A.I.M.: Artificial Intelligence Machines - world map is heavy on performance

Frame rate drops significantly when viewing world map.

For comparison, both WineD3D and d3d8to9 + DXVK have similar results. FPS drops also on MS Windows with D8VK in combination with AMD proprietary drivers. However, on Windows without D8VK there's virtually no FPS loss at all.

d3d8-map-fps2.mp4

Software information

A.I.M.: Artificial Intelligence Machines, versions 1.00 to 1.06

System information

• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
• Driver: Mesa RADV 22.3.1
• Wine version: 7.22 Staging
• DXVK version: a50de46

Apitrace file(s)

• AIM.v1.06.map-perf.trace

Log files

• AIM_d3d9.log

[AlpyneDreams]

Not sure the immediate cause of this issue as the framerate drops even when CopyRects is disabled. It is probably due to the many queue syncs caused by calling LockRect a whole bunch. Not sure if this can easily be fixed without refactoring d3d9 a bunch.

[AlpyneDreams]

@Kritzmensch can you confirm that the issue doesn't occur if the game is run on Windows with Microsoft D3D8? Or is it just apitrace where it's fast?

@Kritzmensch can you confirm that the issue doesn't occur if the game is run on Windows with Microsoft D3D8?

It does occur, but it's not nearly as taxing as with anything else, including D8VK, that I've tested so far. Although the drop isn't visible (at least on 1080p and lower) without uncapping and monitoring FPS, the overhead is still rather high on pure Windows, too (~45 frames on my setup; though perhaps that's the way the game works and it's the best result that can be hoped in the end).
Also, something I failed to mention at the top is that this Windows' d3d8 implementation is broken in some parts.

AIM.v1.06.Windows.AMD.d3d8.mp4

[WinterSnowfall]

@Kritzmensch Can you please retest with latest main? There have been some changes done to buffer allocation which might have fixed these performance issues.

[GranMinigun]

Just built the latest commit, the game slows down to a crawl on the map screen. Intel Core i5-7400, Intel HD Graphics 630, Mesa 23.0.2. The game is patched to version 1.04 + 1.06 No-CD.

Menus in general significantly tank performance, and the game seems to constantly hitch when you're on the move, even in the areas that you've been before. It's... not exactly a technological masterpiece. (Although the map didn't tank performance that hard, even on a much weaker Windows configuration.)

[WinterSnowfall]

@GranMinigun Thank you for retesting.

Just built the latest commit, the game slows down to a crawl on the map screen.

Does setting d3d9.apitraceMode = True help at all?

[GranMinigun]

Doesn't seem to, no.

@WinterSnowfall Unfortunately I have to confirm @GranMinigun's earlier findings. There's no FPS increase.

[WinterSnowfall]

No worries and thanks again for retesting. We'll keep this on the burner then and hopefully sort it at a later date.

[GranMinigun]

I'm not familiar with either D3D or Vulkan, but some observations, just in case: The number of queue syncs always stays at zero, but the numbers of queue submissions, barriers, and CS chunks considerably increase in menus, and jump drastically at the map screen, skyrocketing frametimes up to 300+ ms on my machine. The game also performs a lot of render passes (around 150, double that on map), but with a relatively digestible number of draw calls (usually less than 1200, much less in menus). Numbers fluctuate a bit. D8VK built from commit 4a7c627.

	In-game	Menu	Map
Queue submissions	7	22	232
Barriers	271	326	1339
CS chunks	15	24	231

Not related to this specific issue but I've noticed a significant drop in average FPS over last few months with D8VK when compared to d3d8to9+DXVK combination.

There are many areas in the first game where FPS will always drastically drop for me, all seemingly where there is a lot of foliage around (and particle effects in case of Clan Wars). One of the worst locations is a southern shore of the lake near raw materials base in Tundra Sector. Start from somewhere in the middle of the northern part of the lake and start moving southwards without deviating from the course (coords: x13670 y8100, marked with the red circle on map). You should experience a steady decline in frame rate while approaching.

@GranMinigun can you check if same happens on you setup too?

Observations I've made:

	D8VK	d3d8to9+DXVK
FPS in problematic 'hotspots'	~70..110	130..190
FPS normally	~210	250..300