Halo 4 - If you are having problems with "lag", Read This!

[Unseenz]

Disclaimer: I took time and effort to give knowledge I did not have to give to the community. Therefore, do not come on here bashing what I said and telling me facts I already know (Such as Microsoft "SAYS" that installing discs on the HD improves performance) I KNOW THE FACTS and am not making anything up. Read and you might learn something. Same rules apply with all my posts: Do not flame, rage, bad manner me or anyone else, and please for the love of gosh do not skip over reading the posts and put ignorant / unwelcome comments. Thanks.

 

 

Hello community,

 

I found something that could potentially be useful to some of you that may be experiencing game-breaking lag or frame rate issues. The proposed solution is more of a suggestion and something simple to do that does not take time nor does it guarantee a fix. Worth a shot if you ask me, because this simple solution seemed to work for me.

 

Yes, they need to fix the regional filter or add a better lag compensation filter but that is not the topic of discussion for right now.

 

These steps may provide help with issues with either "lag" or AKA "frame-rate lag":

 

-Uninstall Disc 1 of Halo 4 (I know, THEY SAY it increases performance but really it doesnt (I will discuss further down).

-Try Matchmaking, Campaign, or Spartan Ops (Whatever may have been giving you issues with the lag).

 

 

Now what made me come to this conclusion? Well, I had been lagging so bad or what I thought was lag for about 3 days straight. I was so angry I took a break from Halo 4 (LOL, IKR). I tried getting responses on the forums and in the waypoint forums and people were saying things like this "LAWLS YOU HAVE A BAD CONNECTION BRO" and other things of that nature. Well, let me tell you, I have a 25 mbps Download speed, 4.2 upload speed, and a 12 ping. That is not a bad connection. So it brought me to the conclusion something was just wrong with the game.

 

Like I said before, they most definitely need to add a regional filter / "good-connection" filter much like Halo 3 and Reach but that is another topic for another day.

 

So, I was talking to my buddy. He told me "man you just gotta ask people who are not having issues with the game that have good connections like yourself, I am one of them." He told me he did not install Disc 1 of Halo 4. I was surprised and questioned why? He said there could be an issue with it reading 2 things at once on the hard drive and would more than likely be the cause of the framerate atrocious game-breaking lag. He was right and it worked.

 

The Hard Drive in many cases is faster than a laser reader. If you think about it, when the game has to read two simultaneous things it will decrease performance. We were forced to install Disc 2, which is fine, but when it comes down to it the game itself has maybe similar or extra data on Disc 1. This MAY (MAY NOT WILL!!!!!) fix issues with people's online performance.

 

Read it and understand it. AT THE VERY LEAST GIVE IT A SHOT, IT WORKED FOR ME. REALIZE THAT THERE ARE ISSUES WITH REGIONAL FILTERS, ETC. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN 100% OF THE TIME YOU ARE NOT JUST LAGGING AND JUST FRAME RATE LAGGING.

 

ALSO REMEMBER: This is a person-to-person issue, some may not have any problems with it installed others do. Do not post "OH I DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS BLAH BLAH BLAH" you are being inconsiderate and your opinion only strays others away from attempting something that may be the cure.

 

Thanks community and happy gaming!

UnSeEnZ

 

 

For better clarification on people that are not experiencing issues following this I went ahead and decided to post a quote list below:

 

 

I'm still using a 1st generation (year 2006) XBOX 360. It doesn't even have an HDMI output. I didn't have enough room on my 20gig hard drive to install disc 1 anyway, and barely enough to install disc 2, lol.

 

But I haven't had any issues with lag, or at least nothing like you describe, there is the occasional... WTF with people blinking around but that's all connection. So, I'd say you're right.

[Benchimus]

I wish my interwebs were half as fast as yours. 3 down, .9 up, and 78 ping. Tho I dont get much lag if ever.

