v1.18.8 - net7 migration completed

[Tyron]

Dear Extraordinary Survivalists
v1.18.8, a stable release, can now be downloaded through the account manager (section "Other Goodies").

As mentioned in the previous devlog post we are migrating from the .net4 to the .net7 framework. It was a half year long parallel project that is now finally ready. Thank you to everyone who tested our net7 testing releases, that was immensely helpful!


Screenshot by ElvisAlligator, shared in #screenshots on Discord
 

Game updates (compared to 1.18.7)

• Changes in 1.18.8.rc.1
  • Feature: VS now runs under the .net7 framework, improving overall performance
  • Feature: added option to set the window to be always on top (useful for multi-monitor setups with the net7 versions of the game)
  • Tweak: server.sh for Linux servers: Fixed check for requirements and use the net7 dotnet binary to not require DOTNET_ROOT to be set to start the server
  • Fixed: RiftWard stuck in off state when turned off and the world was reloaded (thanks Eugene [Discord] and korobya [PR #21])
• Changes since 1.18.8-rc.1
  • Fixed: Able to refuel the terminus teleporter by breaking and placing it (thanks korobya)
  • Fixed: Able to freely transport boiling water from hotsprings. Will now turn into normal water instead.
  • Fixed: Should fix water not rendering on AMD cards with dynamic shadows disabled

 

View full record

[NastyFlytrap]

Im not seeing any performance improvement. Maybe 2-3 FPS extra, tops.

With version 1.18.6-rc.1 its 62-63 FPS looking at a medium sized rockformation
With version 1.18.8 its 64-65 FPS

I was kinda expecting a bit more of an uplift

Also did you change the performance graph in the graphics menu or did my mods do that? I am not a fan

[LisbonJoker]

With this new update for linux servers the way we setup Systemd is now different. There is no longer "VintagestoryServer.exe" and other files as well.

https://wiki.vintagestory.at/index.php?title=Setting_up_a_Multiplayer_Server#Debian_with_systemd_service_and_rsyslog

[GreyAbyss]

i have installed the update, along with the .net desktop, along with the framework, yet i still cant open vintage story

Edited August 10, 2023 by GreyAbyss

[Thorfinn]

Still gives the same weird message on exit from main menu.

Know I've given the specs on this machine before. It's the 16 GB, 3.5 GHz i5 with the 980 Strix, if that helps. Hums along in High settings (after getting rid of the FPS limiter) at 115+ on start, 98 after most of a day's exploration (4400 blocks E of spawn, 2 bears jumping around in the same FOV). Came back up to 110+ after sitting still for a while doing clayforming,5 pit kilns now running. Seems to fly along just great. Haven't caught it doing any lag spikes. And that's even with somewhere around 30 tabs open in Brave.

The weird message doesn't seem to do anything bad. Memory seems to be released, files closed properly, I can reload the game fine. I just have to let the machine nag me 3 times before it lets me do something else.

[NastyFlytrap]

31 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Still gives the same weird message on exit from main menu.

Know I've given the specs on this machine before. It's the 16 GB, 3.5 GHz i5 with the 980 Strix, if that helps. Hums along in High settings (after getting rid of the FPS limiter) at 115+ on start, 98 after most of a day's exploration (4400 blocks E of spawn, 2 bears jumping around in the same FOV). Came back up to 110+ after sitting still for a while doing clayforming,5 pit kilns now running. Seems to fly along just great. Haven't caught it doing any lag spikes. And that's even with somewhere around 30 tabs open in Brave.

The weird message doesn't seem to do anything bad. Memory seems to be released, files closed properly, I can reload the game fine. I just have to let the machine nag me 3 times before it lets me do something else.

What's your render distance?

[Thorfinn]

512.

[EDIT]

Sorry. Forgot I changed that from the default, too. I think that's it, though. I think everything else is default.

