Torso/turret twist tied to fps - low fps = bad turn rate?

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Situation A: Playing from New Zealand to American server, Frostbite, 8 or so players, 20-30 fps. Torso turns a bit slow, and tanks are unusable for me.

Situation B: Playing on Australian server, Frostbite, 30-50 fps, suddenly the Demolisher Prime is an absolute monster, and 'Mech torso twisting is faster and smoother too.

Can anyone in the dev team confirm that torso/turret twist/turn rates are tied to fps? I'm not sure this actually strictly a bug as such, I know other games have features like this too (Doom3 physics being tied to frame rate, for example, which is why even on beastly computers it clamps to around 60 fps), but I wonder if this can be mitigated by setting an enforced turn speed that ignores frame rate? It would help make units more 'viable' for more players, since being unable to twist/turn fast enough when your fps drops can often mean you lose, when you haven't even done anything wrong to earn that death.

[HAARP]

Now that you mention it, I noticed that I almost couldn't twist the turret on a Partisan on a friend's PC. Yes, he had low FPS

[4204ME]

yep does it in tanks and aero aswell.

[7.[WD]Poldi]

yes i believe i noticed that behaviour as well.

[MasterOhh]

Are you sure its because of the FPS and not internet lag? I know this from other games were the server keeps resetting your position if there are connection problems like high ping and packlos. (eg. rubber banding)

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

That might be possible, though if Americans are having that problem on American servers (I don't know where the people replying above live) then I would hesitate to agree. Especially when I know of 2 other games that tie things to fps (CS, Doom3)

[Threesan]

Test to differentiate:
Local dedicated server running Mirage (high FPS) versus Frostbite (low FPS)
Client running 800x600, low all settings on Mirage, versus
Client running 1280x1024, vsync, AAx8, very high all settings

Result:
Huit prime can spin ~10 times in a minute at 8..24 fps
Huit prime can spin ~30 times in a minute at 60..75 fps (not compensating for having to lift the mouse off more often)

Conclusion:
Test result supports that vehicle aiming speed is tied to fps.
(Test does not determine whether ping could also influence turning rate.)

Further observation:
Turret feels more "massive" when turning with low fps. Notably, in the low fps test the turret kept spinning while the mouse was lifted back to the other side of the pad. Hypothesis: speed bleed-off (rotational acceleration in general) is tied to fps, as well. This stacks another aiming difficulty at low fps.

[MerfMerf]

^ Proper way of testing. I applaud your efforts.

Very good information to have.

/Merf - FPS will now have to be factored into aiming.

[MasterOhh]

Ok did some Tests of my own. I was using Fraps, which is limiting the FPS to a preset value while recording.
And you were right. With limited FPS even light mechs feel sluggish and slow responding.
So basicly every movement depends on how good you frame rate is.

The question is, is there an upper limit? Or can I spin a tank turrent like a propeller when I reduce all graphics settings to max out the FPS ?

[Ingrater]

As this has a really huge impact on general gameplay we are going to investiage that further. The question that remains would be "why?"
In theory every movement computed should be independed form the current FPS.

[MasterOhh]

My guess would be that the engine syncs the processing of everything else with video output of your graphic card.
Usualy low FPS means that the movement on your screen becomes choppy because its computed in the background with normal speed but can only be displayed at reduced speed.

Not so in Crysis it seams. Check out the physics videos on youtube that show 3000 exploding barrels. The videos look totaly smooth, but the guy who made them said that he got only 0.5 to 1 FPS while recording the scenes and simply used fast forward to show them in normal speed.

So if that is realy an engine thing, then I don't think it can be fixed.....

[Seraph]

Just to make sure: This is a proper and good way to test and reproduce an issue. Use this as an example when walking over things like "doesn't feel right under certain circumstances". This is what we use when trying to hunt down issues that you discovered!

Thanks Threesan

Test to differentiate:
Local dedicated server running Mirage (high FPS) versus Frostbite (low FPS)
Client running 800x600, low all settings on Mirage, versus
Client running 1280x1024, vsync, AAx8, very high all settings

Result:
Huit prime can spin ~10 times in a minute at 8..24 fps
Huit prime can spin ~30 times in a minute at 60..75 fps (not compensating for having to lift the mouse off more often)

Conclusion:
Test result supports that vehicle aiming speed is tied to fps.
(Test does not determine whether ping could also influence turning rate.)

Further observation:
Turret feels more "massive" when turning with low fps. Notably, in the low fps test the turret kept spinning while the mouse was lifted back to the other side of the pad. Hypothesis: speed bleed-off (rotational acceleration in general) is tied to fps, as well. This stacks another aiming difficulty at low fps.