Lag News Article Draft #1

I ran out of room on the summery so here it is continued before the article. Please, if there is anything out of place, inform me or just edit it yourself as I might not be so active in the next two weeks. I will use the fact that I mostly wrote this after all reasonable people should be sleeping and after reading unhealthy amounts of Dead-philosophers.com as my only two excuses. Now I think I'm going to re-watch a Firefly episode to remind myself what space-wit should look like. Thanks.

As you all know, the latest version of R.E.A.R.M. has had lag-related issues with certain systems. Unfortunately, none of the alpha testers edxperienced these problems. As you well know there are many systems out there and since most of the testers and Pouk himself are still living in the stone age and running XP. That is why Pouk is now reaching out to the community to provide him with data on the cause of this lag.

How you can help:

A fourm thread has been set up where you can detail the specifics of your system and if possible any relevent data. To keep things orderly and to make sure a clean and useful amount of data is provided another thread has been set up for suggestions, hunches, discoveries, wild speculations, and crazy ideas that just might work, but more on that later.

Again in the interest of keeping the info as usefull as possible we ask that you keep to this format on the technical complaint forum:

Computer Manufacturer (or Custom Built if it is)
Operating System
Graphics Card model and driver version
Relevant System Info (we don't need to hear about your massive power supply or your liquid cooling, no matter how cool it is)
What settings were used (no need for a novel, just the startingfleets, game type and such. If it doesn't seem to make a difference, just say all settings.)
your command line found on your shortcut
and finally Miscellaneous: I know I'm probably going to regret this, but this last category, which is totally optional, is where you can put relevant info related to the lag issue. An example would be a Fraps benchmark, or any errors that pop up. Examples of what not to put include your new ship ideas, balancing complaints, general complaints about life or anything to the tune of "Why don't women love me?" save those for the Steam forums. :p

I know, it looks like a lot, but ill give you an example that literaly took me 1 minute and 53 seconds. (yes, I counted)

Dell Vostro 200
Windows XP Home Edition
ATI radeon HD 2400 with latest drivers
2.2 gigahertz Core 2 duo
2 gigs of RAM
All starting fleets
All game settings
"C:\Documents and Settings\Peter Laurence\Desktop\R.E.A.R.M\Bin\Release\Homeworld2.exe" -mod rearm0.0.3c.big -locale -english -ssnologo -hardwarecursor
MISC:
14 fps according to Fraps at the standard zoom at the beginning of a 2 player level.

Now that wasn't that hard was it?

If all the people who commented do this, a patten is bound to emerge. No more stumbling through the dark to find the cause and, eventually, less lag for R.E.A.R.M.

Oh, and I almost forgot...

The Discussion Thread:

This is where you can post your solutions, workarounds, wild speculations, and perhaps a dissertation on the meaning of "lag" in a metaphysical sense.

I know some of you, forced to stop playing, are suffering from the effects of R.E.A.R.M. withdrawal. As an addict myself I suggest lots of fluids, more sleep, and posting your issue strait to the forums for the fastest dismissal of symptoms.

To prove you can trust me, here is a totally unrelated 3D anaglyph of a Turnic Gatling Frigate: