Technic and Tekkit: The More I Make, the More I Lag

[ChrisPerson]

This one may seem a little bit weird, but it is darn frustrating. Where to begin...

OK, so to start off, I have two worlds I "maintain" on both Technic and Tekkit. One is my "Unhacked" world, or where I play Technic, doing things legitimately, no NEI or Creative mode involved. This world is in Technic 6.1.1, only because I was stupid and, when 6.1 came out, I immediately jumped on it and converted my world to Anvil. I am now stuck on 6.1.1, unable to reverse to the recommended build.

The other world is in Tekkit 3.1.1, because, well, updated stuff! This world is a Creative Flatlands map, which I've MCEdit'd to have to no floor (my creation is floating. Screw gravity!). It's the home of the Mob Distribution and Termination Network, or MDTN, codenamed "Laboratory".

First, let's start with the Technic world...

In all essentials, I'm an IC2/RP2/EE guru. I rely heavily on EE to generate things like diamonds, RedPower maintains my quarry (I'll get to that later), and I have the full set of IC2 tools, and a near-complete Quantumsuit. What fuels it all is a nuclear reactor and a large array of Redpower-operated watermills, and around 40 Buildcraft-operated Geothermal Generators in the nether.

One problem is the lag. It's unbearable. I built the Geo-generator array soley because the Watermills alone take off at least 10 FPS when operating. The nuclear reactor is the replacement for them, and generates both 50 E/Us and a little lag.

The stuff operated by Redpower is my EE arrays my Watermills, and a quarry/Recycler combo. The EE arrays are several massive Collector "flowers" that power an Energy condenser that generates diamonds. Redpower retrievers, controlled by a timer set to pulse every 1.25 seconds, collect the diamonds and send them to a Relay, where they charge a Klein star. The quarry operates in a similar manner, only with waste going into the chest, where a Transposer sends them through a Tube network to an IC2 Recycler, which produces large amounts of Scrap to help generate UU matter.

Why did I tell you all that? So that you know what's going on, and what any possible lag may be. Did I mention I usually use the LB PhotoRealism 256x texture pack at around 50 FPS? What about that when I switch to the default Minecraft textures, it doesn't improve performance?

On to the Laboratory!

The Laboratory, in all essentials, spawns mobs via spawners and holds them for transport. When you've selected a mob and activated the minecart feeder, it sends a cart to the holding chamber, picks up a mob and moves it to your selected kill chamber, where the mob is removed from the cart (Railcraft!) and pushed down below to whatever awaits, whether it be a blast pit or a lava chamber.

Over 100 wireless receivers and transmitters manage all aspects of the system, from the selection system to the minecart feeders, using around 60 wireless frequencies.

The system is nearly complete; only a few bugs need to be worked out, but that is proving impossible due to none other than intense lag. I'm talking "down to 10 FPS" kind of lag, even when I'm doing nothing.

Switched from that nice 256x texture pack? Nope, no effect on the lag at all. Removed all the World anchors? No improvement. Made all video settings optimized for performance? Nope. Peaceful mode? Nope! Quit Kaspersky and iTunes (I did this for Technic too!)? Nope! Absolutely nothing I do for both Technic and Tekkit improves performance.

My computer specifications are below:

Core: Intel Core i5

Graphics Car: Nvidia GeForce GT 540M

RAM: 8 GB, recently upgraded from 4 GB (lag was present before upgrade)

RAM Assigned to Technic/Tekkit: 4 GB

Java Version: 7 (beta, when I switched to v7 from v6, it made Minecraft much faster)

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I am aware of the thing with Nvidia where you have to make the Nvidia card you default graphics processor, I did that ages ago. My computer is only about a year old, and runs all other, far more high-end (games like Civilization V, Portal 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, ect...) on max graphics with 60 FPS.

Here's the real catch for it all: The more I build in either Technic or Tekkit, the more lag I experience. In short, I'm stuck. I literally cannot do anything in Technic or Tekkit now because when Minecraft looks like somebody pasted pictures on sticky notes, then flipped them fast so it looks "animated", there's something wrong there.

[Lothos]

well, tekkit should be run from a server and not really ssp like I had been doing testing things. That way the load from the machines you've created should be on the server and not your pc. beyond lowering your render distance I think you're stuck based on the amount of "work" you have going on in a small area.

