My Only Problem with TOR (but it's a breaker)

[Chasted]

Just post up your specs then. To find out a quick run-through of your computers spec's you just need to run a Dxdiag.

 

Not sure on other processors but if you are running Windows 7 follow these steps:

 

1. Start the windows start bar (Bottom left hand corner)

2. Type in Dxdiag

3. There should be one program on the list of the same name. Run it

4. If your windows version is 64-bit (And it should be) click on the "Run 64-Bit DxDiag" option at the bottom of the DxDiag window (Second from the left)

5. Now click on "Save All Information..." (second bottom right)

6. Save it as a .txt file

7. Open that text file where it has been saved

8. Press CTRL-A (Should highlight all the text in the notepad box)

9. Press CTRL-C

10. Start creating a post here

11. Press CTRL-V

12. Post that information

 

We now have a pain-free way of gauging your computer spec's and Bioware can collect it for research and bug-fixing if they deem it required.

[Tharrn]

I have had this with other games - game ran fine, I updated the graphics driver and suddenly had horrible video lag. Some driver versions somehow don't go well with certain games while others run fine or better with that driver.

 

My best guess would be to try different driver versions. Sometimes sou even have to downgrade until the manufacturer fixes issues with the most recent one. For AMD there's also always the Omega drivers as an alternative.

[Skeelol]

OP answer is easy.

 

Engine is complete and utter garbage. Best thing you can hope for is future optimizations but nothing impressive.

 

Ignore all the "pshhh it's your rig" "psshhh etc" they have no clue what they're talking about. Games like BF3/Skyrim/Witcher 2 running fine on ultra yet this "amazing" looking game struggling to work when mulitiple people are around?

 

=)

Edited January 1, 2012 by Skeelol

[Pigeye]

well, if WoW is graphically old, maybe Bioware shouldve gone with that, because WoW in my opinion is comparable graphically with this game.

 

AS for the specs I just don't have them onhand at the moment, I'd have to get her to key up her laptop and she got angry, shut if off and went to bed.

 

Just ugh. We both looked forward to this so much, and we played together enough to know we'd love it, but now I just KNOW she's not gonna function off the starter world....

 

The irony there is, performance does actually improve quite a bit the deeper into the game you get - fewer players around (on my server anyway)...no idea how that'll impact end-game when everyone's 50 - I'm only just now coming up to 40 myself - and I suspect that the further along they got into development the more the art teams built up techniques for optimising scenery; I'm a technical artist in games myself, this is pretty much an age-old story on long projects. The positive is, there's always room to improve code. Optimising the graphics on this kind of scale though, not quite so straightforward. It may be, they've taken the pill and it is what is is.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Pigeye

[Chasted]

OP answer is easy.

 

Engine is complete and utter garbage. Best thing you can hope for is future optimizations but nothing impressive.

 

And computers are a fantastic thing; we can have incredibily powerful top-of-the-line computers that can run circles around Consoles but that is the computer's very weakness as well.

 

Every persons PC is unique and can cause their own frustrating compatibility problem for the stupidist of reasons. It isn't his hardware at fault; it is the SW:ToR itself. The issue here is how the hardware interacts with the software.

 

There is a reason why dev's ask for DxDiag's when they are trying to nail down an issue with their game and isn't because they suspect 90% of their customer base has sub-par technology.

[Fatesender]

Either A) Op hasn't figured out what most have by now and that is TURN OFF SHADOWS in the options.

 

or B) Can't tweak his computer right (and my god if you keep harping about how your computers can run WoW...an ancient game and keep saying WoW graphically matches up...I will lean towards this option and conclude your blind on top of it)

 

Or C) A mixture of both.

 

I have 2 friends that come over every weekend. We have run the game on 4 different desktops and 3 laptops without issue and 2 of those were really old (ie: desktop with a q6600 and a nvidia 8800GTS).

 

And I really hope that if your gf is running this on a laptop that she has proper graphics built in (ie: not intel integrated) and is running a cooler underneath the laptop as this game does ramp up the cpu (ie: 80C+on an i5-2500k desktop with the default fan).

