Anyone else ever noticed some fan missions stutter when loading sounds? - by cavador_8
cavador_8 on 14/2/2018 at 02:28
I have a question. Is it normal for the dark engine to pause or stutter the frame rate while loading certain sounds? I really noticed this more than usual recently while playing Death's Cold Embrace. I played with fraps in the corner tracking my fps and whenever I opened certain doors such as in the Hammerite cathedral or immediately prior to a conversation between guards, my frame rate would dip. Does this happen to everyone or it just me?
Phantom on 14/2/2018 at 03:16
I've only noticed a stutter when the sound file being requested is not in the Thief directory, in which case the game looks for the sound on the disc which takes a little more time. Make sure you have a full install with snd.crf in your Thief2/RES folder.
john9818a on 14/2/2018 at 03:29
This happens when Thief is loading large audio files. This never really happened with the OM or most FMs because the audio files were relatively small and didn't cause any noticeable lag.
Zontik on 15/2/2018 at 12:52
Even original sounds freeze the game while playing on the weak netbook.
Unna Oertdottir on 15/2/2018 at 13:10
Quote Posted by cavador_8
I have a question. Is it normal for the dark engine to pause or stutter the frame rate while loading certain sounds?
This happens while loading/playing large ogg files ingame. There's an option in FMSel (Install Options--Convert ogg to wav) to convert the sound files on install. This should improve it.
baeuchlein on 15/2/2018 at 14:32
There are several reasons for why the game may stutter when loading sounds. My fairly new (about 5 years old) laptop may stutter for a short time when a sound is played the first time, but afterwards, there is no delay anymore before playing that sound again. Older machines did not do that. It seems to have become more frequent with NewDark, but I am not sure.
If it's just a short delay before a sound is played, try to live with it. If it proves to be more annoying than that, try to get help in the thread for technical problems if this thread here does not yield a solution.
Yandros on 15/2/2018 at 18:19
It happened in OldDark with larger .wav files too. Unna's suggestion will probably help for newer missions which include .ogg files, but ultimately the cause is when authors choose to use long sounds for ambients and such, as I did in some cases for DCE.
cavador_8 on 18/2/2018 at 05:03
Quote:
It seems to have become more frequent with NewDark, but I am not sure.
I have been playing through my collection of FMs and so far absolutely none of my older missions (pre new dark) have this problem. I am playing all of them so far at a solid 60 fps and that number never changes. However, when I have played newer missions such as Death's Cold Embrace and Home Sweet Home, I get areas where the frame rate drops suddenly, especially when a certain sound comes up or I enter a new area. Could this be a new dark issue? Yandros, did you include any lengthy ambients in Home Sweet Home? Didn't you work some on that one?
downwinder on 18/2/2018 at 06:41
only time i have the audio stutter is during some cut scenes
Yandros on 18/2/2018 at 06:53
@cavador_8: I just polished a few things and had it tested, all the ambients were set by Lady Rowena. It definitely used to happen occasionally in OldDark for me with longer sound files, which I think is the key here.