Increase FPS and Journal/Clan window responsiveness : Darkfall Online - Submissions

So I'm digging around in the Darkfall memory space, still hunting for static pointers... and here I notice it definitely uses the java version found in Darkfall Folder\jre

I decided to test something... and it worked.

So, I'm posting here so others can benefit as well.

Darkfall needs a java update!

First, quit Darkfall. I really don't think it can be running to do this.

First, you need to find your Darkfall folder. Most people know how to do this, but in case someone doesn't, there's an easy way, depending what system you are on (that works regardless of where it was installed to)

To find your Darkfall folder:
Right click on your Darkfall icon you use to start the game
Select Properties
Now select Open File Location
It will open your Darkfall folder, wherever it is!

Make a copy of your Darkfall\jre folder as a backup somewhere, so if something happens, you can put it back the way it was.

Now...
Make sure you have 7-zip installed, get it at www.7-zip.org
Navigate to http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
Download "Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003/2008 Offline"

You now have needed files

Right click your jre-6u16-windows-i586-s.exe file
Select 7-zip -> Open Archive
Once it's open, double click Core.zip
You should now see a list of files, with several LICENSE files in 7zip

Navigate to your Darkfall\jre folder in Explorer
In the JRE folder, you should see the same list of files

Select all of the files in 7zip and drag them to the JRE folder
When it prompts, make sure it overwrites everything

You've just updated Darkfall's JavaVM with a newer version!

Now, you should be able to run it, and enjoy the better java version.
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Note: I was able to get it working by deleting the old jre folder and just using the core folder renamed as jre in the Darkfall directory. Apparently, that's not common. Others (as found below) would get kicked to TOS at some point. Since I didn't get this, I couldn't find how to fix it, but a big thanks goes to killer71675 for figuring out overwriting the contents of the jre folder instead of replacing the folder entirely was the key to fixing this for the people who got the kick to TOS issue. He also stated it requires data repair, but even with following his steps, I didn't need to perform that step, it works fine after doing the steps provided.

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My Results: My framerate is a 10FPS or more than it was before (I get less slowdown with more windows, with all chat windows displayed, I have a 25FPS increase) and the clans/journal pages initially load about the same, but perform better once they are opened. YMMV

As a note, the file date of the shipped version with Darkfall are Feb 09, whereas the new version from java.com are Aug 09. I haven't found a way to break it yet, but in the event something does break, just replace the new jre folder with the backup.

Nice nice

Can members say yay or nay to this so we may give tu bucks and/or premium. If you nay the submission remember to include as to why.

going to test this out shortly, at work atm. If this works then it's extremely silly that the DF devs haven't included this fix already.

Sounds good.

I followed the directions above, renamed the old jre to jrebak and moved it to my desktop, extracted the core.zip, extracted the contents of said zip into a folder called core, core renamed to jre. however when I try to connect with darkfall it gets as far as 'connecting' and then sends me back to the liscense agreement. did I miss a step?

Ok, just tested this again, went back to old jre folder, then ran though steps again... the only change to steps is updating the steps that core isn't a folder, but a zip file in the java archive. I had double clicked it in 7zip and it opened like a folder, but updated steps anyway to reflect that it is a zip inside the installer. Working fine for me.

I'm not sure this is the type of information for a yay. It sounds useful nonetheless.

I'm getting the same thing.

yeah me too running x64 vista.

a BIG NAY!

This is what worked for me in Windows 7 64 bit. Basically the same but I think explained a tad bit better.

The solution that seems to have worked for me is to update the Java Runtime Environment that Darkfall uses. To do this, you will need to install 7-Zip ( http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z465.exe ), and download JRE ( http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/downlo...BundleId=33889 ). Once you have done that, make sure Darkfall and Lobby are closed, then follow these steps:

1) Browse to the directory that you installed Darkfall to ( Start>Run "%PROGRAMFILES%\Darkfall" or "%PROGRAMFILES%\Darkfall US", usually )

2) Copy and paste the jre folder to another location to use as a backup if you have any problems with the new version

3) Do NOT delete the jre folder after you back it up

4) Use 7-Zip to open the JRE file you downloaded

5) Extract the core.zip file to wherever

6) Use 7-Zip to open the core.zip file

7) Extract the contents to the jre directory inside your Darkfall directory ( You should get a message asking to overwrite some files. You DO want to do this, so click the All button next to Overwrite button in 7-Zip )

Cool Browse into the jre directory, then open the bin folder. Find and right-click on java.exe. Select Properties. Select the Version tab ( In XP ). Verify that the version 6.0.160.1 ( Current version at the time of writing this )

9) Launch Darkfall Repair Data and Play!

Summary:
I still get latency spikes every now and then when crossing zone/cluster boundaries or if my FPS drops out for whatever reason, but so far the 60 second latency spikes have disappeared entirely.

Hope this helps. It also boosted my FPS slightly, so I suppose that is always a plus.

Notes:
The final step is just to ensure that your game files are not corrupted. I noticed that the issue came back after a crash, but it was fixed again once I ran Darfall Repair Data.

If you are doing this in Vista, you will need to be sure to run 7-Zip as Administrator before you can extract the contents of core.zip into the jre directory.

Hmm, I got it working by entirely replacing the folder.

I'll update steps in the original post with overwriting, since that's what worked for you.