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meter problems!!!!!!

• Richard4168 4,309 Posts

  Tue, Dec 28 2010 11:01 PM

  It would be great to see WGT get some real competition, but the technology just isn't there yet. HTML5 is promising, but has a long way to go. Silverlight is an option, but Microsoft will only screw it up, i.e., IE. I'm reading about flash hybrid players that seem to be promising and we might see something much later in 2011.

  I often thought WGT should've implemented more features in the game before introducing it to the masses in a open BETA testing. This would have allowed WGT to catch, and fix more bugs. Who knows, the game could be at a whole new level of play right now. I realize they were looking to generate cash-flow right away, but like you said, that's all it's turned into it seems, and the product seems to be falling behind and/or suffering with all the unanswered complaints we read in the forums. Don't get me wrong, the features are great, it's the bugs that make it difficult to play the features without any predicament.

  I hope everything works out for WGT and I'm sure it will, but who knows, there could be a BETA golf game out there coming to a browser near everyone real soon. And I'm not talking about that cartoon golf game TWO, or anything like it.

   

• VanHalenLover 1,422 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 1:25 AM

  borntobesting:

  There is no data sent or received from the time the hole loads until I click to complete the swing

  If that were the case, you would not see any in game chat or friends list changes, invites, etc until after the swing; which is not the case.

  It may not be a lot of data that is moving, but it's there. Kinda makes what else is moving that isn't so easy to recognize, doesn't it?

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 6:44 AM

  Richard4168:

  WGT has said many times, in so many words, that they have a gem of a game here and have done all they can do to assure playability for their members as it is laid-out in the Term & conditions as well. 

  I'd like to see where you got this idea that WGT has said many times they have done all they can do to assure playability Richard.  I'd like to see some references from you of an Admin stating as such.

  Here's a reference, from way back in January 2009, where WGT said the exact opposite of what you said:

  WGTAdmin:

  If you want help and you have a swing meter performance issue, please take a screen shot of your task manager processes while you play so we can see what other applications are running and what might be using your CPU resources.

  In the meantime we will continue to investigate this issue and optimize the game's CPU and memory usage.

  Here's another statement from WGTNiv back in April of this year:

  WGTNiv:

  Unfortunately, the sporadic meter issues that occur for some players are usually unique to that users setup and naturally those problems can be harder to take care of since they are not global.  We have said many times before that we will continue to address and improve performance to decrease those sporadic issues for those players and we thank you for bearing with us.

  Do you have similar proof of your outlandish statement?

   

• Richard4168 4,309 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 7:57 AM

  Outlandish? The forums are filled with members seeking fixes to the game if you haven't noticed. If you take merit in those old posts by nivlac to just make a point, good for you. That information is null and void being none of it ever came to fruition. WGT apparently needs to continue to address and improve performance.

  Your ancient post is outlandish.  LOL!!

   

  You and YJ can post rebuttals all you want. I will not respond. Watch it fellas.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 8:50 AM

  Richard4168:

  You and YJ can post rebuttals all you want

  Now why you gotta drag me into this, Richard4168? I was minding my own business.You still mad because I wouldn't accept your Friend request? (You already deleted me twice!)  You know you don't stand a chance against Andyson's facts, regardless of the fact you don't think facts are ever pertinent. 

  You haven't said anything worth rebutting.  :-)

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 9:18 AM

  Richard4168:

  The clubs name changes, and the ball name changes when we use the spin option. If a person tries to swing while these animations are in motion, their going to get a meter stutter every-time. Flash needs to to settle-down, and make ready for the next command. A slower rate of play would reduce meter problems considerably for a lot of members.

  This is essentially correct.  A slower, more deliberate style of play will reduce meter problems by allowing your CPU to settle down after taking action on the screen.

  I ran some tests of various actions as evidence. I used the same setup to monitor my CPU performance as I have used before.  Only the game client Firefox window open, Browser and Flash plug-in process affinity set to CPU 1, low flash quality, aim arc and avatar movement turned on, pretty much nothing going on in CPU 1 other than the game.  Browser cache cleared at the start.

  Each horizontal line is 10% CPU usage, each vertical line is 5 seconds elapsed time.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Observations:

  Changing the spin on the ball or checking our ball type has minimal CPU impact, about a 10% increase and need not be worried about.

