Hey guys,
Just updated my project from 4.11 to 4.12 and now my packaged game runs very choppy. I dug into it, and it seems as though the issue is with serializing replay frames. I used ‘stat dumphitches’ and it showed me a call stack like:
LogStats: 61.720ms ( 4) - Thread_352c_0 - GameThread
LogStats: 61.714ms ( 2) - FrameTime - STAT_FrameTime
LogStats: 61.399ms ( 1) - GameEngine Tick - STAT_GameEngineTick
LogStats: 60.835ms ( 1) - World Tick Time - STAT_WorldTickTime
LogStats: 58.786ms ( 1) - GT Tickable Time - STAT_TickableTickTime
LogStats: 58.778ms ( 1) - **FNullNetworkReplayStreamer**
LogStats: 0.008ms ( 6) - OtherChildren
I also fired up VerySleepy to get a second opinion and it says I was spending all my time writing JSON to file. So the two seem to agree with each other, but I’m not sure where to go from here.
Thoughts?
,
- Are there any logs you’re able to obtain for me?
- Please send me the link of your project running in 4.11 and 4.12 for comparison?
- Is this happening when you create a new project in 4.12 using JSON?
- What browser are you working in?
Looking forward to hearing back from you, thanks! 
Okay! I was able to reproduce the issue in a blank project.
Steps:
-
Create a new C++ project using the 3rd person template, on Windows, with 4.12. (Which I hope also answers your questions about what ‘browser’ I’m using … this isn’t a web project.)
-
I added:
void AReplayTest_4_12GameMode::HandleMatchHasStarted()
{
Super::HandleMatchHasStarted();
UGameplayStatics::GetGameInstance(GetWorld())->StartRecordingReplay(TEXT(“”), TEXT(“My Replay”));
}
To GameMode so that a replay starts recording on Play.
-
Cooked and built the project, ran from Visual Studio, and got the same choppiness from before.
I’ve included the logs from that run here: Replay Stalling in Unreal 4.12 - Pastebin.com
I’ll try the same experiment again with 4.11 and see what happens.
Yup, confirmed. I made a new 4.11 project with the same setup and it locked in a solid 60FPS. Here’s the logs from that run: Unreal Smooth Run in 4.11 - Pastebin.com
If I don’t enable replay in the 4.12 version, I rock 60+ FPS. So it’s clearly something wonky going on with the replay recording in 4.12.
,
Thanks for verifying you were using Windows, I assumed when you said JSON in your original post. Haha.
So I have created the third person template exactly as you have suggested, I created one without the code and also a blueprint one to compare.
These are the types of numbers my computer is running with:
4.12.5
LogStats: 333.288ms ( 4) - Thread_2fb4_0 - GameThread - STATGROUP_Threads - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 333.278ms ( 2) - FrameTime - STAT_FrameTime - STATGROUP_Engine - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 319.104ms ( 1) - STAT_FEngineLoop_UpdateTimeAndHandleMaxTickRate - STATGROUP_Quick - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 319.093ms ( 1) - Game thread tick wait time - STAT_GameTickWaitTime - STATGROUP_Threading - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 319.093ms ( 1) - Game thread idle time - STAT_GameIdleTime - STATGROUP_Threading - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 0.000ms ( 1) - OtherChildren
4.11.2
LogStats: 333.305ms ( 4) - Thread_18a8_0 - GameThread - STATGROUP_Threads - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 333.303ms ( 2) - FrameTime - STAT_FrameTime - STATGROUP_Engine - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 322.976ms ( 1) - STAT_FEngineLoop_UpdateTimeAndHandleMaxTickRate - STATGROUP_Quick - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 322.966ms ( 1) - Game thread tick wait time - STAT_GameTickWaitTime - STATGROUP_Threading - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 322.965ms ( 1) - Game thread idle time - STAT_GameIdleTime - STATGROUP_Threading - STATCAT_Advanced
LogStats: 0.009ms ( 1) - OtherChildren
When we’re discussing your actual project. Does the game lag/hitch or does it completely freeze up? Does the screen seem to shake, or anything like that?
Looking forward to hearing back from you - thanks!
Re: Your stats: Were you running at 3FPS? Anyway they were consistent, though … that’s odd. Is there a way for me to get a similar profile dump for a non-hitched frame so I’ve got something to compare against?
Re: Lag vs. Freeze: The player input seems non-responsive and is then processed all-of-a-sudden once the hitch is done. Like, you’ll be suddenly spun 180 degrees once a few frames get through. It plays like a game with the settings cranked on a system that can’t handle it.
Re: Shaking: My 3D reticle appears to be hopping on screen, as if my camera is jumping towards it, then pulling back 2-5 times a second. Relevant? Maybe.
Found It!
McAfee AntiVirus Plus: Real-Time Scanning (Build 18.0.9019) is what was causing writing to file to be sluggish in 4.12. Disabling Real-Time Scanning completely removed my hitches/slowdowns.
I have no idea what might have changed in that regard since 4.11, and I haven’t found any logs from McAfee to indicate what about replays in 4.12 it doesn’t like, but it’s clearly something.
,
Anti-viruses in general have been known to cause trouble for the editor. I’m glad that you were able to resolve this issue on your own.