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[Fat Zombie]

SOLUTION!: For anyone suffering the same problem, check if you're using Avast! A recent update conflicts with keyboards. Better switch to AVG instead.

Hey there.

I've been suffering some sort of odd problem with UT2004, recently. I only noticed it after installing Gunreal, thinking it was to do with that; but I've now noticed it happens with vanilla UT2004 as well.

When I'm moving or looking around using the mouse and keyboard, if I'm doing a few things at once (say, sprinting, or looking around quickly and moving diagonally) the response time of the keyboard movement goes down; I begin to "lag", my character continuing to move in the same direction that I was just pressing for a few seconds.

This is only a recent occurrence. My rig is an old one, but it's had no such problems with UT2004 before. Spec:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (2GHZ single core)
ATI Radeon X1600Pro (512MB, AGP)
1GB RAM
Dell Keyboard and optical mouse.

I hope that someone else may know the cause. (I suspect it may have something to do with these blasted Omega Drivers, so I will try uninstalling them and seeing what happens)

EDIT: Just to clarify, this happens in single=player, so no lag-based thingies.

[Dario]

Your specs seem more than adequate to run UT2004, so I wouldn't know for certain... Have you tried dropping the detail down a bit, to see if your PC wasn't just choking?

Try booting up a match all by yourself (or type in "killbots" in the console, to flush out the bots) and see if it still does it.

[Fat Zombie]

Your specs seem more than adequate to run UT2004, so I wouldn't know for certain... Have you tried dropping the detail down a bit, to see if your PC wasn't just choking?

Try booting up a match all by yourself (or type in "killbots" in the console, to flush out the bots) and see if it still does it.

Okay, I've tried loading a match by myself. It continues to happen; the same sense of lag, without the actual lag or FPS drop. Seriously: It showed an FPS of about 60-65 when I tested, and I'm still getting it. It's not just movement, either; all the keys have either a very delayed response or no response at all. The escape menu came up a couple of seconds after I pressed ESC.

This is intolerable! *whining* Also, I haven't tried reduced performance (due to the fact that there's no FPS drop). And I've uninstalled the Omega Drivers and installed the regular Catalyst ones, with no effect.

[Dario]

Hmm... and do other Unreal Engine 2 games do this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine_games

[eblade]

Sounds exactly like what my HP wireless keyboard does when I have the receiver too far away from the keyboard, or when the batteries are starting to die.

[Fat Zombie]

Okay, after unchecking "Preload player skins" and text-to-speech, I try again on an empty map. It still persists, and at one point the controls stop responding; doing the same thing over and over again (moving sideways, cocking the shotgun), not responding to my presses of ESC. Also, my computer started doing a series of frantic beeps, similarly to if I press keys when my computer freezes up.

This is really rather bothersome.

EDIT: Numerous forums have suggested both reducing the sound setting to Safe Mode and increasing it to H/W 3D Audio, strangely. Increasing the audio setting helped the stuttering music, but the control problem remains.

EDIT2: I tried in Safe Mode, disabling all sound. The problem still persists.

UPDATE: This guy summed it up perfectly:

Now I dont want this to get confused with other problems, so here is a very very specific test to make sure you dont just need more ram. If your mouse movement is perfectly fine while standing still, different problem. The problem here (at least for me) isnt actually the mouse, its the keyboard. Where youll be running in one direction, and stay running in one direction longer than you planned (like the original OP). It has little to do with the mouse. In fact that only this it DOES have to do with the mouse is that while you are stuck moving in that direction, you will be able to turn just fine, but you wont be able to fire.

Its somehow putting the keyboard input into a screwed up queue, as evidenced by the fact that keyboard combinations, such as the one i use with my ati card to change brightness (alt+f9) barely work. Theyre fine in other games. If you move around randomly very fast, and keep clicking the mouse button, youll probably hear a beep. That beep is the computer telling you to slow down so it can flush its cache.

I'm able to look around using the mouse perfectly, except for when the PC starts beeping (when nothing responds).

[Fat Zombie]

Hmmm.

I stopped all Startup Items using MSCONFIG. When I rebooted, I loaded up Gunreal and it ran perfectly. Aha! So it must be some particular item!

Er. Not quite. After rebooting with all bits on again, I stopped Xfire. It's a bit better. So I stopped Steam. A bit better, but still a bit of unresponsiveness. So I disable a couple of useless Avast! utilities, and it runs perfectly. Even with eleven bots on a big shiny map, so the FPS drops to 20-25FPS. Fine.

I'm going to try enabling Steam again, see if it comes back.

EDIT: It appears that Steam, the bugger, takes up around 10% CPU when active! What's odd is that it never seemed to affect gaming before.