 

Yes the engine isn't all that great but it's manageable with some slight tweaking on a high range of systems.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Fatesender

[RamataKahn]

Unless it's specifically made for gaming, a laptop will always under-perform in games.

[Maigrey]

FWIW ehre is my system

 

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

 

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

 

AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX

 

 

I run at ~50 ms latency and over 60 fps(don't know off hand the number)

 

even while running completely smooth, I have issues with a delay in abilties firing from time to time.

[fruitofvictory]

Either A) Op hasn't figured out what most have by now and that is TURN OFF SHADOWS in the options.

 

or B) Can't tweak his computer right (and my god if you keep harping about how your computers can run WoW...an ancient game and keep saying WoW graphically matches up...I will lean towards this option and conclude your blind on top of it)

 

Or C) A mixture of both.

 

I have 2 friends that come over every weekend. We have run the game on 4 different desktops and 3 laptops without issue and 2 of those were really old (ie: desktop with a q6600 and a nvidia 8800GTS).

 

And I really hope that if your gf is running this on a laptop that she has proper graphics built in (ie: not intel integrated) and is running a cooler underneath the laptop as this game does ramp up the cpu (ie: 80C+on an i5-2500k desktop with the default fan).

 

Yes the engine isn't all that great but it's manageable with some slight tweaking on a high range of systems.

 

Yes, we both have Shadows turned off. Thats something I figured out on my own pretty quick.

 

I have played with my settings, hers, and the games extensively. She is running cooling on her laptop - it stays lukewarm.

 

As for the comment about WoW, well, sorry, but I refuse to believe WoW on max graphics, in the middle of a raid, with everything turned on and up, should be more graphically intensive on a PC than this game, in a newbie area, with only two people nearby, with settings on LOW.

[HavenAE]

So, I played The Old Republic in beta, and when the game was released, we bought two copies - one for myself and one for my girlfriend. My computer is slightly higher end than her laptop, but both meet the requirements for the game handily. Both our PC and laptop will easily play other MMO games on the highest settings. My PC handles Skyrim on the highest settings quite nicely.

 

This game, however, runs them both into the ground. On my computer, I can get the game to run with only minor occasional video lag if I turn the shadows off and turn the game down to medium on all settings but character model, which I can leave set to high.

 

Her laptop, however, despite easily over-meeting the requirements, just sucks with this game. She has it set to all low settings, and suffers horrible video lag, sometimes including complete freezing for minutes at a time, and some level of video lag at all times, even when she is alone in an instance. Just now, she joined her first ever group, only to have her game freeze, and to miss a storyline component. She is so frustrated and upset at this point by this that we're BOTH wishing we hadn't bought the game, because we can't play together.

 

She constantly also plays World of Warcraft (I dont play it, she does) on this same laptop with all the settings turned up and in areas with 50+ people running around. She raids on it, again, running tons of mods and with settings turned up - with no issues.

 

So, while she sits and curses and keeps trying to play (because she loves the game itself and was really looking forward to playing it with me) and gets frustrated almost to the point of tears, I thought I'd take a minute to ask here if anyone knows WHY this game eats resources like a hog. It doesn't look much better than most MMOs out there, and it certainly doesn't look as good as some of the higher end games available that both of our computers run just fine.

 

So why can't I run it on top settings? Why can't she play it effectively AT ALL on a laptop that runs every other game we've tried on it just fine? Why do about half the people I know have these same problems?

 

Either Bioware needs to fix something, or they need to change the system requirements for the game to be MUCH, much higher than they currently are. Right now my girlfriend is feeling like she wasted $60 - we aren't rich. And feeling even more letdown that her and I won't be able to play together if something doesn't change, soon.

 

We both love the game, don't get me wrong. But this is a dealbreaker for her, and for me through her. We've been following the game since it was announced, and were both terribly excited. In beta, I didn't have many problems. Still couldn't run EVERYTHING on high, which is ridiculous considering how good my machine is, but it was ok. But this? Just stupid.

 

 

Meeting requirements is one thing, meeting recommended requirements is another.

 

Meeting the basic requirements will allow you to play the game, it might not be as pretty as you like but you can run it.

