Chunks only load at close range. Full fly-through required to load

[Dr. Whammy]

When I spawn some larger ships/structures, they do not completely load. Instead the nav icon appears with some or all of the structure remaining invisible; showing only logic pipes.

- If I approach the structure, chunks will quickly appear when I come withing about 100 meters.
- A build mode fly-through at close range also works.
- If I don't approach/fly-through, it never loads.
- Logic, basic door animations and special effects are not visible at a distance.
- My frame rate is fine; holding at 60FPS.
- There a brief loss in FPS while loading some larger structures. After a second or two, it holds at 60FPS.
- My RAM, CPU and GPU are at medium load; with Javaw.exe taking less than 3GB of my RAM.
- I've ruled out a possible bad graphics card by replacing my ancient GTX 750 with a less ancient GTX960
- Other craft (especially large ones) also have a tendency to not load at distance.
- Strangely; my 420 meter diameter artificial planet loads fine at a distance.
- I have loaded a backup copy of the game and my universe to rule out corruption issues.

In this example, the closest 1/3 of the structure loads but not the middle, "back", top or bottom. Spawning a copy of it (shown on the left) shows very little, if any of the structure.


This problem seems to have started recently (within the last 2 weeks) ; as larger structures loaded perfectly before then.

I've searched the forums and found this short thread from 2015. In the thread, they say that "everyone has been having this issue" but that was over 3 years ago.

Is anyone else still having chunk draw issues like this? If so, is there a solution?

 

[Sachys]

this is normal.

(well, it was as you said a few years back - it also appears to be normal again recently).

* * * * *

in truth though, I get this from time to time myself (though im on an intel HD) with larger / laggier / logic(ier?) structures and ships, but its more common right now. Having done some bug blasting recently, I know its not my drivers nor java.

as you havent mentioned the latter, and you're on a better setup than me, have you checked your java / are you using the bundled java?

Edit: i also assume youve tried "clear client cache" thing under "TOOLS & MODS"?

 

[Dr. Whammy]

this is normal.

(well, it was as you said a few years back - it also appears to be normal again recently).

* * * * *

in truth though, I get this from time to time myself (though im on an intel HD) with larger / laggier / logic(ier?) structures and ships, but its more common right now. Having done some bug blasting recently, I know its not my drivers nor java.

as you havent mentioned the latter, and you're on a better setup than me, have you checked your java / are you using the bundled .java?

Thanks for the quick reply

I haven't updated Java recently. I suppose I've been following the old saying; "If it aint broke, don't break it... since the game has been running near-flawlessly for me since I jumped back into it. I'll give it a try and report back.

 

[Sachys]

Thanks for the quick reply

I haven't updated Java recently. I suppose I've been following the old saying; "If it aint broke, don't break it... since the game has been running near-flawlessly for me since I jumped back into it. I'll give it a try and report back.

aye - i had massive FPS loss for no apparent reason. after going through all sorts and contacting support, andy p asked if i was using bundled java or not (so they had solid bug splatting comparisons).
I wasnt, I tried it and the problem eased.
I then reaslied my 64bit java install was a bit old.
had far fewer problems since, though I still get some slow loading chunks (as mentioned), but thats maybe just my potato.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

My Java is a bit old. I'm running Version 8 update 111. I remember downloading it directly from the website. I'm not sure how to tell if it's bundled or not.

 

[Sachys]

My Java is a bit old. I'm running Version 8 update 111. I remember downloading it directly from the website. I'm not sure how to tell if it's bundled or not.

Quickest way to check if you're using bundled java is to hit OPTIONS on the launcher (top right). At the bottom of the pop up window is an option to put a path to a custom java install (ie 64bt sdk). If theres nothing there, you're using the bundled java.

If you're using a custom install, I suggest copying the path to a text file, and then try launching the game with bundled java (delete the path) to see if it makes any difference or not.

You can also then see which custom version of java you have installed (if applicable) and then go see if its recent or not.

(hopefully that makes sense?)

Edit: as you say though, you downloaded yours, so its a likely culprit.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

When you say "bundled" are you referring to the Java that is included with StarMade; "StarMade.jar"?

If so, following options>installation settings>path in the launcher, it shows "./starmade/" as an install path.

 

[Sachys]

When you say "bundled" are you referring to the Java that is included with StarMade; "StarMade.jar"?

If so, following options>installation settings>path in the launcher, it shows "./starmade/" as an install path.

I think that should be it then. In my case, ive got this (for custom).

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I think that should be it then. In my case, ive got this (for custom).
View attachment 52915

Umm.... wow. Yeah my launcher looks nothing like that. I have Launcher 16 but I still have the older layout.

 

[klawxx]

I had this problem, really, like for YEARS, then recently I used the default graphics settings option to set my game to medium. It seemed to fix all the problems. Later that day I played with the block resolution and lightning settings. Seems 128 for both texture and lightning feels playable and load stuff rather quickly. This problem only come back if I set both to 256+... I guess might somewhat be related to VRAM. By the way im on a RX-480 (8 GB!) and a i5-750 w/ 12Gigs Ram - Starmade Set to use 8GB RAM, yea ok its an 10yo CPU, but it get the job done and I'm positive I wont have budget to spare for quite some time, so whatever.

 

[Sachys]

Umm.... wow. Yeah my launcher looks nothing like that. I have Launcher 16 but I still have the older layout.

Oh... in that case I've no idea

 

[Tsnonak]

I will also confirm this, chunks are not loading at a distance... seems to be widespread since last few Updates...

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Thread-necromancy.exe initiated...

It took a while but I found the problem. There is a LOT of logic on this iteration of the station; animated cargo bay doors, automatic door closers, animated electric special effects, etc.

The issue was the logic itself or possibly the "pipelines". Once removed, everything loaded normally; regardless of physical size.

From now on, I'm keeping logic to a minimum on large structures.

 

[AndyP]

Most of the loading issues are not related to logic, but to empty chunks. (Or empty flagged)

The loading process usually walks through the whole station, but sometimes with logic messing up the load priority, it happens that the process that loads the chunks beside already loaded chunks gets confused. As a result places get left out until you force them to load by proximity to a character again.

- Andy

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Most of the loading issues are not related to logic, but to empty chunks. (Or empty flagged)

The loading process usually walks through the whole station, but sometimes with logic messing up the load priority, it happens that the process that loads the chunks beside already loaded chunks gets confused. As a result places get left out until you force them to load by proximity to a character again.

- Andy

Thanks for the Response Andy,

Good to see you again.

What you describe matches what I'm seeing. The larger structures always load their logic first and then start drawing the chunks. It is at this stage that the draw halts unless you do a complete close range fly-through.

For now, I compensate by reducing the complexity of my logic mechanisms to to simple "on/off" functions rather than full animations or timed systems.

Seems to be working so far.