Shotgun Stuttering (Freeze Frame) on Fire 252

Kilo · September 2013

I'm getting a stutter when fireing the shotgun after the reinforced build. I havent really tested it but it seems to happen when I am closer to a wall. Maybe its from the decal and debris that the shells generate on impact? The fps isnt dropping or anything and I generally have good performance other than this one issue. After talking to others ingame I have found I am not alone with this problem... Are the devs aware, working on a fix? I have 1200hrs+ on NS2 and love the game but this is making the game unplayable for me right now as obviously the shotgun is a big part of marine play and needs fast twitch fireing which is impossible with this stutter. I have just bought the shadow pack too

please fix...

Confused · September 2013

Generally there are the reason for this kind of hitch is that something was not correctly cached, or compiled at load time.

Do you have any errors in your console?

If you do not try to run with loadtimes true on and see if there is a something that happens when you fire the shotgun.

Kilo · September 2013

Thanks for the suggestions. Checked the console and there are no errors atall.

After some further testing I no longer think it's anything to do with the decal or debris effect.

Out of my clan of 10 members 2 of us get the stutter on fireing the shotgun so I was assuming it was going to be a fairly widespread issue, if anyone else has this issue and can better technically explain whats happening I would be greatfull if you could post here...

EDIT: I have since verified game cache and then done a full reinstall of NS2 using no workshop mods or anything (also deleting app data from the users/roaming folder), I have also tried running the game at a variety of resolutions and graphical settings and still always have the same issue

Kilo · September 2013

I have just had time to run some further tests on this issue.

I have found that shooting the shotgun drops my fps by about 15-20 (with decal life all the way down and partical quality on low) but this only happens if my fps is already 94 or lower.

If I have 95fps+ I wont get the stutter when shooting the shotgun, nor will I get the 15-20 drop in fps on its fireing.

EDIT: I think it would be worth mentioning that if I'm in a room with say 60fps, shooting any other weapon other than the shotgun wont produce the stutter, it is only the shotgun I have this issue with.

RedSword · September 2013

I happened to "feel" a stutter after (or during) the initial (I mean by this after some time without fireing) shotgun blow... for a couple of times only (not always).

elmo9000 · September 2013

I have the exact same problem, each time i shoot with the shotgun, the game stops for a split second. Otherwise game is running really well 200 fps on empty map, drops to about 100 as lowest while playing.

Kilo · September 2013

@RedSword do you have any idea why you are only sometimes getting it? Is it possible you have the same problem as me, that maybe you only get the freeze frame when fireing the shotgun when at a certain fps or under?

RedSword · September 2013

I'd blame the whole B254/255 lack of testing. Just need to wait for main bug to be solved. This might be a side effect of those or something like that.

IronHorse · September 2013

OK we cannot reproduce this, so for those that are having this issue please follow these instructions and provide us with some screenshots to narrow down the culprit.
Be sure to have the tallest bar at the bottom of your screen selected first, then expand the horizontal purple bars that are the longest.
If you need further help with this please let me know.
Thanks!

Also type loadtimes true and r_loading true into the console once you are in the Ready Room.. be sure to check the console when this hitch occurs for you and see if you can spot anything that just loaded. If so.. type something in the ingame chat like "Hitch" or something to mark the position in the log file.
Then upload your log.txt or techsupport.exe results here. (hopefully with the picture of the profiler too)

Thanks everyone

Kilo · September 2013

@IronHorse

I used loadtimes true and r_loading true but nothing is produced in the console when I fire the shotgun and the game stutters.

I took a screenshot of what is happening in profile at the moment I fire.

Any other gun I shoot is fine but the shotgun produces the long purple bars and a high bar coming up from the bottom on almost every shot I fire.

I also have a fraps video if you would like me to send that to you?

I use all low settings, DX9 and phsyx off, resolution is 720p. (however as I said before I have tried many combinations of setting but always get the same stutter)

Please let me know if this is of any help as I didnt really know what I was doing in the debug mode.

AMD FX Bulldozer 6 core 3.8GHZ
16 GB RAM
Gigabyte HD 6970 2GB

IronHorse · September 2013

Perfect! TY

Kilo · September 2013

@Ironhorse Ok cool. Can you give me some feedback on what it means? Is something happening that shouldnt be? is it something that can/will be "fixed" by the next build?

IronHorse · September 2013

I'll keep you updated when i have something. As of right now, i've shown it to multiple devs, but theres have no fix just yet, as we need to find a way to reproduce it.
So, i know you've confirmed no mods and vanilla server etc.. but i need to find the common element between multiple users.

So everyone that can, please upload your techsupport.exe for comparisons.

Thanks

BTW, the culprit is "TestSweep (9114 calls)"

Kilo · September 2013

Please guys upload the results so the team can get this fixed.

Run techsupport.exe located in ns2 folder (e.g C:\Games\Steam\SteamApps\common\Natural Selection 2\techsupport.exe)

Then save the .zip file it generates and upload here.

Thanks everyone

Kilo · September 2013

Also I dont know if this will help but I've uploaded two more profile shots of me shooting the shotgun. One was taken while having an fps of around 105 (no stutter is produced) and the other was taken on around 75fps (when the game does stutter on fireing).

Kilo · September 2013

Shooting on 75fps and again on 105fps:

IronHorse · September 2013

Thanks @kilo need others now to do the same

edit: I dont need profile shots like kilo gave, i need your techsupport.exe zip file!

JCD · September 2013

Somehow i can't change the selected bar in the profiler

When I click on them nothing happens.

Kilo · September 2013

@JCD After you press Spacebar to pause as fast as you can after the shot, you scroll through the bars using [ & ]. The highlighted one is sometimes only faintly lit up more than the others (depending wether the bars are orange or red) so you have to look very carefully for which one is selected.

Remember to attach your techsupport.exe report too

Thanks

IronHorse · September 2013

I dont need profile shots from others, i need your techsupport.exe zip file!
Thanks!

JCD · September 2013

Just after shooting with the shotgun or after a match?

GhoulofGSG9 · September 2013

@JCD doesn't really matter when, just run the techsupport.exe

tyrer1246 · September 2013

He's my file.

Locklear · September 2013

I get this issue with LMG and SG this build. Almost every time I take an engagement on marine.

elmo9000 · September 2013

Also seems to be happening when I use alien melee attack that hits someone, or alien hits me with melee attack.

Locklear · September 2013

Yes, it seems to happen outside of just the shotgun.

IronHorse · September 2013

UPDATE:
It turned out to be a huge bug, causing all sorts of hell to the game. (networking etc)
It isn't fixed for this patch, but this and the memory crashing issues are the two top issues for next patch.

Kilo · September 2013

Thanks thats great news!!!!!. I dont imagine this will help but here is a screen of me shooting the shotgun in profile build 256. I still get the same stutter but now less long purple bars. Also I dont seem to have thousands of calls for "testsweep" anymore

IronHorse · September 2013

Yea its very easy to reproduce imo..
Thanks

sally_pants · September 2013

I also noticed this after 257 on my machine.

Are you guys still needing info from people experiencing the bug or have you found the culprit?

darkhunt333 · September 2013

Same here, this isn't including the atrocious hit reg because of "networking". Your know how to kill a game. Not even fun to play if skill is thrown out the window of a skill based game.

And get 64 bit ffs 76.48% of users on steam use 64. Update the .exe please.

Shotgun Stuttering (Freeze Frame) on Fire 252

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