[/EDIT]

Edited August 9, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Streetwind]

4 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

Im not seeing any performance improvement. Maybe 2-3 FPS extra, tops.

With version 1.18.6-rc.1 its 62-63 FPS looking at a medium sized rockformation
With version 1.18.8 its 64-65 FPS

I was kinda expecting a bit more of an uplift

Also did you change the performance graph in the graphics menu or did my mods do that? I am not a fan

Any performance optimization will always depend on the end user's system. Different systems are bottlenecked by different things. If for example the game fixes a major CPU load issue, but you were already GPU bound, you will not notice much of an improvement.

Unfortunate, but it happens.

(And no, I don't know what exactly got improved by the migration. I'm not software development savvy enough for that.)

[Rhyagelle]

7 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

Im not seeing any performance improvement. Maybe 2-3 FPS extra, tops.

With version 1.18.6-rc.1 its 62-63 FPS looking at a medium sized rockformation
With version 1.18.8 its 64-65 FPS

I was kinda expecting a bit more of an uplift

Also did you change the performance graph in the graphics menu or did my mods do that? I am not a fan

It depends on your hardware. How old is it? If it's really old, nothing is ever really going to make your system perform like it's 10x better. If its newer than say 2018, it should have helped more than that, for sure. You could try to clean re-install your drivers. 

[NastyFlytrap]

2 hours ago, Rhyagelle said:

It depends on your hardware. How old is it? If it's really old, nothing is ever really going to make your system perform like it's 10x better. If its newer than say 2018, it should have helped more than that, for sure. You could try to clean re-install your drivers. 

i7-8700 and 2060. GPU bound as the other guy said. I just thought that the uplift came where it'd matter for everyone who didnt underspec CPU's

6 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

512.

[EDIT]

Sorry. Forgot I changed that from the default, too. I think that's it, though. I think everything else is default.

[/EDIT]

Huh. How tf
Im running on high ish settings, on 512 aswell, and with a 2060 im getting a lot less FPS

Here are my settings
No clue how you're getting so many frames with a card much older than mine
Maybe its the resolution? Im at 1440p

[Thorfinn]

Looks like you have several settings higher than what my install shows as defaults for High.

I'm headed out to get some sleep. I've been at the office for over 20 hours already. I'll respond in the morning, or whenever I get in. My boss will understand. (I'm him.)

[EDIT]

FWIW, I set my machine to what I think are your settings. SSAO, Shadows, Dynamic Lights cranked, AO+Smoothlight disabled, Field of View increased a tad.. Avg=84, Min=82, occasionally 81. Only difference I can see is I don't know whether or not I have a waterfall in my FOV.

[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]

Found a waterfall. Actually 2 of them. Avg=53, Min=48, using your settings. But we knew flowing water was the mind-killer, right?

[/EDIT2]

Edited August 10, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Maelstrom]

7 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

But we knew flowing water was the mind-killer, right?

All along I thought it was fear.  

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion...

[Rhyagelle]

20 hours ago, NastyFlytrap said:

i7-8700 and 2060. GPU bound as the other guy said. I just thought that the uplift came where it'd matter for everyone who didnt underspec CPU's

Huh. How tf
Im running on high ish settings, on 512 aswell, and with a 2060 im getting a lot less FPS

Here are my settings
No clue how you're getting so many frames with a card much older than mine
Maybe its the resolution? Im at 1440p

I'm on 1440p and I have the k version of that CPU. I used to play with the KO version of that GPU, too, but recently upgraded to a 3060 Ti. I get about 80-90 with some settings turned down on the old version of the game. Have you tried to turning down some of the options? Maybe that PC's CPU isn't strong enough to be pushing 1440p at stable 60fps, let alone above it, in a game like this.  