[ChrisPerson]

well, tekkit should be run from a server and not really ssp like I had been doing testing things. That way the load from the machines you've created should be on the server and not your pc. beyond lowering your render distance I think you're stuck based on the amount of "work" you have going on in a small area.

Servers are a bit too buggy for me. Additionally, I only have one computer capable of hosting a server, and that's the same one I play Minecraft on. Even if they were not buggy and I was playing on another server, I still wouldn't build on it, because I can't keep the world (as in actually have the files on my computer). I don't think playing on a server would increase my performance that much.

On the "work" thing, I don't have any intensive stuff going on. Aside from using Redpower lights, wiring, Railcraft switch tracks, and Wireless tech, it's pretty much this, and I do fine on it. It just needed a big remake.

[Lothos]

well, running the server AND the client on the same machine doubles the workload for java. Why are you so hung up on "keeping the world"? I run a server myself and have no problems making schematic exports for guys I play with to use in their single player worlds.

[ChrisPerson]

well, running the server AND the client on the same machine doubles the workload for java. Why are you so hung up on "keeping the world"? I run a server myself and have no problems making schematic exports for guys I play with to use in their single player worlds.

Why I am hung up on keeping the world? Because...

1. I distribute my work via PlanetMinecraft. I build things, I put them on the internet, free to download. Sometimes people even request I build things, which is how I got started on Tic-Tac-Toe and Redstone-Paper-Scissors.

2. Technically, they can do what they want with your work. In other words, you build something on a server, they can do what they want with it. That ranges from griefers griefing it to the host claiming as their own.

3. I have friends, but not Minecraft friends. That's why I don't play on a small server of friends.

All of this is really irrelevant. I just need to know exactly why Tekkit AND Technic lag so badly, and how to fix it.

[BuccaneerRex]

You do not need a fancy spec computer to host a local server. I ran a tekkit server off a 5 year old laptop sitting in the corner for several weeks. Core2 Duo at 1.73Ghz, using 1GB of ram for the server. I even ran it out of network share folder, so that when I wanted to update a file, I could just remotely access it. Since it's going to be just you, you don't need to worry about lag, as your LAN should handle it fine.

As for technic, one thing i found that helps is to ensure java has a profile in your nVidia control panel options. this will make sure that the graphics card is doing what it can to process for the game.

You say you're charging Klein Stars, but I found if I'm charging more than 2 or 3 at a time, it doesn't matter what I'm set on graphicswise, I get lag like crazy. This is for singleplayer.

Not all mods are created equal, and some are far more intensive on the cpu for some reason. Wireless redstone is one of these. The more you have, the harder you'll lag. Sorry.

Turn off mods you're not using, like millenaire and mo'creatures in single player, since they're awfully cpu intensive.

It sounds to me like you're deliberately stressing out the game, and then wondering why you get lag. Minecraft, and by extension Technic/Tekkit, are not like other graphically intensive games. Almost none of the processing and rendering is done by the GPU. SO sure you can run high end games, but believe it or not, minecraft is actually more processor intensive than almost anything else. At any given moment, your game is keeping track of over 10 million blocks, checking for updates and changes to the entities within them. That's outside of any graphic rendering, that's just for game data. Even turning down graphic settings doesn't change the fact that MC is tracking 16*16*256 blocks per chunk, with a radius of around 16 chunks from the player. 20 times per second. In java, no less.

SO it's not surprising. THe more you give it to do, the more it's going to lag. Start separate creative worlds for each build project, or at least make sure your old ones are turned off. Kill mobs you're not using, especially on the tekkit server, with the /killall command.

[ChrisPerson]

You do not need a fancy spec computer to host a local server. I ran a tekkit server off a 5 year old laptop sitting in the corner for several weeks. Core2 Duo at 1.73Ghz, using 1GB of ram for the server. I even ran it out of network share folder, so that when I wanted to update a file, I could just remotely access it. Since it's going to be just you, you don't need to worry about lag, as your LAN should handle it fine.

As for technic, one thing i found that helps is to ensure java has a profile in your nVidia control panel options. this will make sure that the graphics card is doing what it can to process for the game.

You say you're charging Klein Stars, but I found if I'm charging more than 2 or 3 at a time, it doesn't matter what I'm set on graphicswise, I get lag like crazy. This is for singleplayer.

