An Observation - EQ using Innerspace 2 monitors

[Fynody]

I have come back to EQ after boxing on Warcraft for a long time.
I use Innerspace to manage the screen configuration - 1 main screen, with the other accounts arrayed on an adjacent monitor with lower fps.
Like warcraft I have been using one directory to run the game from, expecting innerspace to do its virtual directory thing.

It may be diferent on Live but on an emulated server, with one directory , All the accounts will load and work, however when it comes to loading of any sort ( startup zoning etc) the configuration, switching broadcasting gets very laggy and messed up. Screen switching becomes very muddles with screen disappearing or stacking as opposed to being laid out.

I have recently made copies of the game directory, to allow the "Main" to have sole use of one, and additional copies allowing one to two accounts to share a directory.

The whole configuration have become much more responsive and dynamic to the point I may create 6 directories just to be safe.

Just thought I would comment in case others had the same issue. - This is fo ran emulated server - not live.

 

[dewey2461]

Thank you for your post. I don't use innerspace so I can't comment on exactly what you are seeing but I do have a degree in computer engineering and have read a fair but about CPU's and OS design, not to mention coding and playing EQ !

The key to performance in most cases to avoid loading the same thing twice. There is a fancy word for it called caching. There is caching at the CPU memory level, at the OS file system level, etc. The idea is load once, and if you don't need to the space, go ahead and level the information as close to the CPU as you can.

When you run everything from a single folder and you load multiple instances of the game client, when the game says I need to go load zone XYZ, if you have recently loaded the zone then the OS or CPU cache may have that data already available and not have to go to your file system to read it.

The problem is files the are read/write like your configuration files.

The OS call EQ uses to read/write those files causes the OS to lock the file and during a write operation can result in the read operation failing if the write is too large ( takes too long )

This is how your eqclient and map files can become corrupted when running multiple clients in the same folder.

By putting each client in its own folder you avoid having the clients each fighting for read/write access.

Another way to achieve similar results is to make your eqclient and map files read only.

It would be interesting to see / verify that you get the same increase in performance with your setup.

 

[Fynody]

Thx for the insight, I am not sure how often the eqclient file changes, however I will try setting the maps and mesh files to read only.
after trying that - I will go to 6 game directories, and will report back with findings.

Also worth noting. When run from one folder, all of the client screens show up on the task bar as a single icom which in windows 10 expands to 6 screens when you mouse over.

When run using 3 game directories, I see 3 icons on the task bar with the appropriate number of account screens being shown when mouse over.

 

[dewey2461]

Thx for the insight, I am not sure how often the eqclient file changes, however I will try setting the maps and mesh files to read only.
after trying that - I will go to 6 game directories, and will report back with findings.

Also worth noting. When run from one folder, all of the client screens show up on the task bar as a single icom which in windows 10 expands to 6 screens when you mouse over.

When run using 3 game directories, I see 3 icons on the task bar with the appropriate number of account screens being shown when mouse over.

The eqclient gets written to every time you load a character. It might be on zone as well but I don't that that for sure.

Google " 7+ Taskbar Tweaker " it lets you configure how your windows are grouped together AND you can set it to let you drag the clients around so you can get them in the order you like.

 

[Fynody]

Thx for the support - will try the taskbar tweaker.

Is there anything in MQ2 that prevents or interferes with broadcasting.

At present I use key and mouse broadcasting when I log in.
I turn on the broadcasting, navigate the login screens, and enter the password ( same on all accounts) - Innerspace does a great job of keeping everything relative - the mouse movement and selection is very accurate.

If I load everrquest without MQ2, the login works as expected, and more importantly, on the character select screen, I can click the enter game button on the driving screen, and all the other screens copy and load a character into game.

I I load everquest with MQ2, the login screens work as expected, however I can only click the enter game button on the live or front screen. The mouse click will not pass to the others. which means having to select each and trigger the button manually.

I am sure there is a way to automate the process, but beyond that - is there a plgin that would block the mouse broadcast?

 

[McNukkah]

Thank you for your post. I don't use innerspace so I can't comment on exactly what you are seeing but I do have a degree in computer engineering and have read a fair but about CPU's and OS design, not to mention coding and playing EQ !

The key to performance in most cases to avoid loading the same thing twice. There is a fancy word for it called caching. There is caching at the CPU memory level, at the OS file system level, etc. The idea is load once, and if you don't need to the space, go ahead and level the information as close to the CPU as you can.

When you run everything from a single folder and you load multiple instances of the game client, when the game says I need to go load zone XYZ, if you have recently loaded the zone then the OS or CPU cache may have that data already available and not have to go to your file system to read it.

The problem is files the are read/write like your configuration files.

The OS call EQ uses to read/write those files causes the OS to lock the file and during a write operation can result in the read operation failing if the write is too large ( takes too long )

This is how your eqclient and map files can become corrupted when running multiple clients in the same folder.

By putting each client in its own folder you avoid having the clients each fighting for read/write access.

Another way to achieve similar results is to make your eqclient and map files read only.

It would be interesting to see / verify that you get the same increase in performance with your setup.

If I'm understanding correctly---I play 7 chars at a time on live, but they all run from a single EQ directory, although I did set them up via wineq2 to use different eqclients---it would be better (performance-wise) to create 7 EQ directories to load each toon from?

What about mmobugs---does the same apply in terms of "loading the same thing more than once?" or does mq2/mmobugs handle that differently?

 

[dewey2461]

Try it and see ! Then report back what you learn.

 

[Fynody]

Feeding back on the above:
Eq is being run using 6 separate directories. The game experience no longer hangs.
Still crashes occasionally in POK, but not elsewhere.

EQ run without MQ2, the multi instance screen swapping and broadcasting reacts instantly.

EQ run with MQ2, Multi instance swapping is good unless loading is taking place, either into game or between zones. Mouse broadcasting movement is excellent, broadcasting click fails particularly when triggering loading. eg: character selection enter game button. Key press broadcasting is not effected. ie: if the right characters are already selected, I can press enter and all instances will load into game.

I cannot say wehter applying read only to the maps etc made a difference as did not test - I went straight to a directory for each account loading.

 

[dewey2461]

I wonder if it is an interaction with isboxer and mq2.

 

[MissTerious]

I run 8 toons on each computer I built using ISBoxer in EQ1 on a live server. I use it mostly for broadcasting since I haven't been able to customize for each class on each account. I have not noticed any lag recently other than slow zoning which started in EQ about 2 months ago. When I log in, I broadcast the password and the log in buttons to all characters without problem.

It might be your EMU server.