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My Halo 3 framerate problems. Please read.

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Ya know, I just had a thought...

Do you think it's possible that the "replay recorder" is actually having a negative effect on performance? I wonder if you can disable it to find out? It's just that the performance issues really don't seem to have anything to do with what's actually happening on screen.
 

Tieno

Member
dark10x said:
Don't worry, it's nowhere near as low as Killzone. Not even in the same ballpark. It just has that unoptimized feel...
Ah, ok, you had me worried there. Based on the footage I have seen I probably won't have a problem cause for my eyes it's very smooth.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Tieno said:
Ah, ok, you had me worried there. Based on the footage I have seen I probably won't have a problem cause for my eyes it's very smooth.
I doubt you will. It's an issue in such a way that most folks may never notice it and proclaim a flawless framerate. Unfortunately for my eyes, the game doesn't feel as smooth as it should. :(
 
i doubt it's linked to the recorder, as that just records player data, check out the size of the data on one of those files and you'll have an idea of just how much data is actually recorded...

but yeah, the framerate is def. not a steady 30fps!
 

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
Did they ever add that subtle blur that Gears employs? Made a huge difference IMO re: fluidity.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
DaCocoBrova said:
Did they ever add that subtle blur that Gears employs? Made a huge difference IMO re: fluidity.
Yes, there is blur, but it's even more subtle than Gears.
 
seriously i only experienced an unstable framerate when the big shit happened and while it loaded and at check points. otherwise i DID NOT have slowdown standing around in an empty room picking up weapons. there were a few other instances too where it dipped, but for the most part it was a stable 30fps.

i haven't tried mp yet so i can't comment on that.
 

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
The people I've talked to say the game is smooth. This doesn't have anything to do w/ the 360's cache?
 

Kujo

Member
When I played the game at the Halo 3 media event a month ago, I have to say that I did notice some possible framerate problems. Not for the single player mind you, that seemed to run smooth, but the multi player felt sluggish at times. I didn't want to mention it because it could have just been that it was an earlier build, but it seems like the final build hasn't improved it much.

You might not notice it in MP, but for me, going from playing a FPS at 60fps the day before, I could feel a difference. But it's not too bad, I got use to it after a few rounds.
 

Philthy

Member
The 360s all use different DVD drives. It might be possible some drives seek the data differently, faster or slower. I've had my drive die on me once already.

It wouldn't surprise me at this point.
 
Call Microsoft and tell them to make better 360's.If they refuse to tell them you want your money back.

My friend has been playing all day, no problems so far.
 

tha_con

Banned
Come on, the frame rate isn't THAT bad. Sure, it stutters on occasion, but they are MINOR drops, very very small, with an occasional stutter or jump.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
AfunkyArcadeStick said:
Call Microsoft and tell them to make better 360's.If they refuse to tell them you want your money back.

My friend has been playing all day, no problems so far.
Not a 360 problem. Aside from others reporting, I've tested it both on my own 360 and a brand new (well, less than two week old) HDMI sporting 360 Premium. Same issues (and the my buddy with the new 360 was using the system in SD mode even, so it's not a resolution issue).

Come on, the frame rate isn't THAT bad. Sure, it stutters on occasion, but they are MINOR drops, very very small, with an occasional stutter or jump.
No, it's not that bad and there really aren't many significant drops (which is what you are likely looking for). The problem is that it isn't completely smooth during normal panning (90% of the time). If you just stand still and rotate the camera, you should notice that the panning doesn't move at a constant rate. There are very small hiccups that occur constantly. I've become used to it and it doesn't bother me all that much now, but it's still annoying.
 

tha_con

Banned
dark10x said:
No, it's not that bad and there really aren't many significant drops (which is what you are likely looking for). The problem is that it isn't completely smooth during normal panning (90% of the time). If you just stand still and rotate the camera, you should notice that the panning doesn't move at a constant rate. There are very small hiccups that occur constantly. I've become used to it and it doesn't bother me all that much now, but it's still annoying.

Oh no, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen it, and I know it's there, I just don't think it's that bad. Granted, some of us may be spoiled by the likes of Resistance, and I'd expect most FPS titles that are at 30fps to maintain that no matter what, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 

Dave Long

Banned
tha_con said:
Oh no, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen it, and I know it's there, I just don't think it's that bad. Granted, some of us may be spoiled by the likes of Resistance, and I'd expect most FPS titles that are at 30fps to maintain that no matter what, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
Some of us play games on PCs too, where 30fps is often considered very low.
 

plague

Member
No multiplayer level in Halo 3 is at 20fps when you are running around by yourself. Sure if 16 people are next to eachother in the middle of the map all throwing a grenade you'll probably notice it slowdown.. but not under normal circumstances.

