The new pain of so-called texture pop-ins in Rome 2

[alQamar]

Hi guys there are already several threads on totalwar.com (support section) regarding this issue. However even though I used the search function, I have not seen a particular thread about that problem here on TWC.

Currently it is somehow one step forward and one step backward with each patch, at least when it comes to technical things, aspects of gameplay aside.

You'll definitely need to run those embedded youtubes @fullscreen and in HD quality to notice the things I talk about.

Quality today (patch 9.1)


Quality on release (a lot less texture pop-ins)


So how does it turn out for yourself? Do you see those pop-ins outside the benchmark when you actually play the game?

[baldrick13]

i haven't noticed any pop-ins during the actual game.....buuuuuuut then again i'm not really the best guy to say so because you of all people have seen my crappy level of technical expertise before

[alQamar]

i haven't noticed any pop-ins during the actual game.....buuuuuuut then again i'm not really the best guy to say so because you of all people have seen my crappy level of technical expertise before

I won't blame you, someday back in time I started as a tech rookie aswell. It is never to late to set ambitions
Have you been able to identify them in the first video at least baldrick?

[baldrick13]

i did see the ground textures and trees randomly appear from nowhere during the camera cuts, every few seconds i saw the screen refresh and something new popped in.

[Totalheadache]

they are probably trying to improve perf by interfering with textures.

[Tr0tskY]

LOD Sprite > 3d model transition in this game is really awful and it needs adressing in a patch. Half the LOD sprites look a completely different texture, colour and model to their 3d model equivalents.

[Kraut and Tea]

I havent had performance issues in since 2 patches.

Then again, I have a pritty awsome pc.

[alQamar]

I havent had performance issues in since 2 patches.

Then again, I have a pritty awsome pc.

I am honestly happy for you, but this thread is not about performance problems, even I do a lot of those but about whether we can reproduce those ugly texture pop-ins (LOD issues) and discuss them.

I have a pretty awesome PC too and can't even play the campaign map without lag.Best game ever !

Please on topic... we have enough discussion threads for this thingy Thank you.

The wrong thing about the graphics in this game, is in lower settings than one of the highest ones, the game looks like .
I personally cant play with neither bad graphics nor lower fps than 45. Took me 50 hours of searching to find the perfect spot.
EDIT: Can Mods change the distance LODS appear?.

There is a trick but apart the fact it did not work for me... it is not applicable either, because the performance will literally die... I am still sad I cannot use it for testing purposes at least :/
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...evel-of-detail

[=Vastator=]

The "performance optimizations" are mainly lod distance reductions--> more "popping up" and model glitches.
I have for you an exclusive screen of patch 16, when they'll reach the maximal performance optimization:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[The Noble Duke Of York]

I noticed this more in the last patch then this current one but perhaps when I load it up this weekend I'll pay more attention.

[Leonidas II]

I have a pretty awesome PC too and can't even play the campaign map without lag.Best game ever !

[Musteline]

The wrong thing about the graphics in this game, is in lower settings than one of the highest ones, the game looks like .
I personally cant play with neither bad graphics nor lower fps than 45. Took me 50 hours of searching to find the perfect spot.
EDIT: Can Mods change the distance LODS appear?.

[baldrick13]

he probably is, although i did notice some significant performance dips in your video Qamar, do you get lag like that often because that particular battle isn't really that intense.

or am i just a retard and its part of the benchmark playback?

[crzyrndm]

Coming from Shogun 2 (were I never made note of it on any settings), the texture pop/LOD issues were always terrible. The fact it's even worse now is definitely cause for concern if this is replicated outside the benchmark.

EDIT

Speaking of the benchmark, since the included one is basically a GPU test, has anyone tried replicating Shogun 2's CPU bench script? Shouldn't be all that difficult since they documented the battle scripts very well as part of the Shogun 2 assembly kit.

[EdwardReynolds]

I get the pop ins everywhere in the game, but the saddest is the campaign map. Every time i scroll at all the new land coming onto the screen pops in. It doesnt cache for later either, I can look at the same spot, move right *pop* then back left *pop*. It is so gross and disappointing and really guts my immersion experience.

[Petroniu]

Oh, I am dealing with such things in the campaign map on a daily basis. When I move the camera very fast from one point of the map to another the very low res textures take a sec or two to dissapear before the high res ones appear. I believe they did this thing in order to improve performance as in if you are not looking there then there is no need for your computer to render such eye candy. It is a very good thing but the reaction time is terrible. That kind of kills off the immersion. It is like when you are watching a very good action movie but you can see some of the stunt cables attached to the actors.

[Vimes]

I must admit to not playing with the benchmark, and certainly have not spent the time analysing it as you have done, I think that I ran it once...?

