMD or Nvidia control panel to certain settings overriding the in-game ones, then that could be it too.
V-sync is either turned on in-game, or is forced on in the videocard control panel (Nvidia or AMD) overriding the in-game option is my best guess. If TFC is attempting to play at the default max of 72fps (fps_max 72) but is unable to, the fps may be locking in at half that at 36fps with double buffering vsync adding enormous input lag.
Try this:
fps_max 359.5
This tells the game to try running at a maximum of exactly 360 fps. Now using "net_graph 3" are you able to see 360fps? Or is it showing a maximum of some other number? Try playing as demoman & throw mirv grenades while detonating 8 yellow pipes and see if your fps crash exceptionally low too. | |
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XenOz3r0xT
Super Regular
Shotgun Quick
Draw
| | P: | 04/22/2024 13:53 EST |
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I feel until he states his specs and whether it was homemade or prebuilt we can’t recommend much more. I suspect there may be a setting in BIOS that is fucking something up hard. Or it could be bloatware or a system scan running in the background from it. Or it could be that the single core performance of his build may be it as well seeing how the focus is on group work but older games rely on single core work. | |
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LuCuS
Super Regular
Scout Pole
Dancer
| | P: | 04/22/2024 23:35 EST |
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| straightcashhomie wrote:
| [IOD]Snips wrote:
Does the laggy gameplay happen on other TFC servers? Does the laggy gameplay occur in completely different computer games too? Do you get laggy gameplay if you start your own TFC server for a brief test? Like are rockets delayed when your ping is 0 when you make your own game? It's good that you have your own baseline of expectations too as you said years ago you had absolutely zero issues, so you know what you're looking for. You could also try creating a video to put onto youtube to show the issue too. This might help separate the input or display lag, as a video can't capture that. Be sure to have your net_graph shown so we can see the fps to rule that out too if you go that route.
The two biggest things that sticks out is you said you're on fiber internet which should give you the lowest ping & best online gaming experience. The other is you said New Computer. Was your old computer super responsive in tfc, and your new computer (assuming newer technology everywhere) has massive delays & constant laggy feel? Might be operating system or in-game settings causing this rather than an internet connection or location issue. | |
Okay, tinkered around with some rates made it worse, set them back and it was still bad. Created my own server and it was still there.
I played for many many years with these same .config. I'd say around 2021-22 is when it started - on a completely different PC and now, with a new PC/fiber, still here.
Question, how do I get the legacy option available? I wonder if that's the overall issue? When did the "beta" option become available?
Something changed in the last 2-3 years that ruined my TFC. As I stated, been using the same configs/models etc. since like 2006.
I have zero issue with any other game.
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I feeel you as I have the same issue but me it's not constant... sometimes poeple teleport or I hear my rocket noise without anything firering... sometimes I miss rocketjump on the grate and it trigger after... I can pin point the issue... my FPS goes max to 100.5fps which I know it can do much better. I've tried Xeno's config but didn't do much... my ping goes around 60-100ms... I find that it lags mostly when it's close range fight or when I'm on fire from a pyro... I tried looking at my performance like GPU and stuff but surprisingly it still low usually < 45% usage.
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
| | | P: | 04/23/2024 03:44 EST |
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Lucas, games are usually cpu bound or gpu bound. I haven't looked into this much for TFC but Xen mentioned he's read tfc is more CPU bound & specifically single core performance helps.
Now if you have a CPU that is very strong but only a $60 Video Card, that will be your weak spot. The game is so old that if you turn off AA & anisotropic filtering and all the other sharpening bullshit that taxes your videocard hard then it's easy to get 300fps even on a shitty nvidia 1050.
If I mess around with my ram timings, cpu overclock or get a new videocard, I always run a program called HWMonitor while doing something such as online gaming. This shows your minimum and maximum: percent usage & temperatures of your processor (per core too) and videocard. My favorite part is that maximum variable, so after a long stretch in a round I can see the highest percent of usage my cpu or gpu ever got to without having to alt-tab constantly.
If you're willing to alt-tab with the Windows task manager with the performance tab open, you can see your cpu & gpu usage on a scrolling graph as well without installing any tools. If you were GPU limited and could manage 999 fps at 100% gpu usage, then it's not strange to expect only 25% gpu usage if fps_max was at 250fps too. Identify what hardware is the highest in percentage usage when your fps is below your fps_max.
Consistency with fps is the #1 priority. Capping it at 100fps & never dipping below that ever is much better then playing at 200fps where it keeps crashing to 100fps during heavy action throwing off your aim mid-fight. Ultimate goal is to play at or above your displays hz as that's the number of frames per second your monitor is drawing. Turn off all the bullshit inside your videocard's Nvidia Settings/control panel which will override tfc's unconfigurable settings, as the opengl will look to that for everything the old game doesn't offer but does support. | |
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[IOD]Snips
Super Regular
Speed Sniping
Master
| | | P: | 04/23/2024 03:56 EST |
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Something the OP can try too is after they've backed up the entire Half-Life folder
Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Half-Life
Now try closing steam, delete the entire half-life folder in the steam apps since you made your backup already, open steam and reinstall the game TFC. Fresh config.cfg & fresh settings are now present, then finally create a server again to see if you're experiencing rocketlag still. Because you made that backup of your half-life folder, your original config.cfg along with custom sprites or scripts are still there ready to restore. If that fixed everything, then replace your new installation with your old config.cfg to see if its an in-game setting that was the culprit. Isolating & identifying the problem should be straightforward after that.