Are you playing locally? or connected to live? Definitely seems like something is wrong with your box or your set up in some way.
 

tha_con

Banned
Dave Long said:
Some of us play games on PCs too, where 30fps is often considered very low.

Well, I guess the short and sweet of it is, Consoles are still in their infancy, and expecting so much at such high resolutions with such limited resources is a bit ridiculous.

When a PC can sport 512MB of Video Memory, 500+Mhz GPU speeds, 2GB of System Memory, and standard HDD to cache / stream from etc, you get sort of a 'performance jump". Expecting a console game to look as good as a PC game, anytime of the year, is overboard.

And who wants to spend money on PC gaming anway? pffft.
 

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
tha_con said:
Well, I guess the short and sweet of it is, Consoles are still in their infancy, and expecting so much at such high resolutions with such limited resources is a bit ridiculous.


No it's not... Not when there are games on the market that have achieved this.

Going between this and CoD4 will be a chore.
 

Dave Long

Banned
tha_con said:
Well, I guess the short and sweet of it is, Consoles are still in their infancy, and expecting so much at such high resolutions with such limited resources is a bit ridiculous.

When a PC can sport 512MB of Video Memory, 500+Mhz GPU speeds, 2GB of System Memory, and standard HDD to cache / stream from etc, you get sort of a 'performance jump". Expecting a console game to look as good as a PC game, anytime of the year, is overboard.

And who wants to spend money on PC gaming anway? pffft.
The only ridiculous thing is your post.
 
tha_con said:
Well, I guess the short and sweet of it is, Consoles are still in their infancy, and expecting so much at such high resolutions with such limited resources is a bit ridiculous.

When a PC can sport 512MB of Video Memory, 500+Mhz GPU speeds, 2GB of System Memory, and standard HDD to cache / stream from etc, you get sort of a 'performance jump". Expecting a console game to look as good as a PC game, anytime of the year, is overboard.

And who wants to spend money on PC gaming anway? pffft.

You fail to realise that a console game can be heavily optimised for the exact specification of hardware.
 

squatingyeti

non-sanctioned troll
sega4ever said:
and call of duty 4 is a multiplatform game so no standard hdd for it

How the hell does this crap still come out of people's mouths? Just because it has to be made to work without a HDD, doesn't mean that it isn't programmed to take advantage of it. It's like you all believe it's an either or when, in fact, it is not remotely. It WILL be programmed to take advantage of an HDD.
 

tha_con

Banned
Dave Long said:
The only ridiculous thing is your post.

Because obviously me making a joking stab at PC gaming deserves insults :lol Way to back your point.

Fact: All games are not created Equal.

Fact: Letting a small frame rate issue get in the way of your enjoyment in a game is ridiculous.

Fact: Coming in here to brag about PC gaming and your 'quality gaming experience' is probably pretty unwarranted, considering it's completely off topic and posted only out of spite in reference to console gaming.

How about we keep this civil instead of crying about frame rates, or bragging that our PC rigs are much better? Honestly, 120fps is overkill, 30fps is fine for console gaming, and we can all get along, so long as none of us pull out our e-dicks and try to prove who's the bigger and better gamer simply because "zomg my frames per second own your base".
 
A friend of mine experienced similar problems with Bioshock, almost as if it was having problems accessing the disc. It was fine for the first couple of weeks but then got gradually worse until it was freezing for about a second every 15 seconds or so. He thought it was because his hard drive was full and it was trying to auto save, but after deleting some demos the problem persisted.
 

tha_con

Banned
Opus Angelorum said:
You fail to realise that a console game can be heavily optimised for the exact specification of hardware.

I don't fail to realize anything. What I do realize is that Halo 3 had to make it out this holiday season to keep MS in a big lead.

What I realize is, aside from Mass Effect, the 360 wasn't going to push huge numbers in software for the Holiday Season. Halo 3 allows MS to sell as many 360's as they can at a higher price point, before the peak holiday season, hopefully increasing their holiday profits.

I realize that this was a business choice, not a 'oh we're done with the game'.

I also realize that it was to be expected, given the frame rates in Halo 1 and 2.

I don't understand WHY this topic is getting so much attention, when we're only talking the occasional 5 or 6 frames 4 or 5 times a minute, at least that's how it felt in my time with it.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
I agree the game has poor AA but the FPS is rock solid, and I've been playing some goddamned intense games today.

Except... my 360 is failing me once again (I fixed it from RROD). It crashed on me a few times this morning, but so far has been 6 hours+ running without a hitch. Oh well =P.

Very good game though!
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
Kid Chameleon said:
A friend of mine experienced similar problems with Bioshock, almost as if it was having problems accessing the disc. It was fine for the first couple of weeks but then got gradually worse until it was freezing for about a second every 15 seconds or so. He thought it was because his hard drive was full and it was trying to auto save, but after deleting some demos the problem persisted.
DVD drive.

