[ut2004] UT2004 performance

[Corey Hickey]

rix wrote:

> UT2004 Build UT2004_Build_[2004-03-03_02.42]
> x86 Linux
> AuthenticAMD PentiumPro-class processor @ 2215 MHz
> GeForce4 Ti 4800/AGP/SSE/3DNOW!

> UT2004 Build UT2004_Build_[2004-03-03_02.42]
> x86 Linux
> AuthenticAMD PentiumPro-class processor @ 2205 MHz
> GeForce4 Ti 4800/AGP/SSE/3DNOW!
> 

Looks like your CPU clock speed changed between tests. That small a
difference in frequency wouldn't cause a drop that bad, though.

> My question is why am I getting 9 fps more with alsaplayer running? I
> would have thought I'd get less fps. Of course audio isn't working in
> the game while I'm running alsaplayer.

More likely this is the cause. If UT2004 can't access your sound card,
it will simply disable sound altogether. Sound takes a considerable
amount of processing power, and UT2004 has better video performance
without it.

> By default does UT2004 use alsa?
> I see alot of references to OpenAL in the game and on the mailing list,
> how does this relate to ALSA. Can I keep this 9 fps gain simply by
> editing the right audio config files and using ALSA for the audio in the
> game?
> 

I've read that the openal included in UT2004 does support ALSA, but you
need to edit your ~/.openalrc file to enable it. This seems to be true
for my system, at least.

bugfood at bugfood:~$ cat .openalrc
(define speaker-num 2)
(define devices '(alsa))
(define alsa-out-device "hw:0,0")
(define alsa-in-device "hw:0,0")

I just ran a few benchmarks with and without the openalrc file, and also
with using an openal.so I compiled myself

Default openal.so, without openalrc (oss)
25.386757 / 58.050838 / 128.858337 fps         rand[1919451183]

Default openal.so, with openalrc (alsa)
26.307125 / 61.370792 / 149.847153 fps         rand[1919451183]

My openal.so, without openalrc (oss)
25.151659 / 61.601536 / 138.154938 fps         rand[1919451183]

My openal.so, with openalrc (alsa)
26.524736 / 65.250824 / 150.324860 fps         rand[1919451183]

-nosound
25.925261 / 69.477638 / 158.971008 fps         rand[560406543]


So, you can't get the performance of using no sound at all, but with
some tweaking you might be able to get a significant boost. Instructions:
http://icculus.org/~warp/ut2004/

-Corey