How to remove fps limit?

partypooper · August 29, 2024, 8:24am

In the project settings there is vsync checkbox, that has tooltip
vsync

But I haven’t found any frame cap option in the project settings or in defold API. So no matter what I have tried there is always 60 fps output.

And as a follow up question, there is hardcoded limit of collection max instances to 32765, right?

britzl · August 29, 2024, 10:54am

You should be able to run as fast as possible by setting the Update Frequency option to 60 and disabling Vsync:

Correct. There is a feature request to remove/raise this limit:

github.com/defold/defold

Expand the object limit to over 32,000 instances

opened 10:36AM - 14 Aug 24 UTC

Morgerion

feature request engine

It would be great to increase the limit on the number of instances to 100K. 32K… is very low for medium/large projects. To make it clear how small 32K is - here are some real examples i have already encountered: 1. To form a mini-map of a level, you need to render a field of 200x200 cells, and each cell can contain several GO-objects (the object itself + the shadow under it + the underlying cell). In this way you can easily get more than 32K objects. 2. Bullet-hell game. Each projectile is accompanied by shards, hitting enemies generates shards, at high levels these objects become very many. There can be more than 32K objects on the screen, whose behaviour is calculated individually through native expansion. This game works fine on PC, but the 32K limit is sometimes suddenly reached at the most intense moment. 3. Songs of Conquest-like game. In each cell of the playing field there can be several GO-objects (the object itself + the shadow under it + the underlying cell + debug-info). There are usually 40x40 cells on the screen, so 40*40*4 = 6400 sprites. At the same time it is possible to zoom the camera, which increases the area of visibility in 2 times, while the area increases in 4 times, totalling 6400*4 = 25K. The limit is not reached, but it's pretty close. Any small change in configuration could hit it. Technically, it is possible to circumvent this restriction. For example, divide the game content into several collections. But it is technically possible not always - sometimes it is possible through ridiculous and unnecessary complication of architecture, which in fact will solve only one problem (overcoming the limit) but will create other problems. The most preferable solution is to simply increase the limit restriction. Not everyone will obviously reach such high values, but those who need it will be very happy.

partypooper · August 29, 2024, 11:17am

You should be able to run as fast as possible by setting the Update Frequency option to 60 and disabling Vsync

I have already poked with this option, it can limit fps below 60, but I can’t get more than 60 no matter which value I do use, as example I have tried 0, 30, 50, 60, 90, 120, 144.

How I have tested FPS:

profiler for Frame always shows ~16ms for values above 60 or 0, for values between 0 and 60 it shows actual values, but the custom fps calculator always shows 60 at max (maybe it calculates them wrong?)
custom made calculator based on socket.gettime() from yours GitHub - britzl/defold-bunnymark: Defold bunnymark test, can’t get more than 60 in bunnymark example project too.

partypooper · August 29, 2024, 11:45am

I’m on Linux, and just tested it on windows OS and with just unchecked vsync and 0 in Update Frequency fps can go above 60. Not sure if it something with my linux setup, but some other engines can show fps above 60 (OpenGL) without any problems on it.

partypooper · September 5, 2024, 4:48pm

Forgot to reply, that I have workaround for this issue.

I’m using open source amdgpu driver and it by default locks fps to 60 (or the monitor refresh rate).
There are some other solutions, but I have found the easiest one when I’m in need of benchmarking, just exporting environment variable export vblank_mode=0 and starting defold from the same shell.

defold than logs out repetitive warning ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment., so for me it sounds like engine can detect and change (?) its value, because as I have said previously I don’t have such issue with other engines.