[RESOLVED] 6.87 - Dark Chaos Load Timeout

[DJO Maverick]

This appears to be a new issue that has come about somewhere in the series of fixes to the table closing issues, but I haven't identified which build yet.  Dark Chaos is a demanding table with a relatively slow load time under optimal circumstances.  Loading straight from VPX (GL or DX) on my cab takes 18 seconds to playfield visible (20 sec 'til attract lights kick off).  It used to launch normally through PBX.  On current build, however, it takes obscenely long to load...  this log is me launching it and then exiting as soon as attract lights start, so, over one minute and thirty seconds.  It is showing a foreground player timeout at about one minute thirty, apparently right before it becomes visible.  Looks like perhaps PBX isn't recognizing it's done loading and handing off focus properly?

log.txt

[Draco1962]

Please attach your pinballx.ini file as well. Thanks.

[Tom Speirs]

Can you get me the table please so I can test it?

[DJO Maverick]

Table is here: Dark Chaos (apophis 2025) - VPX - Pinball Tables - Virtual Pinball Universe

And no material changes in the 'ole ini, but added as well.

PinballX.ini

[scutters]

It takes about 30 seconds to load for me from PinballX 6.87 and from VPX.

log.txt

@DJO Maverick Can you try opening a command prompt and seeing how long that takes to open the table for you?

"C:\Visual Pinball\VPinballX_GL64.exe" /play -"C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\Dark Chaos (Original 2025).vpx"

It might be worth disabling the DirectOutput PinballX Plugin in PinballX to see if that is causing an issue somehow as that is a difference in our PinballX configs. Not sure what else to suggest, but the load time in the log was definitely abysmal!

[Mike_da_Spike]

1 hour ago, scutters said:

It might be worth disabling the DirectOutput PinballX Plugin in PinballX to see if that is causing an issue somehow as that is a difference in our PinballX configs. Not sure what else to suggest, but the load time in the log was definitely abysmal!

If this could be the case, did you updated to latest MJR release ?

[DJO Maverick]

I do have latest MJR DOF (and have been keeping an eye on whether your PR is ever merged).

Disabling DOF Plugin has no impact.

First off, all times from open/execute command until playfield is visible and lights begin attract mode movement, and also separately measured when B2S visibly loads in, as that varied.

Launched directly from within VPX 64 (GL and DX) - Identical 0:22, and B2S in at 0:09

Launched from PBX - 1:36, B2S in at 1:08

Launched from command line as Scutters instructed (GL and DX) - NEVER completes; B2S still in at 0:09, playfield first visible at 0:20 (about the same as when first visible from within VPX).  The player window never achieves focus, at least in the few minutes I was willing to wait.  Alt tabbing to the player window focuses it.  If alt-tab to the player as soon as playfield is visible, then it completes at about the same time as launching from within the clients.

[scutters]

3 hours ago, DJO Maverick said:

Launched from command line as Scutters instructed (GL and DX) - NEVER completes; B2S still in at 0:09, playfield first visible at 0:20 (about the same as when first visible from within VPX).  The player window never achieves focus, at least in the few minutes I was willing to wait.  Alt tabbing to the player window focuses it.  If alt-tab to the player as soon as playfield is visible, then it completes at about the same time as launching from within the clients.

Focus from the cmd line isn't an issue for that test, the thing that counts is how long it takes - and that was the same as from VPX, and a lot quicker than from PinballX for you (which uses the same command).

It's not the DOF plugin so it must be something else, but not sure what. Have you added a new loading video for Dark Chaos?, maybe a large file there could impact performance enough to cause an issue if it was on the edge of maxing out before during loading. Might be worth trying a loading image rather than a video just to test.

 

[DJO Maverick]

Tried deleting the custom loading video.  No effect.

log.txt

[scutters]

6 hours ago, DJO Maverick said:

Tried deleting the custom loading video.  No effect.

Damn. Running low on ideas now!

If you have Task Manager open on the backglass monitor (with stay on top set from system tray icon right click), on the CPU performance tab showing all processors (right click to change graph view) what does that show during the load, anything staying at 100%?

Also what is your PinballX startup program pvpeh.exe doing, could that be a factor? (probably unlikely unless recently added)

 

Edit - Also check your launch audio file first. Just remembered a previous issue with slow loading of a table due to a very long launch audio file (try to stick to a few seconds long)

[scutters]

@Tom Speirs Not sure if the launch audio file being used is the issue here for @DJO Maverick yet, but it appears that launch audio tracks fade out at around 5 seconds..  but the table doesn't actually launch until the audio track completes.

Using this test mp3 https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/beepbeepbeep-53921/ table load times can be slowed down by a minute. Can launch audio playback be stopped as soon as it fades out, or play to completion without blocking the table load...  or something?

[DJO Maverick]

@scutters I think you found a contributing problem.  Packaged launch audio for the table is 57s.  Deleting it mitigates the problem, but does not resolve it.  Load time is still substantially longer than without PBX (log attached), about ~40 seconds vs 20 without.  B2S does seem to come up in more like 9 (I'm in a hurry and didn't have a stopwatch out), which made me wonder if it was, in fact, simply not shifting focus to the player until the timeout in the log.

Still unclear when this issue cropped up.  When the table first released (which was within the last couple of months), this issue didn't appear to exist, including with the launch audio.

I'm going to be out of pocket for a couple of days; look forward to the brainstorms.

log.txt

[scutters]

Agree, looks like launch audio is/was the main factor.

When you get chance can you try again without the loading video and with the DOF plugin disabled, just in case they are smaller contributors.

Also, not sure how your VPX is configured, but try VPX in windowed and exclusive fullscreen modes. If the remaining delay is a focus thing then the DX version in fullscreen normally helps with that.

[DJO Maverick]

...and I'm back.

GL exclusive does not change anything.  DX exclusive does cause it to match load times without PBX...  however, it instead creates an undesirable behavior where it rapidly brings into focus the editor window and script loading bar for the last half of the loading.

log.txt

[DJO Maverick]

Slight update...  so this GL focus issue doesn't seem to be limited to Dark Chaos.  And again, this appears new...  never had it prior to current builds.  I launched BTTF this morning (GL is default build), and when it loaded into the table, it never (ever) focused.  I quit it and restarted the game, and THAT time it DID focus, somewhat inexplicably.

log.txt

[DJO Maverick]

Related: in this same vein, throughout the afternoon I observed several tables flash from the loading video to the editor window with the loading bar still showing, despite them being fast loading tables.  All of this with GL windowed.  I did not studiously log it all today, however.

I know it was said that nothing changed with how tables are being launched in the newer builds, but...  Something has seemingly changed nonetheless.

[scutters]

On 5/25/2025 at 1:02 AM, DJO Maverick said:

DX exclusive does cause it to match load times without PBX...  however, it instead creates an undesirable behavior where it rapidly brings into focus the editor window and script loading bar for the last half of the loading.

Try changing your launch parameters by adding the the -minimized flag to minimise the VPX editor during the load. i.e. change to;

-minimized -play "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]"

 

[DJO Maverick]

Changing the launch command tentatively seems to have solved focusing for the moment, with GL windowed.  Still putting it through the paces for a more thorough sampling...  Thanks for the workaround.  Which leaves the weird behavior with the launch audio stalling loading of tables.