MLB Filters(?) Causing Massive Lag Without Overflow Modules
Hey, all. Was working in my Satisfactory save of around 70h. The game's always had the occasional spike every now and then, but now the game almost seems CAPPED at around 30 frames, if not lower. Worse, too, is that there are occasional bursts of 45-60 frames every now and then for a second - before it drops right back down. My framerate cap ingame is much higher at 90, and nothing in my GPU settings (AMD Chill, for example) was limiting it either, and all 'tweaks' in there were all specifically turned off.
I've tested this with low graphics, ultra graphics, DX12, Vulkan, FSR, everything - and, yet, the utilization on my GPU and CPU always goes no higher than ~30/50% on low/ultra graphics, and the framerate is still 'soft-capped' at around 24-30. V/RAM are both not issues, as they're consistently (at most) at around half total utilization, most of the latter due to other programs running.
The only conclusion I can reach is that SOME mod I have is hogging the game's factory ticks, or something? The only thing I could think COULD cause this would be Modular Load Balancers, as I do have what amounts to a singular network set up across the entire world, and use filter/programmable outputs to get what I want where it needs to go. It's racked up around 1200 modules by now according to the Digby Tool, most of them being just 'block spacer' modules. At any rate - here's my modlist. Text file due to message length issues.
82 Replies
If there's a way to get a detailed log of errors from the modloader, I'm not aware of it, but it'd help for certain.
This also does NOT happen in new saves or the main menu. So, something's weird about my save. If it helps, here's that too.
For all I know, this could very easily just be 'overmodding', which is fair enough I guess :Shrug:
>debughere
We need more information to help you. Before launching the game again, open the Mod Manager and use the "Generate debug info" option, then send the zip file produced here in this channel.
If you need to access older log files, see https://docs.ficsit.app/satisfactory-modding/latest/faq.html#Files_Logs
-# i am going to blame you for approximately one second as i flubbed an escape press and removed my planned deletion of 350+ 'network' MLB boxes :pain:
but yeah can do
-# Responding to
Key Details for SMMDebug-2025-08-31-18-54-33.zip triggered by @pantsmodeRemoved ~800 'spacer' boxes, no change
So, MLB is probably not to blame
Do you have cartography mod? Might be that, it was for me at least
Yes I do, actually. Hm.
Lemme try that real quick
Try disable it and see if anything changes
cartographer tends to cause more texture loading issues than specifically lag but might be worth trying anyway
Yeah
Saw the 'damaged' report just now, yeah
Zilch. No such luck
It's unfortunate.. it's a really nice feature to have thought
I'm hopeful they can resolve it, I gave them a heads up on github but haven't seen them ask for help in the modding channels yet.
Actually, those 'pockets' of 40-ish frames are becoming more common now. Could just be an overmodding issue? Or just correlation
Maybe, maybe not.. could be so much
Fyi, you don't need MLB block between everything.
Figured that out just this save, yeah
Digby Tool's existence is a lifesaver :dorime:
Ooookay, so. Found something.
It might have been MLB after all.
I finally went and plugged a few Overflow modules into AWESOME sinks in preparation for the inevitable hell that will be taking care of radwaste aaaaand all of a sudden (after a minute or so) my game is running at ~90f again.
@SirDigby {Mod Name} fyi. Wonder if its something that makes MLB to run script over and over? :interesting:
Never heard anything like that. Could you provide more info on your MLB setup there?
@pantsmode
Sorry, was dead asleep.
Right, so - the way I have it all set up is a might bit cheat-y. Individual inputs directly placed onto miners through SnapOn, all of them linked together through the Digby Tool.
Worth noting - when available, I ALWAYS use SnapOn for that direct input into machines and the system at large.
I use Filter and Programmable outputs in my factory to get what I want, and Overflow outputs to feed everything else into sinks.
For a while, I didn't actually have those sinks running, though. The power draw of having all the miners and manufacturing machines running at once was too much for my system to handle. As of a day or two ago, all of a sudden, this lag issue cropped up. Then, just yesterday, I opened the flood gates thanks to some power optimization and everything was taken care of, and the lag disappeared.
So you used a lot of filter modules?
Yep.
That could explain it. Those cause lag when there is a good amount of them
While that's fair, I wouldn't really say that's the cause here, if only directly. Again - the big 'fix' was seemingly fixing some kind of internal 'clog' through offloading excess items in the system into the sinks through the overflows.
Hmm
I've always used the Filter thing since I had MLB, and this has never happened before. The Digby Tool linking WAS this save, granted, but before I just linked everything through manually building out a spider's web of spacer boxes
Arguably, that might have been worse?
There's no functional difference with how they link up
Spacers/blocks don't go into any of the logic other than snapping and linking initially
Point is, more objects using the same system, possibly adding to the overhead. Either way.
I can see how adding overflows might help reduce the load on the system as a whole
Okay, yeah, I turned off the overflow for just a second and immediately it started lagging again
Mind sharing your save file so I can do some testing?
This was from before I fixed it
This is a save from literal minutes ago
ty
:thumbsup:
Any chance of getting a SMM profile?