You might want to "write down" your in-game tfc settings first too. Such as mouse sensitivity number, which things have a checkbox, resolution, etc, as they're not carried over I don't think. Keybindings are all inside the config.cfg so you won't have to redo those, just copy/paste from your old config when tfc is closed. | |
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XenOz3r0xT
Super Regular
Shotgun Quick
Draw
| | P: | 04/23/2024 11:34 EST |
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He’s been MIA for a few days now so I guess no 1v1 of him vs pepper jack is gonna happen I guess.
| LuCuS wrote:
I've tried Xeno's config but didn't do much
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You have to mess with it. No one persons’ settings will work for another, even in the same area. I believe spoofer uses something in the 30s or 40s while I use 100 or 102 (IDR). Also I have to do a weird thing like when the round starts for some reason 100 doesn’t work so I have to switch it to 10 and then back to 100 and then TFC plays smooth as butter. IDK why this is but it’s something I figured out while experimenting. | |
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mmarino51589
Super Regular
Soldier Flag
Defense
| | | P: | 04/23/2024 12:12 EST | | E: | 04/23/2024 12:23 EST |
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Guys, computer hardware is almost never the problem nowadays. I ran TFC on a GeForce FX5200 for YEARS at buttery smooth ~70+fps with a P4 @2.8Ghz and 1Gb RAM
The problem is configuration/network related
The shittiest video cards in existence nowadays (even integrated graphics) are still light years ahead of old PCI cards
TFC is a 25 year old game. There's NEVER going to be an issue with hardware with any computer built in the last 10 years or so. That still puts your "old hardware" at 15 years newer than the game
edit: he still won't 1v1 me | |
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Once I get this figured out, I will. But, as I've learned, you're pepperjack cheese, lol.
What do you intend to do? snipe me? 1v1 ofire 10 run/ea. What's your plan? | |
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| [IOD]Snips wrote:
I would absolutely change the rate higher then 10000. Also I always play with "net_graph 3" which shows my fps, and also displays the packetloss and choke to better understand what's occurring during a lag spike or just typical behavior. If your fps or latency/ping become unusual, this gives you the ability to monitor that better. The 1999 server is currently having a lag spike issue with their host mostly for comcast/xfinity customers this past week, not fixed yet but they're working on it. When this occurs it shows packetloss of over 80 for 2sec as it goes back down to 0. Getting choke can be a sign of the server acting up, but you can definitely get choke with settings too low also. Packetloss can occur regularly if your internet overall is bad or if you're playing on wifi that is weak or during brief signal strengths changes.
Run some speedtests online from different websites, make sure you're getting what you're paying for, for download/upload bandwidth speeds. You likely are with Fiber but just double check. Also check your jitter for download, upload and idle too, this is even more important for realtime applications such as online gaming. Jitter is the difference inbetween your lowest and highest pings.
The anniversary update came out last year & the OP said he's had this issue for 2-3 years so that can't be the source. Did your problems occur the exact time you moved? Before you moved did you still have Fiber?
You should follow what Xen suggested and change it back to legacy or the opposite of whatever it is right now for you. Also like he said, would be helpful to hear the specs of your computer. What videocard are you using? | |
Answering a few things on this reply -
Yes, this started around the time I quit (26mo ago since pepperjack elevator sniping scrub has been counting) - it essentially made me quit.
This has happened on two different (including this laptop I'm on) computers.
Current Laptop specs: (I monitor everything with overlawys hwinfo etc.)
Intel Core i9-12900H
RTX 3070ti
300mhz screen (confirmed display properties)
300fps w/explosions etc. holds. no drops.
vsync forced off in geforce control panel
"legacy" selected for half life.
Fresh install seemed to have help a lot; right on it seems like all my concs are "duds" even with perfect jump timing by the beeps.
Improvement but not quite there. | |
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XenOz3r0xT
Super Regular
Shotgun Quick
Draw
| | P: | 04/23/2024 14:38 EST |
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Try matching the FPS to your monitor. Sometimes tearing/ lag occurs. I’m at the Starbucks drive thru lol but google optimal fps values for goldsrc. That will help. | |
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mmarino51589
Super Regular
Soldier Flag
Defense
| | | P: | 04/23/2024 14:55 EST |
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just as in the old thread, you are mistaking me for Jodi, the big dawg...i do not elevator snipe
1v1 10r on ofire? mulch? speedrun concmap_vi4? whatever you want babe | |
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| Forums > General Discussion (Archives) > Tfc is super laggy - need some help |