[Unseenz]

I wish my interwebs were half as fast as yours. 3 down, .9 up, and 78 ping. Tho I dont get much lag if ever.

 

Yeah it it nice to have a decent internet connection but I will tell you that was why I was so baffled.

[FaTaL]

I am not bashing your post, because obviously it worked for you. But I am using a Flash Drive to run my maps and saved games off of and I do not lag what so ever. In a sense wouldn't that mean my Xbox (4GB) would be reading the Hard Drive, Disk, and Flash Drive? Now, I am soley basing that off of what you have posted.

 

Here is my perspective, from past experience with altering and modifying files for people on multiple consoles and just for the fun of exploring new realms of gaming I have learned a few things. I do not believe the disk is being read once logged into Xbox Live. Therefore making the laser inactive and only your harddrive actively reading data. The disk is only used for booting up the game and offline gameplay. Xbox live is all on a server and the maps are or should be on your hard drive which is the only thing active. I say this due to how people used to Hard mod back in the day. You would literally open the disk drive and take out the game disc once connected to xbox live and put in the hard modded disc. Since the original maps on the older games weren't DLC available, they were all still on the gaming disc. Which would make it necessary to have the disc to play only the original maps. BUT, Halo 4 has implemented a new technique making it manditory to download the maps onto a hard drive or storage device to be read right off the device, eliminating the disc factor.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but unless Xbox 360 has changed the way it reads games, this should still be the same.

[Unseenz]

I am not bashing your post, because obviously it worked for you. But I am using a Flash Drive to run my maps and saved games off of and I do not lag what so ever. In a sense wouldn't that mean my Xbox (4GB) would be reading the Hard Drive, Disk, and Flash Drive? Now, I am soley basing that off of what you have posted.

 

Here is my perspective, from past experience with altering and modifying files for people on multiple consoles and just for the fun of exploring new realms of gaming I have learned a few things. I do not believe the disk is being read once logged into Xbox Live. Therefore making the laser inactive and only your harddrive actively reading data. The disk is only used for booting up the game and offline gameplay. Xbox live is all on a server and the maps are or should be on your hard drive which is the only thing active. I say this due to how people used to Hard mod back in the day. You would literally open the disk drive and take out the game disc once connected to xbox live and put in the hard modded disc. Since the original maps on the older games weren't DLC available, they were all still on the gaming disc. Which would make it necessary to have the disc to play only the original maps. BUT, Halo 4 has implemented a new technique making it manditory to download the maps onto a hard drive or storage device to be read right off the device, eliminating the disc factor.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but unless Xbox 360 has changed the way it reads games, this should still be the same.

 

I agree, but for some reason I had less frame rate issues when I uninstalled Disc 1. I know of two other people I helped on my FL that is worked for as well. I think it has something to do with the HD getting confused as to what data to read and when the Xbox gets "hot" it may not full read the data on the HD. Trust me, this is all speculation and I just wanted to share a possible fix for the community.

[Trent Reznor]

I have games where there is seemingly little lag, then when I view the killcam, it shows the most ridiculous **** ever. That makes me question the entire multiplayer.

[Unseenz]

I have games where there is seemingly little lag, then when I view the killcam, it shows the most ridiculous **** ever. That makes me question the entire multiplayer.

 

BTW, I did this uninstall fix and all the kill cams were near perfect. (I mean let's be honest no kill cam is ever perfect in every game) BUT, it at least showed me kind of what happened. Sometimes the kill cams are like "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Others are not so bad.

[FaTaL]

I agree, Unseez, and I commend you for trying to help the community. It could work for everyone and then again it could only work on an individual basis. I was just trying to clarify what were explaining in a way. By putting what I knew out on the table I figured maybe you had more tricks up your sleave that you didn't say on here just yet that could clarify why I figured it would not work. But, if it works then no explanation is needed on my end. =D good effort!