 

Meeting and exceeding recommended requirements on the other hand means you should be able to play the game with at the very least medium requirements.

 

So which do you do? do you meet and exceed the bare minimum, or do you meet the recommended requirements?

 

There is a \big difference in how a system can handle a SPRPG title like Skyrim and how it can handle an MMO. This is generally why single players titles always have better graphics than an MMO will have. An MMO is larger, uses a greater variety of textures, and tracks many more bodies than a single player title ever will.

 

So saying, "well i can run Skyrim on max settings no problem but here i can't. Is in some sense comparing apples to oranges. Or more like comparing a Granny Smith Apple to a Delicious Red Apple. Anyway...

 

 

Here's a break down of my main system..

 

CPU: AMD FX8150 8-core processor no OC

MB: ASUS M5A99X Evo

Ram: 16gb 1600 mhz DDR3 Ripjaws

GPU: AMD HD 6950

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

 

I far exceed even the recommended requirements for the game.

I have every conceivable setting maxed.

I receive on average 60-75 (depending on the area) FPS

I have virtually no lag or delay.

I have AA forced on enhance through Catalyst Control center

I run no other applications while playing ToR, just what runs in the background normally.

 

 

What boggles my mind, is I have the same copy of the game as everyone else. I have seen people post similar system specs and say the game runs awful for them.

 

Yet the only real problem I have is the 9000 error every so often, and that is mostly because my ******e ISP drops my connected every 3-5 hours just long enough to D/C me.

 

Most other people I've talked to in game have a similar experience to myself. Though they know other people who have similar sets and have issues.

 

So with this in mind, I tend to believe the problem resides more in drivers not being updates or people trying to use settings their PC's simply can't handle and then rage because they can't do it.

 

FPS issues for instance, the best thing anyone can do first and foremost is check your GPU's software, for instance if you have CCC for AMD, check to make sure you aren't forcing AA on to override. I did this initially and suffered from massive FPS loss. I switched to enhance and I lost very little quality and more than doubled my FPS.

[fruitofvictory]

Meeting requirements is one thing, meeting recommended requirements is another.

 

Meeting the basic requirements will allow you to play the game, it might not be as pretty as you like but you can run it.

 

Meeting and exceeding recommended requirements on the other hand means you should be able to play the game with at the very least medium requirements.

 

So which do you do? do you meet and exceed the bare minimum, or do you meet the recommended requirements?

 

There is a \big difference in how a system can handle a SPRPG title like Skyrim and how it can handle an MMO. This is generally why single players titles always have better graphics than an MMO will have. An MMO is larger, uses a greater variety of textures, and tracks many more bodies than a single player title ever will.

 

So saying, "well i can run Skyrim on max settings no problem but here i can't. Is in some sense comparing apples to oranges. Or more like comparing a Granny Smith Apple to a Delicious Red Apple. Anyway...

 

 

Here's a break down of my main system..

 

CPU: AMD FX8150 8-core processor no OC

MB: ASUS M5A99X Evo

Ram: 16gb 1600 mhz DDR3 Ripjaws

GPU: AMD HD 6950

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

 

I far exceed even the recommended requirements for the game.

I have every conceivable setting maxed.

I receive on average 60-75 (depending on the area) FPS

I have virtually no lag or delay.

I have AA forced on enhance through Catalyst Control center

I run no other applications while playing ToR, just what runs in the background normally.

 

 

What boggles my mind, is I have the same copy of the game as everyone else. I have seen people post similar system specs and say the game runs awful for them.

 

Yet the only real problem I have is the 9000 error every so often, and that is mostly because my ******e ISP drops my connected every 3-5 hours just long enough to D/C me.

 

Most other people I've talked to in game have a similar experience to myself. Though they know other people who have similar sets and have issues.

 

So with this in mind, I tend to believe the problem resides more in drivers not being updates or people trying to use settings their PC's simply can't handle and then rage because they can't do it.

 

FPS issues for instance, the best thing anyone can do first and foremost is check your GPU's software, for instance if you have CCC for AMD, check to make sure you aren't forcing AA on to override. I did this initially and suffered from massive FPS loss. I switched to enhance and I lost very little quality and more than doubled my FPS.