The drives in the 360 are my number one annoyance, and I know a few friends who have had drives die because games that rely on streaming (Saints Row and Crackdown are favourites at killing DVD drives).
 

Lince

Banned
anyone else noticing in campaign mode small framerate hiccups here and there while the game is loading a new area or in checkpoints?
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Lince said:
anyone else noticing in campaign mode small framerate hiccups here and there while the game is loading a new area or in checkpoints?

Yeah, but that was kinda to be expected...
 

Stalfos

Member
Lince said:
anyone else noticing in campaign mode small framerate hiccups here and there while the game is loading a new area or in checkpoints?

Yeah I've noticed this. It seems to me that there are framerate drops throughout the campaign and not just at checkpoints and such. They aren't necessarily that often and they aren't really low drops but I have noticed them.
 

Sonki.

Banned
I'm a framerate whore and Halo 3 runs at a constant 30 fps with some drops. From what I've played... it doesn't hinder the game.. so far.
 

camineet

Banned
I've seen 4 different copies of Halo 3 running on 3 different Xbox 360 consoles. With all of them, the framerate is an inconsistant 30fps. It's generally 30fps but with drops/dips.

The framerate problems are not horrible but they are very noticable.
 

sega4ever

Member
its not a constant 30 fps if there are framedrops, please stop using butter smooth, rock solid and constant.

for example I have 20/20 vision but I sometimes need to wear glasses to see
 

McLovin

Member
I had a similar issue. When I played the game in single player I had no frame-rate issues whatsoever. But when I played split screen I got frame-rate problems either before or after a cut-scene. One time the screen froze for like 2 seconds and then started up again. Kinda annoying.
 

camineet

Banned
Gorgie said:
As anyone tried running Halo 3 in 480i/p and seeing if the lower resolution makes a difference?

nope, but i'm gonna try that out tommorow on the three Xbox 360's i watched and played Halo 3 on today. i'll post my findings.
 
Gorgie said:
As anyone tried running Halo 3 in 480i/p and seeing if the lower resolution makes a difference?

Yeah I tried running it at 480p and it made no difference at all. I'd be happy to pay Bungie for a patch that locked the framerate at 30fps. Particularly for MP. Only 1 MP map has held 30fps and that was the small one with the high walls surrounding it. The rest range from stutter here and there to 20fps at best. Halo 2 last night online felt like 60fps in comparison. I played Team Snipers on Terminal and it was silky smooth.

How bungie thought they could let the game ship in this condition I'll never know. Unless someone from bungie says that MP maps should all be running locked at 30fps I will continue to believe that they have failed big time with their graphics engine rather than think a lot of people have hardware issues.
 

Fusebox

Banned
After playing the first stages single player and a couple of random stages multiplayer framerate is not an issue here. I didn't notice it drop significantly once.

Bearillusion said:
How bungie thought they could let the game ship in this condition I'll never know. Unless someone from bungie says that MP maps should all be running locked at 30fps I will continue to believe that they have failed big time with their graphics engine rather than think a lot of people have hardware issues.

Lmao dude, don't throw your toys out of the cot its either MP lag or your console or your eyes or some bizarre post-processing being done by your TV, the game is fine.
 

ferrex

Member
Bearillusion said:
How bungie thought they could let the game ship in this condition I'll never know. Unless someone from bungie says that MP maps should all be running locked at 30fps I will continue to believe that they have failed big time with their graphics engine rather than think a lot of people have hardware issues.
plauge already said as much. I'll say it too.

Every MP map should be running firmly at 30fps >95% of the time. Yes, it will drop briefly at times under load, but if you're seeing a regular hitch then something is wrong. Your report is relatively isolated among the hundreds I've been reading for the last 48 hours, which could be indicitive of a subtle error in the game, but is more likely a subtle problem with your system.

As is typically the case when I suspect hardware or system configuration to be the issue, I unabashedly recommend you contact Xbox Support. If this is actually a widespread issue, they will be the first to know about it.
 
ferrex said:
Yes, it will drop briefly at times under load.

I don't mind at all if it drops when there is loads going on ie plasma grenades exploding with mulitple people on screen etc but I'm getting a sluggish/choppy framerate 95% of the time in MP even when I'm on the map by myself. The first two levels in campaign have been very similar but level 3 thus far has been locked at 30. There have been a number of people in this thread experiece similar problems so I find it hard to think we all have defective machines.

I'd call Xbox support but I doubt they will want my machine for repair without red rings and as I said I doubt it's a hardware flaw on my end.

If you pop into the Heavenly Sword thread you'll find people there who say they never notice framerate drops or tearing in that game so it's hard to know if those not seeing any problems just don't notice anyway.
 
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