[NastyFlytrap]

10 hours ago, Rhyagelle said:

I'm on 1440p and I have the k version of that CPU. I used to play with the KO version of that GPU, too, but recently upgraded to a 3060 Ti. I get about 80-90 with some settings turned down on the old version of the game. Have you tried to turning down some of the options? Maybe that PC's CPU isn't strong enough to be pushing 1440p at stable 60fps, let alone above it, in a game like this.  

I suppose i could turn some settings down, although i have no idea if the options with sliders even affect the FPS much, and the ones with drop down menus i'd like to keep the same since they make the game look significantly uglier

Also, CPU usage is at 50%. You can clearly see that in the image, im GPU bottlenecked.

[Thorfinn]

Right. And you can also see from mine that with a vastly inferior CPU and GPU, better framerates are easily achievable at default High settings. And,  yes, you can see from the slider I'm on 1440, too.

Try it. Select the High preset (the pulldown that currently says "Custom"), extend your View Distance, get rid of the FPS limiter, don't touch anything else, and see what you get. If you can't beat the 100+ of an i5 with a 980 Strix something is definitely wrong with your system. And I suspect you are using and SSD, right? My i5 is still running on a 7200 RPM drive of some type. No, I don't remember what, but it was near the best platter available in 2014 or so when I put it together.

FWIW, I don't get a whole lot better overall framerate with my i7/1080Ti or with my i9/4080. I strongly suspect that despite what the numbers appear to show, I'm SSD limited, which explains why things get better when I stop sprinting and let the system catch up.

[EDIT]

BTW, if you hover over the names of the sliders, you can see that SSAO, Shadows and Dynamic Lights all have a significant effect on FPS. If you gotta have that, then you gotta have that. Your call in the kind of tradeoffs you will accept. Utopia is not an option.

[/EDIT]

Edited August 11, 2023 by Thorfinn

[NeEshOrlana]

Uuuh, am I the only one whose game actually began to run SLOWER? Likee, I'm getting a bunch of lag spikes regardless of whether shadows are on or off, and in 1.18.6 I could quite easily run VS on my potato laptop with shaders and even stream. Is there any way to help this?

[Thorfinn]

Maybe. I think generally I saw the opposite on my systems, though there were exceptions. For example, when exploring, by afternoon, in 1.18.6 my potato (i5/980 Strix) dropped to around 70s and 80s with everything High settings except 512 view distance. Now, I had 20-odd tabs open in Brave, and as it turns out, Avast running. When I then sat still for minute or two building a charcoal pit, it increased to somewhere around 100. I have not tested again, but when I last tried (yesterday afternoon), 18.8 was in the 80s and 90s while still exploring at a sprint at about noon, though I know that was with Brave closed and Avast inactive. It returned to 100+ when remaining relatively stationary.

It's kind of hard to say exactly, because I think maybe the caverns and flowing water and such vary so widely from location to location, but are going to affect speed. (Just tested my 1.18.6 install half an hour ago, after seeing your question.) My 1.18.7 install played just a tad slower. It got back up to the same roughly 100 when clayforming at about noon, but while sprinting was in the 60s and 70s. Anecdotally, I think sand/gravel are faster than grassland, which is faster than lakes, but I don't know whether maybe that's just perception -- simply a function of there being less to look at in a gravel location. Or maybe less grass means less grass to animate. Or maybe the wind was less, so wasn't affecting water and treetops and grass as much. Shrug.

[EDIT]

Upshot is that I think the game is modeling way too much, and way too variable, to come up with a hard and fast number. If you have a waterfall somewhere in your rendered view, that is a hard hit to FPS.

[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]

Incidentally, if you are getting lag spikes, it's probably worth the time to track down why. If you are vanilla, where are those coming from?

[/EDIT2]

Edited August 11, 2023 by Thorfinn

[Guimoute]

Reminder that disabling all the FPS limiters (in-game "VSync Mode" and "Max FPS", in your GPU's control panel) is equivalent to asking your graphics card to run at 100% to produce as many images per second as possible, which in turn can cause framerate instability. Cap it.