 

We both more than meet the requirements. I always check before we buy games. I will check into some of your suggestions, and hope that they help. Right now, we're both pretty disappointed. Anything that might work will be attempted. I also know at least one person running something similar to my PC who can play on max settings while I am stuck at medium. It's frustrating, at best. I am trying to play a tank character, and I wonder what will happen when I am supposed to be tanking and have a second of video lag, and get people killed....

[Tharrn]

Reminds me... Does she have AA enforced via the driver control panel maybe? When I tried to ramp up things there on my old HD 5750 things started to lag, too.

[Morolac]

It's not the specs per se that matter. My rig is just a bit better then minimum req. and it runs okay (shadows off, everything but char on medium, char on high).

 

Fun Fact: SWTOR runs loads better then Skyrim.

[Pigeye]

It's not the specs per se that matter. My rig is just a bit better then minimum req. and it runs okay (shadows off, everything but char on medium, char on high).

 

Fun Fact: SWTOR runs loads better then Skyrim.

 

Yeah Skyrim engine's a bit naff - Gamebryo is a bit behind the times, and I hate shiny bricks...terrible shader artists, no sense of subtlety.

 

The OP's biggest problem is going to be RAM and GPU - both things TOR is hungry for, and both issues with laptops, which are stuck with the factory graphics and usually have very limited RAM. If it's an older consumer laptop then it's even more likely to be a 32bit install, so >2GB RAM isn't going to be any help, which is a major deal-breaker.

[derkiederk]

Heh I feel bad for AMD users, especially the poor guy suckered into buying a FX 8150. "8 core"... lol Edited January 1, 2012 by derkiederk

[fruitofvictory]

Hah, nice @ the guy who runs this better than Skyrim.

 

I mean, ***?

[Sech]

This guy is being incredibly difficult and silly.

 

My bet, this girl has spyware on the laptop and it just isn't managed well and he's ************ just because he meets the min requirements and it runs like ****.

 

Her drivers aren't probably upgraded and odds are the processor and videocard barely meet requirements.

 

I also run the game on a laptop but it's a gaming laptop, with a gaming graphics card and a decent dual core processor.

 

The truth is this game isn't like skyrim, it's actually more processor intensive where skyrim is more graphics card intensive.

 

If you're not willing to post her laptop specs then you don't deserve help. Whenever someone has a technical problem the first thing anyone ask, even trained devs, is "what are you specs" and the fact that you refuse to post them makes me assume they are just incredibly terrible and you just want to ***** because the game doesn't run like WoW.

[Xanerithe]

Hah, nice @ the guy who runs this better than Skyrim.

 

I mean, ***?

 

You cannot compare a single player game to a online game, there are big differences. I am not going to go into detail, but there are differences.

 

Also It doesn't matter how many times you try to say it, not posting system specs is a bit bizarre. I am on a medium machine and constantly have 50-60 fps with everything on high except shadows.

[fruitofvictory]

This guy is being incredibly difficult and silly.

 

My bet, this girl has spyware on the laptop and it just isn't managed well and he's ************ just because he meets the min requirements and it runs like ****.

 

Her drivers aren't probably upgraded and odds are the processor and videocard barely meet requirements.

 

I also run the game on a laptop but it's a gaming laptop, with a gaming graphics card and a decent dual core processor.

 

The truth is this game isn't like skyrim, it's actually more processor intensive where skyrim is more graphics card intensive.

 

If you're not willing to post her laptop specs then you don't deserve help. Whenever someone has a technical problem the first thing anyone ask, even trained devs, is "what are you specs" and the fact that you refuse to post them makes me assume they are just incredibly terrible and you just want to ***** because the game doesn't run like WoW.

 

It's managed fine. And again, not posting them because I am not asking for help, I am asking if Bioware intends to do something about the issue. It's not just me, it's not just here, it's a LOT of people I know and a LOT of people on these forums and we're not all running the same setup. And I am not giving nasty little people like you ammo to derail the issue onto our gear when our gear isn't the problem. If it were the problem, like I said before, the problem would still be Bioware's because their engine requires far too much, far more than the requirements state when you buy the game.