[Dario]

Hmm... I also use Avast, with everything disabled. All I use is the basic ability to manually scan freshly-downloaded files by right-clicking on them. I also use Steam, but haven't noticed Steam ever actually doing anything. (I just ran Gunreal, and kept an eye on Steam's CPU usage, but it was 0)

However, even if these things were to slow down my computer (as they're obviously doing something on yours), I probably wouldn't notice, because my computer could melt yours into a pulp. This morning, for instance, I left what I was doing in Adobe Premiere and Photoshop, and let them run in the background while I played a brief bout in Prey (love that Cherokee/Indian techno-alien-buttkicking crap), while also running a Gunreal server. 

[DroLeo420]

DUDE, prey is a sick game. Reminds me of kicking alien ass as an Indian in Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil. (one of my all-time favorites)... I'm not sure, but I had the same lag problem, and i have a microsoft wireless mouse/keyboard, but the lagging stopped once I replaced the batteries... Do you happen to have a wireless KB/M? It might not be your problem, but it worked for me.

BTW, BEWAREOBLIVIONISATHAND. Anybody know what that is?

[eblade]

For all the wireless users, if you use AA size batteries, I would like to really highly recommend RadioShack's new Highest Capacity rechargeables.  I'm on my first full charge on a set on the keyboard, and they've already lasted like 4 days longer than my old Duracells.  I do expect that the lifetime will decrease some on future chargings, but not to a huge extent, until they get old and worn out. 

The only disadvantage to rechargeables is because you get almost no drop in voltage until they are just about drained completely, you typically have almost no warning at all that it's time to charge. 

I'm picking up another set of these as soon as I have any disposable cash, so I have a set for my mouse.. and i just picked up a 24 pack of regular batteries on sale, so that when I DO need to charge, I'll ahve something to fall back on, until I can afford a third set of the rechargeables

[Dario]

Oh, yeah, I use NiMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeables for my wireless flashes (photography stuff), and they beat disposable alkalines into the dirt with a sledgehammer. First of all, they can be charged 200-400 times before they lose their charge, and save you a LOOOOOOAAAD of money. You also never have to feel like you're "wasting batteries / $$$", so they're a huge weight off your shoulders if you eat batteries like popcorn, like me.

Also remember, alkalines are designed to generate corporate dough. Why do you think every battery commercial on earth is for disposable alkalines, and never NiMH's? Because disposables cost us a fortune, and you can live off one $10 pack of NiMH's for 7 years.

Here's where I get my batteries (below). Make sure you get one with a charger if you don't already have a decent one. The ones that plug straight into wall are full of win. I hate wires.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=nimh+aa&x=0&y=0

[Fat Zombie]

Hmmm. All very interesting! However, I don't use a wireless keyboard or mouse. The mouse is optical, but that's it; they both use good old-fashioned wires (which, since I don't move my PC about and don't mind living with messes of cables, is fine for me). So no dice there, but thank you guys anyway.

This is really rather peevish. I'm tempted to uninstall UT2004 and reinstall it, just to see whether that does anything.

[Switch`]

I've seen this before, it was a driver issue. PCI Latency Tool helped.

[DroLeo420]

Yea man, NiMH batteries definately are the way to go. I have 2 four packs, and a 24 pack of energizer alkalines, just in case.... Although, 2 of my rechargeables were left charging for like 4 months, (one 4 pack proved to be enough for a while.) and now it only holds a charge for like, a day. OOPS.

[potivn121]

it might be your isp does it only happen on multi-player

[Fat Zombie]

It happens in SP and MP.

I've seen this before, it was a driver issue. PCI Latency Tool helped.

Drivers? For keyboard and mouse, or graphics, etc? And I checked out that PCI Latency tool, what settings would I need to change?

(Both Keyboard/mouse are USB)

[Fat Zombie]

SOLVED! Turns out that it was a conflict with the latest version of Avast!. Switched to AVG, and now all is well.

[Dario]

Ah, glad you got it figured out. I use Avast (and AVG for live-scanning... in-fact, I don't know why I still have Avast installed) but since I don't let Avast do anything except manual scans (of freshly downloaded files), so it doesn't affect anything.

[Fat Zombie]

Ah, glad you got it figured out. I use Avast (and AVG for live-scanning... in-fact, I don't know why I still have Avast installed) but since I don't let Avast do anything except manual scans (of freshly downloaded files), it doesn't affect anything.

Ahh. I had the Manual and Network shields enabled. Anyway, AVG is very good; I used to use it before it buggered up the installation for Bioshock, whereupon I switched to Avast.

Anyway. I had to reinstall Windows over the weekend, so now I have a good reason to install UT2004 again! Yays!

[eblade]

Only AV I've ever used is AVG, and I get the symptoms.  My batteries might need charging though.