Not all mods are created equal, and some are far more intensive on the cpu for some reason. Wireless redstone is one of these. The more you have, the harder you'll lag. Sorry.

Turn off mods you're not using, like millenaire and mo'creatures in single player, since they're awfully cpu intensive.

It sounds to me like you're deliberately stressing out the game, and then wondering why you get lag. Minecraft, and by extension Technic/Tekkit, are not like other graphically intensive games. Almost none of the processing and rendering is done by the GPU. SO sure you can run high end games, but believe it or not, minecraft is actually more processor intensive than almost anything else. At any given moment, your game is keeping track of over 10 million blocks, checking for updates and changes to the entities within them. That's outside of any graphic rendering, that's just for game data. Even turning down graphic settings doesn't change the fact that MC is tracking 16*16*256 blocks per chunk, with a radius of around 16 chunks from the player. 20 times per second. In java, no less.

SO it's not surprising. THe more you give it to do, the more it's going to lag. Start separate creative worlds for each build project, or at least make sure your old ones are turned off. Kill mobs you're not using, especially on the tekkit server, with the /killall command.

I've never heard of making Java a profile in my Nvidia options, I'll have to try that.

On the Klein Star thing, I'm only charging one, a Klein Star Omega.

On Technic pack, I only have 3 wireless frequencies in use; one to keep my Induction furnace running, another to turn my nuclear reactor on and off, and the last is to operate my Watermill plant.

On the thing about handling all the data, I DO build all my projects (outside of regular SSP) in separate Creative worlds. For the Tekkit Laboratory, I even did it in a flatland map, except with no land.

On Millenaire, I did a couple things about that...

1. My local village (spawned near one) kept attacking other villages, creating huge lag every time they did.

2. I intended to stop that by wiping out their village. I went a rampage with a NanoSaber, killing everything.

3. I realized that 1 villager was thousands of blocks away raiding another village (I explore a lot).

4. I nuked the village. Twice.

5. I tried deleting all references to the village in the Millenaire files for my world

6. I finally disabled millenaire entirely.

The only reason I'm using Tekkit to build the Laboratory was because of the features of that wireless redstone mod; being able to assign names to frequencies sped things up a ton.

EDIT: On the thing that Minecraft does not really use the GPU, I really am going to have to disagree with you. When I play Minecraft, but with my Nvidia GPU disabled, even Vanilla Minecraft lags pretty badly, so Minecraft must use the GPU.

[Lothos]

He didn't say it DIDN'T use the gpu, he simply said it uses the cpu more intensively then other high-end games out there which tend to rely more heavily on the GPU. The GPU does nothing for you for updating blocks and entities not on the screen at the moment. That's all handled by the cpu.

[BuccaneerRex]

Oh, one other thing you might try, if you're using tekkit for non-multiplayer server:

You can launch a singleplayer tekkit world from the client. Just click single instead of multiplayer. Then you don't have to worry about trying to run a server anywhere.

[ChrisPerson]

Oh, one other thing you might try, if you're using tekkit for non-multiplayer server:

You can launch a singleplayer tekkit world from the client. Just click single instead of multiplayer. Then you don't have to worry about trying to run a server anywhere.

That's, uhh, what I've done. Oddly enough, while I use Tekkit, I only play singleplayer on it.

I guess for the Laboratory, I'm just going to have to wire everything with RedPower wiring instead of using WiFi. I had a feeling that there had to be drawback to WiFi in Minecraft.

[freakachu]

I'm thinking you're simply hitting the limits of your hardware here. that is a hell of a lot of stuff happening all at once. I don't really think there's too terribly much you're going to be able to do about it short of simply getting a nice gaming desktop type machine.

[OmegaJasam]

If you havn't, try running it as a separate local server rather then the single player option. It /might/ allow for better use of more cores of your cpu.

If /that/ doens't work, your options are pritty much get a better machine, or get a seperate server(on your LAN, or from one of the many hosts).

[ChrisPerson]

If you havn't, try running it as a separate local server rather then the single player option. It /might/ allow for better use of more cores of your cpu.

If /that/ doens't work, your options are pritty much get a better machine, or get a seperate server(on your LAN, or from one of the many hosts).

I'll try using a server, but that doesn't apply to Technic. On the thing for getting a better computer, I bought it last year, and It's the computer I currently use. It's an Alienware M11X.