 

So yeah, not giving you the ammo to make strawman arguments or attacks against me.

[GumBoil]

There is a thread about fps issues. Every couple of hundred pages it gets locked and a new one started it's on about number 4 (or probably higher by now).

 

There are clearly a lot of people having issues even with high end machines. While a few may be client issues there are clearly engine issues. In fact BW have acknowledged the problem. I get by on both my laptop (which is built for gaming and new) and my desktop (which is for gaming also but a little older). I am not so naive to think that because I am OK everyone else is too. There is all sorts of weird stuff happening that suggest the engine ain't great, texture pop on conversations, load times that are inconsistent (fast is OK, slow is OK but they should not be so inconsistent) skill lag in warzones, ages to to alt tab back in to game, chopiness occasionally despite high fps.

 

AS I say it is all manageable for me but it seems clear that is because I am fortunate more than anything to do with my computers or how they are set up.

[Oneiros_IV]

Just curious what's bottleneck for SWTOR most say it's GPU, have anybody tried having it installed on SSD?

[fruitofvictory]

There is a thread about fps issues. Every couple of hundred pages it gets locked and a new one started it's on about number 4 (or probably higher by now).

 

There are clearly a lot of people having issues even with high end machines. While a few may be client issues there are clearly engine issues. In fact BW have acknowledged the problem. I get by on both my laptop (which is built for gaming and new) and my desktop (which is for gaming also but a little older). I am not so naive to think that because I am OK everyone else is too. There is all sorts of weird stuff happening that suggest the engine ain't great, texture pop on conversations, load times that are inconsistent (fast is OK, slow is OK but they should not be so inconsistent) skill lag in warzones, ages to to alt tab back in to game, chopiness occasionally despite high fps.

 

AS I say it is all manageable for me but it seems clear that is because I am fortunate more than anything to do with my computers or how they are set up.

 

This. Exactly. There's an engine issue. And yeah, I didn't even mention how I can't alt-tab out of the game to look things up, check mail, messages etc. This game won't let me. It either just doesn't work, even in windowed fullscreen, or it takes an eternity. And forget doing anything else - no multitasking. If I even try to check my email it takes forever to type my password in, there's huge lag on anything else I try to do, which is hugely frustrating because I am used to being able to multitask, with several tabs, voice chat, messengers etc running while I play ANY other game. On my girlfriend's laptop, she hasn't even tried it. But I don't doubt her laptop would just burst into flames, heh.

[Sech]

Just curious what's bottleneck for SWTOR most say it's GPU, have anybody tried having it installed on SSD?

 

Mine is installed on an SSD, no problems.

I do have the unresponsive combat issue, but that is universal.

 

I think people need to post specs, post drivers, and look at their own machine before they just assume it's the game.

[Vervayne]

We both more than meet the requirements. I always check before we buy games. I will check into some of your suggestions, and hope that they help. Right now, we're both pretty disappointed. Anything that might work will be attempted. I also know at least one person running something similar to my PC who can play on max settings while I am stuck at medium. It's frustrating, at best. I am trying to play a tank character, and I wonder what will happen when I am supposed to be tanking and have a second of video lag, and get people killed....

 

If you *know* you meet the requirements, then you must know the system specs on her laptop. Why don't you just post them? Maybe someone can help you. It seems like you just came here to complain and are not really looking for solutions.

[fruitofvictory]

If you *know* you meet the requirements, then you must know the system specs on her laptop. Why don't you just post them? Maybe someone can help you. It seems like you just came here to complain and are not really looking for solutions.

 

I'm looking for solutions from Bioware, from THEIR end. I was online all last night with a friend who runs a computer shop. He sells, builds, repairs computers for a living and couldn't find a solution that worked.

 

I don't have the specs for her laptop memorized and it is currently resetting to factory defaults - yes, she went that far, she's restoring it to out-of-box in hopes that that helps, which is really annoying, had to backup everything and she will have to reinstall her programs now.

 

Here's hoping it helps, until when/if Bioware does something about their obvious design problems.