[Unseenz]

I agree, Unseez, and I commend you for trying to help the community. It could work for everyone and then again it could only work on an individual basis. I was just trying to clarify what were explaining in a way. By putting what I knew out on the table I figured maybe you had more tricks up your sleave that you didn't say on here just yet that could clarify why I figured it would not work. But, if it works then no explanation is needed on my end. =D good effort!

 

Thanks, yeah sorry if I came off disagreeing with you. Your explanation made sense and maybe, just maybe having the game installed through a flashdrive might be more beneficial than the Hard Drive. I really do not know, but one thing I do know is the xbox hardware is most definitely outdated and anything that could potentially help is always a plus.

 

Glad to have your input and happy gaming!

UnSeEnZ

[TransientHalo]

I'm still using a 1st generation (year 2006) XBOX 360. It doesn't even have an HDMI output. I didn't have enough room on my 20gig hard drive to install disc 1 anyway, and barely enough to install disc 2, lol.

 

I've fixed the RRoD on this thing 2x, it has a new cooling fan and a new DVD-ROM drive. It's still chugging along, no sense in buying a new one now considering pre Christmas 2013 a new generation console could be out, if not then, then definitely pre-christmas 2014. 3D gaming is the future.

[Unseenz]

I'm still using a 1st generation (year 2006) XBOX 360. It doesn't even have an HDMI output. I didn't have enough room on my 20gig hard drive to install disc 1 anyway, and barely enough to install disc 2, lol.

 

I've fixed the RRoD on this thing 2x, it has a new cooling fan and a new DVD-ROM drive. It's still chugging along, no sense in buying a new one now considering pre Christmas 2013 a new generation console could be out, if not then, then definitely pre-christmas 2014. 3D gaming is the future.

 

hey if it still works, dont have to fix whats not broken. Anyways so you can confirm you are having no issues then? With the Disc 1 not being installed and all.

[TransientHalo]

But I haven't had any issues with lag, or at least nothing like you describe, there is the occasional... WTF with people blinking around but that's all connection. So, I'd say you're right.

[Unseenz]

But I haven't had any issues with lag, or at least nothing like you describe, there is the occasional... WTF with people blinking around but that's all connection. So, I'd say you're right.

 

thank you for your input I will post what you said in the OP.

[Sweethappypants]

My issue is roughly the same; however, I do not have Disc 1 installed. From day one I installed Disc 2 and that is all. I tend to have response lag (pressing a button on the controller and the action occurs about .5 seconds afterwards) when playing Spartan Ops or Campaign. For War Games, I have played games where the screen would go black (acting like it is changing hosts) but the people in the game inform me that they are playing and I am running off cliffs.....quite frustrating. Playing games of SWAT, constant headshotting eachother kills and the replay shows them either firing after death, or firing no where NEAR my body/head for the kill. Like UNSEENZ, my internet connect is perfectly fine. 22.7 down, 4.3 up, 5ms ping. So reasons for lag behoove me. Any help, if established, would be greatful.

[Nick Albert]

Hmm I appreciate the idea although it seems to have made my lag worse. My connection speed is also very fast and halo 4 is the only game that has an issue with lag. I hate to say it but 343 is losing customers fast.

[Halogeek99]

14ms ping? 78 ms ping? To what????? All ping to anywhere is relative! You can have 300 ms ping to a server standing a block from you if the lines are super busy or nets badly configured. It all DEPENDS. Ok? Fine. You with a s 78 ms ping perhaps benchmarks a server 500 miles away. And dude with s 14 ms ping perhaps does a server 20 miles away. See?

 

First case says nothing about you own connection, its the server and lines your route takes. In example two perhaps the guy with 78 ms ping hast the best local performance. See?

 

Good performance in Halo means host sitting on an fairly unchoked line (to each participant) and having good local performance, high bandwidth, and participants are fairly regional to host. As is now, with like 50k players in TS for example, means you can have people from the whole world in the same match. This is what's causing the lag and poor performance.