  Pulling down any of the three menus, main menu, friends, or invite, has minimal CPU impact.  WGT did a good job with these animations.

  Changing clubs has a significant impact on our CPUs. Anywhere from 5 to 10 second increase in CPU usage of 30 to 50%.  I think the reason is because the avatar stance changes and the club on the screen changes rather than the pop-up club menu animation.  Room for improvement by WGT IMO.  Make sure to wait for the CPU to settle down after changing clubs.

  Moving the aim triangle on the mini-map or fairway has a significant impact on our CPUs. About a 5 second increase in CPU usage of 50%.  Continuously re-drawing the aim box and arc on the screen is my guess on the reason.  Turning the aim arc off only provides a slight improvement.  Room for improvement by WGT IMO.  Make sure to wait for the CPU to settle down after moving the aim triangle on the fairway or mini-map.

  Zoom, move aim marker, zoom back has a huge impact on our CPUs.  It takes about 10 seconds to complete the actions with an increase in CPU usage peaking at 70%.  The screen image is loaded with the new view, marker moved, and then the original image is re-loaded.  I wasn't running full screen either.  Worth looking into how images are cached and loaded on the screen IMO, although it should be basic stuff inside Flash.  The image size isn't that huge at 120 to 150kb each. Make sure to wait for the CPU to settle down after changing views to aim.

  Standing idle on the tee uses about 12% of my CPU capacity.  The only animations are on the mini-map, the flag moving and the ball location pulsing on the tee.  Hard to believe those two small animations take 12%.  What else is going on inside WGTs code when I'm not doing anything?  Something WGT could look at and reduce.  Kill the  flag flapping and ball location pulsing for starters.  If idle usage were cut in half to 6% it would save some meter stutters I'd bet.

  Right now we should play more deliberately and take our time after some of the above actions.

   

   

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 9:26 AM

  Richard4168:

  Outlandish?

  Yes, your statement,  "WGT has said many times, in so many words, that they have a gem of a game here and have done all they can do to assure playability for their members"

  IS outlandish and made up since you provide no supporting facts.

  The remainder of your last post is too weird to comment on let alone rebut. LOL!!

• x1524807 776 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 9:28 AM

  "]

  WGTNiv:

  Unfortunately, the sporadic meter issues that occur for some players are usually unique to that users setup

   I was playing beth front 9. We were commenting until the 8th how smooth the meter was. We hit the 8th and jerkometer appeared on my tee shot, sent me all the way to the right. he asked what happened, and i told him meter jerk. He shot, whoops, meter jerk sent his ball to visit my ball.. Putt went smooth and 9th was perfect. So, what happened. Kinda destroys wgt theory that it is just a select few

  Another thing, alternate shots, it takes forever to load 4 people. Sometimes you lose before you start because the patience level is gone, and the plug is pulled. What is with that.

  I have found that playing only 1 or 2 times a day, you can live with the problems that WGT has developed into their game, and I feel sorry for those of you who play often. How much patience can a person have

• Tightrope 1,072 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 9:47 AM

  I hope it is possible to discuss this in a civilized way since we are all on the same side but with different points of views.

  From my point of view it seems like WGT have the possibility to help up by switching off the tasks and channels used for stuff that is not important for the swing, such as chat and status updates. That would not solve everything, but it would improve it. Maybe they already do, I have yet to test it properly. 

  Also, if it is true that holding  a shot a few seconds before releasing it helps, then WGT shoul be able to trigger if a certain task (moving the Avatar for instance) has finishied or not before actually releasing the shot. If the meter stays froze for a second where you released it is a lot better than having it jump some milliseconds before you do your second click.

  It is all events. When you click to start the swing meter, an event is sent to the system who then adds the "swing" icon; while you move, it listens to the events from the comp saying where you move; when you release, WGT system gets a signal about that event and when you click the second time, the computer sends that event to Flash and the WGT app. The app listens and acts. If it listens to chat during that period, it will act. If it needs to act and there is not CPU and memory available for fullfilling all tasks smoothly, some tasks will have too little. What we want is that WGT makes sure that nothing within their own software ever competes with the swing meter. 

   

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Wed, Dec 29 2010 10:33 AM

  Well stated Tightrope.  Stating that the game client is "listening" for events from the computer is an interesting and accurate way to put it.

  You have a nose  for this kind of thing, I think perhaps your background is in computers?