Major stuttering/fps drops due to a bug in the recent patch to do with ants and food

[Gurimujouz]

Myself and a lot of other players are having constant fps drops and stuttering due to a bug in the recent patch. I have attached a photo of a location I found where black ants are constantly depositing food. Other people have also said the same is happening in ant hills and places where ants normally put the food bits like the ant hill and cookie bits.

I can't attach the files as they're too large - https://imgur.com/a/fzyfXvr

[MrBubbles]

Same Issue on PC. I don't believe it's tied to only the food piles. I've cleared out a huge food pile at the bottom of the red ant hill (Hot dog bites and cookie chunks) and the stuttering persisted. Never been even close to the black ants, so I wouldn't think it would be piling up already, unless the game is already piling them up regardless of the fact that I've yet to even interact with the haze on this playthrough. Very early. Throwing a video down below to show. (No ads, no monetization, channel is not for views.)

 

 

[Hanif Muhammad]

This seems to be a new widespread problem hope they fix it soon

[joshusse2007]

I'm getting this same issue of the stuttering. In a game that requires pinpoint timing for the combat, this sucks so bad. I've had no issues until the most recent patch. I'm nearing End game, done all the major 5 labs, currently trying to build a base on the stones between BBQ and Shed, but it's driving me insane. Feels pretty much unplayable at the moment. 

[Dixon]

Thank you for starting this thread about this major bug. The game has become unplayable for me and my friends too.

I tried lowering settings, changing save file settings and owenership, updating my PC, updating GPU drivers, fixing/validating installation. All have failed and problem still persists.  

Did the devs put out an announcement about it? This needs to be fixed ASAP...

[joshusse2007]

Though my previous comment hasn't been approved yet, I tested this issue with a fresh single player game, and it worked flawlessly. No stuttering, no lag, nothing. So as OP suggests, it's likely something such as ants compiling food which eventually just gets to the point where the game can't handle to load of items.

[poordecisions]

it is definitely the black ants near the trash heap.  It had been happening for a few days and i had done some digging through the threads on steam and here.  So i went to the place built a couple huge sets of stairs up to the deck on the house (through the lag) to bypass the haze and get over there.  no aggro bugs there just the worker ants and a couple rolly polys the lag got way worse as i got closer but sure enough after i trashed all their food it was fixed.  i put up a barricade to stop them from doing it and it seems to have worked.  hope this helps.

[joshusse2007]

18 minutes ago, poordecisions said:

it is definitely the black ants near the trash heap.  It had been happening for a few days and i had done some digging through the threads on steam and here.  So i went to the place built a couple huge sets of stairs up to the deck on the house (through the lag) to bypass the haze and get over there.  no aggro bugs there just the worker ants and a couple rolly polys the lag got way worse as i got closer but sure enough after i trashed all their food it was fixed.  i put up a barricade to stop them from doing it and it seems to have worked.  hope this helps.

[joshusse2007]

50 minutes ago, poordecisions said:

it is definitely the black ants near the trash heap.  It had been happening for a few days and i had done some digging through the threads on steam and here.  So i went to the place built a couple huge sets of stairs up to the deck on the house (through the lag) to bypass the haze and get over there.  no aggro bugs there just the worker ants and a couple rolly polys the lag got way worse as i got closer but sure enough after i trashed all their food it was fixed.  i put up a barricade to stop them from doing it and it seems to have worked.  hope this helps.

[joshusse2007]

For some reason I can't see what I type out in response to your quote but either way thanks for testing this out for us, I'll look to do the same to see if I can produce the same results! 

[joshusse2007]

Can confirm it's the Black ants causing issues, HUGE pile of food under the trashbags, half under the water. By the time I got to it I had gone down from 90fps to 20fps. Barely removed 1/4 of it and already noticing improvements. This must be an issue caused since the most recent update, because I was there on the day of the update, before it updated and there was no food like this here. So this has been compiled since then. Absolute insanity really xD 

[joshusse2007]

Here's a picture of the pile my colony acquired. Actual madness xD

[flapjacknakky]

If you guys are on pc and are looking to reduce this you should lower your graphical settings all the way and try to slowly approach the black ant drop off point in the water near the garbage. I was able to get rid of the over 500 apple bit pile they had made and the stuttering was gone. They do still add to it every day so I have to drop in now and then to clear it.

 

[LadyBugWins]

PC/Single Player/Mild

Since the most recent update, I have noticed a major stutter or  "mini" screen hitch when moving/ changing direction/ in mid-jump/ picking up resources off the ground/ etc. To describe it more perfectly....it's the same hitch that happens when the game auto-saves. Just ever-present during game play. Major dump sites of spoiled meat/food are piling up near the trash cans and in ant hills. Not sure this it the cause or even related. I've been playing far away from ants and the hitch is still present. 

Also, I have noticed a major increase in distant blur....even when the pagoda and castle are within normal viewing distance, you have  to stand perfectly still in order for them to come into focus. (With an annoying pause beforehand.) Worse when moving. Starting to get a bit motion sick when playing.  (There's just so much eye drops and sparkle clean glasses can do.)  I always turn motion blur to 0.  This was never a problem before the release update.  Please return to the 'normal' viewing distance that we once enjoyed. 

Suggestions:  Lower the amount of rotten food bits after breaking food.  If a player returns in a few days, all bits left behind should no longer be there. Ants carting away food makes sense, but limit the amount they hoard. If grass left behind de-spawn, so should any excessive resource left behind by greedy little critters. 

Thanks for a great game. I know everyone has their hands full. But the Grounded team always come through.

 

 

[Incognito00]

The same problem. Deleted red ant and black ant food piles, fps drops gone.

[ixKroniK]

Make sure to clean out the under the trash can.

I have baan having this same issue. tonight I was able to track the severity of the frame rate drops to a spot by the hose reel in the south east corner. in the water under the trashcan there was a pile of apple and hotdog bits that were not only creating a ton of splahing effects but were attracting a large number of black ants and causeing them to act very strange. I jumped in and managed to stop the splashing by wading around in them. it helped but didnt fix it completely.