 

I dnt know if it got thru, but ping generally is dependant on DISTANCE to the host you're pinging. Your local performance and provider performance can be good and u still get **** connect to some part of the internet. That's all.

 

The thoughts about data reading faster if only one disc is installed is sound tho. I assume u get a penalty when installing a DVD on disc because this most likely means the system still has a DVD cache on HDD for the installed DVD, which in turn means it reads and writes from hdd to cache on hdd, while also at same time reading HDD cache. Things probably goes smoother if DVD is feeding HDD cache alone ans system only does HDD reads while running.

 

I wouldn't stop installing games on HDD for that reason tho. Spinning discs are too annoying.

[Halolagishorrible]

Thanks for the attempt unseenz. However, it did not help me or 3 of my friends. We have all stopped playing halo due to the unbelievable lag. I have a 65 down and 4 up connection and my Xbox is wired. My friends have 25 down and 4 up. We have always played together. We play MW3 and Black Ops 2 solely now. We try Halo 4 and it runs 'ok' 5-10% of the time. It's just ridiculous. We all switch over to MW3 or Black Ops 2 directly after being frustrated with Halo and it runs great! I really am frustrated. I purchased this game to solely play online slayer but its just not fun when your shots don't register. One of my friends actually just sold his copy of Halo 4 on Craigslist because he was so frustrated with the horrible game play. I've recorded multiple videos and the lag for Halo 4 is just shocking. If anything changes 343 let us know because nobody I know will be purchasing any map packs,add ones,etc until this online play is addressed.

[BirdieJuice]

i get over 112 down. and over 20 up. and lag every game. will try this

[Cpt Picardo]

Uninstall Disk 1? What a retard just stop using your 2001 phone for internet.

[Chris Hansen]

Try clearing the Cashe in your harddrive. I know for games like Skyrim and other large files this seems to reduce choppiness. It seemed to work in halo 4 as well as I got into some multiplayer games that were definitly going slower then 30fps, it just felt off, and then felt faster when I did that.

[SkItZo1041]

I seem to get the choppiest lag on Complex... weird.

 

I'll probably try this. I'll come back and post my individual results if I do!

[Dawn Wolf]

I'm not getting a whole lot of natural lag on H4, but I'm curious, what exactly do you guys experience? Maybe I'm just not noticing.

 

Is it like, big frame rate skips? Just, straight up non internet related lag? Is it random throughout any MM game, or only in big maps and stuff?

[The PROTOTYPE58]

Ok, Halo players, when I say "Lag" I mean, for instance, on SWAT, your following this enemy Spartan, you are saying to yourself, "Ok. I got this, this will be an easy assassination." Then you come up behind him and hit him in the back 5 times and he just keeps walking, then you go in front of him and waist a full clip of DMR/BR ammo into his head, he keeps walking, then he walks directly into a wall with his feet still moving. Then you pull out your Magnum. (Involuntarily might I add.) At the same time, your shields disappear. 5 seconds later, you drop dead and get a black screen with the Red vs Blue scores and in the bottom left hand corner it says, "selecting host with best connection." And the game kicks you out of the entire match. It frustrates me so much when it takes me ALL DAY LONG to get ONE full game in the day. Another example is going up the SAME ramp on "Complex" 500 times. If anyone has ever experienced these same lag issues (and fixed the problem) PLEASE share with me how you did so. And if these lag descriptions didn't help you understand my problem and would like to see them firsthand to see if you can help me, invite me to a game of Spartan ops and check it out. My gamertag is: The PROTOTYPE58. BTW I use a clearSPOT modem with a moderate NAT type and have no idea how to open it. Thanks for you time and patience, have a good day.

[ReturnOfTheButcher]

I don't really suffer from actual network lag in halo 4. I would say overall network performance is better than H2 and H3. Reach was actually very good in this area.

 

I get framerate drops on forge maps but that's to be expected.