[BuccaneerRex]

Yeah, it's sometimes tough to get it to play nice even on higher end PCs. Another suggestion is to look around here on the forums for instructions on removing optifine. It's great if you need it, but it can be cranky if you don't.

[ChrisPerson]

Yeah, it's sometimes tough to get it to play nice even on higher end PCs. Another suggestion is to look around here on the forums for instructions on removing optifine. It's great if you need it, but it can be cranky if you don't.

I am quite certain that I need optifine. I have optimized its settings to speed Minecraft, and that it does. I don't even play Vanilla Minecraft without it installed (even though with optifine installed, it's not vanilla anymore)

[OmegaJasam]

I am quite certain that I need optifine. I have optimized its settings to speed Minecraft, and that it does. I don't even play Vanilla Minecraft without it installed (even though with optifine installed, it's not vanilla anymore)

Certain versions of optifine don't play nice with certain cpu configurations. Try removing it, the multi core, single core and whatever other versions there are.

I'd also reccomend exporting parts of your world bit by bit to a new one to see if any one part can be worked on. You might get lucky and find moving it to anouther world massivly improves performance if some kind os strange bug is killing your fps.

obviously, kill all enitites if you havn't tryed it already, and double check for overflow. Where possable try to minimise lots of individual items moving around, and do stacks at a time instead.

Thats about it for that I can think of atm.

[BuccaneerRex]

We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but I think Buildcraft is far harsher on cpu cycles than Redpower is, so if you have lots of pipes, try using tubes instead.

[ChrisPerson]

We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but I think Buildcraft is far harsher on cpu cycles than Redpower is, so if you have lots of pipes, try using tubes instead.

Already did that ages ago. I modified my Buildcraft quarry system to use Redpower Tubes, than modified that to use those high speed magtubes, to minimize the amount of items in transit. Here's the Technic SSP world download, just so you can see what I've got going on:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bxq6wqzmraez34d

I'm not prepared to release the Tekkit world until I've gotten rid of all WiFi and tried moving it to another world, so releasing that world can't happen yet. In the meantime, please, take a look at my Technic world, and tell me what can be done to improve performance. Please keep in mind that not all the timers (like the one to start diamond production) are active at the same time; that generates a lot of lag, and nor do I have my induction furnace running at all times, and the same with my nuclear reactor. It's there to provide a constant source of energy, instead of manually loading charged Lapatron Crystals (I charge them in the Nether).

[OmegaJasam]

Just downloaded and had a look and was imediatly reminded of a problem I used to have quite commonly even on my machine.

Set your sound to 0%. That will probably make most of the lag vanish.

[BuccaneerRex]

Just downloaded and had a look and was imediatly reminded of a problem I used to have quite commonly even on my machine.

Set your sound to 0%. That will probably make most of the lag vanish.

I'd forgotten that. Also helps to go into the IC2 config file and set sounds to false. That way you don't have to listen to the macerators going all the time.

[ChrisPerson]

May I ask why sound causes lag? Because that's going to make it incredibly difficult to play - I won't even be able to tell if a creeper is about to explode, nothing. Even with my geo-generators in the nether going full blast, making a lot of noise, and I get no lag.

[OmegaJasam]

I think it's a combination of very poorly done sound code (especaly IC2's, try disabling that alone first) and there being a lot of it. Combining the teo probably takes a lot of cpu power, moreso if you don't ahve a dedicated sound card I expect.

[ChrisPerson]

I think I'll just set my IC2 sounds to false, because I can't really play with no sound. I won't even be able to hear a creeper behind me!

I tried the idea of setting up a server and playing Tekkit on that, and it seems to be working. My lag has been reduced by a lot, so thanks for that guys!

[ChrisPerson]

I think it's a combination of very poorly done sound code (especaly IC2's, try disabling that alone first) and there being a lot of it. Combining the teo probably takes a lot of cpu power, moreso if you don't ahve a dedicated sound card I expect.

I"m pretty certain I do have a sound card, I'll have to check... But I strongly suspect that IC2 sound is the cause of the lag now. Where's the config file I can change that in? technicssp/mods, or technicssp/config?

[BuccaneerRex]

I"m pretty certain I do have a sound card, I'll have to check... But I strongly suspect that IC2 sound is the cause of the lag now. Where's the config file I can change that in? technicssp/mods, or technicssp/config?

It's under the config folder, ic2.cfg I think.