As for the actual game I have noticed that you commented that you are not sure if you can see this in the game, so have you got an actual problem when playing that you have captured on video to illustrate these "The new pain of so-called texture pop-ins in Rome 2"...?
I know that you have remarked that they were a lot less on release, and I still see the texture pop on the warriors chest in both videos for example, but how is your campaign being affected by these...?
I have seen "pop-ins" in many titles but I have not noticed them in this game. I'm not suggesting that they are not there but certainly not enough, if they are, for me to notice them.

[alQamar]

I know and respect you for your expertise and logical approach to problem solving! are you Vulcan sir?

You refer to me? Well I am not a Trekkie so I really cannot determine if I am Vulcan or not, Sir. My ears shape at least look normal and comfortable to me.
What I can say is I just finished to watch 2 episodes of Monk. Perhaps this could explain my addiction to logical approaches and some neurosis I have, too

he probably is, although i did notice some significant performance dips in your video Qamar, do you get lag like that often because that particular battle isn't really that intense.

or am i just a retard and its part of the benchmark playback?

Well the performance dips are there since release more or less anyone will have them on extreme presets or higher. CA explained me that one reason are godrays effects in the woods which are very intense to compute.
The unfortunate situation that the performance in the benchmark is not covering the overall performance in the game is sad enough. Generally the benchmark scene is more demanding and less performant than the game.

Coming from Shogun 2 (were I never made note of it on any settings), the texture pop/LOD issues were always terrible. The fact it's even worse now is definitely cause for concern if this is replicated outside the benchmark.

EDIT

Speaking of the benchmark, since the included one is basically a GPU test, has anyone tried replicating Shogun 2's CPU bench script? Shouldn't be all that difficult since they documented the battle scripts very well as part of the Shogun 2 assembly kit.

Well this is very interesting crzyrndm (how the heck did you get this nick, I can hardly type it without mistyping ). I noticed this pop ups in Shogun 2 benchmark aswell and they are still present if you have a look on the cav and their ballons on their back... I forgot the specific name



They will cause the same model / texture pop-in effects. It looks very irritating aswell.

I get the pop ins everywhere in the game, but the saddest is the campaign map. Every time i scroll at all the new land coming onto the screen pops in. It doesnt cache for later either, I can look at the
same spot, move right *pop* then back left *pop*. It is so gross and disappointing and really guts my immersion experience.

Thank you for your additions!

I must admit to not playing with the benchmark, and certainly have not spent the time analysing it as you have done, I think that I ran it once...?

As for the actual game I have noticed that you commented that you are not sure if you can see this in the game, so have you got an actual problem when playing that you have captured on video to illustrate these "The new pain of so-called texture pop-ins in Rome 2"...?
I know that you have remarked that they were a lot less on release, and I still see the texture pop on the warriors chest in both videos for example, but how is your campaign being affected by these...?
I have seen "pop-ins" in many titles but I have not noticed them in this game. I'm not suggesting that they are not there but certainly not enough, if they are, for me to notice them.

As said I have compared both videos and I think that the pop-ins are much more visible now than they were on release. Especially on trees and units. Certainly, if you haven't spent 57 hours in the benchmark you would not be bothered by those details.

I thought it would be interesting to open a topic about, as some people made various threads about it on totalwar.com, where my access is denied and I won't return either...

[Vimes]

As said I have compared both videos and I think that the pop-ins are much more visible now than they were on release. Especially on trees and units. Certainly, if you haven't spent 57 hours in the benchmark you would not be bothered by those details.

I thought it would be interesting to open a topic about, as some people made various threads about it on totalwar.com, where my access is denied and I won't return either...

So you have not noticed the issue in the game but just relate this as being an "issue" with the benchmark, which you have spent 57 hours running..?!

Each to their own

When I first read your initial post I first thought "what is the actual problem the OP is having with the game...?".

Maybe this post should have been in the technical support section...?

[crzyrndm]

Well this is very interesting crzyrndm (how the heck did you get this nick, I can hardly type it without mistyping ). I noticed this pop ups in Shogun 2 benchmark aswell and they are still present if you have a look on the cav and their ballons on their back... I forgot the specific name

I don't know about the benchmark, I just go by my experience with actual battles, and my impressions were that it shifted from a minor annoyance at best to a glaringly in your face issue that is very difficult to ignore. Especially how they tied unit LOD to a setting (Unit Detail) which made most of the presets look terrible as soon as you zoom out. Annoyingly, that same setting is also tied to the persistence of bodies, and bodies happen to be one of the worst offenders for killing frame rates.

I don't see what the point is in their super detailed textures if they can never be seen. I would have taken average textures and subtle LOD shifts always...