Where would that be?
Oh, need to close the game first
one sec
ty
yepyep
Where can I find your overflow modules?
First floor, tucked in a little 'corner' over close to the nearest copper deposit
lemme grab a screenie
Ah, found them
aight
Didn't realize they were smol sinks
You should be able to just split them all into a group of their own and immediately see what I'm on about
Woah, yeah. Went from 140 fps to 50
That's quite something
I think some kind of 'internal storage' is overflowing or something when there's too much at once to be put in
but i also don't know how to code, let alone have your code on MLB on hand so
Oh I don't even understand the MLB code. Kyrium implemented most of the current code
ahh
I'm almost sure it has something to do with filter modules, though. Those have always been the choking point
if it is, perhaps this save could actually help in optimizing it, because such a FPS drop just because things aren't being sunk doesn't make a lot of sense to me
Agreed. I just made a small change to the filter logic and got another 10 fps, but that isn't good enough
Got another 5 fps. Still can't figure out why having an overflow would make such a huge difference, though
I fixed it? Need to make sure I didn't completely break filters
No, they seem to be working fine. Hot dang
Sweet.
Was also able to make some improvements to the normal balancer code
Ok, fix out
Sweet.
@SirDigby {Mod Name} Okay, something has gone SEVERELY wrong with the new update.
I don't even know how to describe it, the best way I have to put it is like having a bottlenecked storage container - like a L4 in and L2 output.
My miners are full of items ready to be sent over, but the MLBs aren't actually TAKING the items.
Did you add an internal item stack update limit or something?
Going to go back a version rq to see if the update is the issue
Immediately the floodgates open
1.15.6 was the problem version FYI, 1.15.5 still works
OK, thanks for the report
Alright, new version out that undid some of the more aggressive changes. Still a 20-30 FPS improvement when no overflows are there, though
At work, so I'll need a bit to double back and check. My rig probably runs a decent bit worse than yours', so it's (probably) a good testbench for a semi-average user
Sounds good
For accuracy's sake
30% CPU/GPU for 20-30FPS with 1.15.7 with the overflows disconnected
No change to the input rate as far as I see
@pantsmode I think I found the root cause. Are you comfortable manually installing a new version to test with? I mean, I've done some testing and I don't think I broke anything
Not sure how to manual install, but I can give it a shot yeah
Extract this to
[Install Path]\Satisfactory\FactoryGame\ModsGotcha.
Seems to be absolutely golden.
No overflows, no sinks active.
Zero framedrops.
And, yet, my factory seems to be moving perfectly fine.
Noice
Thanks for fixing this. Now, to go suffer in another bug report because I found a different (hopefully not related to MLB) CTD :pain:
it isn't related to the latest update or the one you sent me, this was happening even before then
Ah fun
Think I've hit another roadblock here. Same old thing, lags for a good bit, the tinest bit of a pause in the lag, before it's right back to 10-15FPS
I think I might just be hitting some hard limit here with MLB, not that it's your fault. Without some refactor to the codebase, I'm not sure my current usage is anything but a stress test.
As per usual, I've got a save and an SMM profile, and am currently trying to see if my old overflow trick works.
The autosave is as of a few minutes before the lag hits. The manual save is after the lag hit.
This time, it seems to be strangely time dependent, instead of anything I specifically did. After a few minutes, the frames start hitting the floor. This COULD be related to a system I'd freshly set up for steel production, where filter modules from the 'main system' feed into a separate system of inputs, outputting either iron ingots or carbon dust into said separate system which then feeds the foundries. The foundries then feed into a DIFFERENT separate system, which has outputs linked to both machines and overflow modules outputting back into the overall system.
At the moment, though, I don't have enough input on the iron ingots to properly feed all of the foundries I placed down. At some point, I think a bunch of them run out of ingots, the system breaks, and eventually starts to cause the lag.
Sounds like fun. I'll check it out tomorrow
Could I get an updated mod profile?
Should be up to date, that one.
Oh, wait, debug =/= profile, right
Welp, I can confirm I'm seeing the same slowdown
Yeah, I think you're just hitting the upper limits of what MLB can handle. I can limit the total throughput to improve FPS, though. If I limit it to be able to handle 1000 inputs/outputs going at 2000/ipm I can get the FPS on your save into the 40s. For reference, your big balancer group has about 500 inputs/outputs
Yeah, thought as much. Think it might just be time to reset the save and rethink my approach at this point.
Alternatively, if you've got some method to mass-delete MLB's so I can just soft reset, that would make things a decent bit easier on my part.
You might be able to in SCIM. MLBs are recognized on it
Mind giving me an overview on that?
Or just link me a page, either works really.
I'm actually not sure. Maybe ask in #save-editing ?
if you just want to delete all load balancers, you could just load the save without the mod?
Not without loading the save taking like five hours.
Trust me, I've tried.
🤔 why would it take long to load ?
Not sure. All I know is that it does.
for future references to people that might view this:
https://discord.com/channels/555424930502541343/555504385770258473/1422023709845360774