We are encountering a consistent performance degradation in Arma 3, leading to eventual game crashes. This issue is observed by all players on the server and unfolds in distinct stages over a 1-2 hour gameplay period.
Performance Degradation Stages:
- Initial Gameplay (0-1 hour):
Performance is initially excellent, with player FPS ranging between 50-70.
The gameplay proceeds smoothly without noticeable issues.
- Decrease in Client Game FPS (1-2 hours):
Gradual decrease in frames per second, impacting gameplay fluidity.
This stage marks the beginning of the performance issues.
Note that increasing the view distance settings in-game tends to accelerate the performance degradation.
- Temporary Disappearance of Objects:
Continued performance degradation leads to intermittent disappearance and reappearance of in-game objects like trees and buildings, each lasting about a second.
This phenomenon further disrupts the gameplay experience.
- Critical FPS Drop:
The game's FPS drops to critically low levels after the above symptoms.
Gameplay becomes increasingly difficult due to the severe performance drop.
- Game Crash:
The game ultimately crashes, ending the session for all players.
Server and Mission Details:
The issue is server-wide, affecting all players.
The mission is resource-intensive, featuring approximately 1500 simple vehicle objects and 300-350 AI units, 5000 'allMissionObjects'.
Despite the mission's complexity, initial gameplay runs smoothly.
Temporary Resolution:
Restarting the game allows for another 1-2 hours of playable time before the issue recurs.