Slow User Interface Drawing

[AutoDMC]

Is it just me, or is the user interface a bit draggy when it's being drawn?

I thought it might have just been my computer, as I've got an Ultrabook I mainly run on, but even when I run it on my gaming rig I get flashbacks to Windows 3.11 as opening topics, I can watch the UI draw itself. It's not too bad on the gaming rig, but it can take 2-5 seconds on the Ultrabook for the interface to finish itself on a small topic. My Ultrabook isn't slow, it can handle Firefox with crazy tabs, Netflix, many Steam games at usable (if not spectacular) framerates.

Is Realm Works using Windows Presentation Framework, or something homegrown?

[Parody]

It's WinForms along with some third-party controls, I believe.

I haven't seen that sort of slowness, but none of my realms/topics really stress the app. (When I switch topics it flashes the "Loading Please Wait" throbber but barely long enough to fade it in and out, maybe a second.)

You might want to file a bug report and work with the RW team to see if you can narrow down a cause.

[Joe]

We're aware that there's some performance issues, specifically (though not exclusively) with Topics. Addressing these issues has been on our main "to do" list for a while.

Unfortunately, the root cause of performance and display issues are not quick or straightforward to diagnose. We also have a small staff, and an even smaller number of software engineers that would be able to make a difference in that area. Right now, we're focusing their attention on issues that prevent some users from using the product all together.

We also can't have new feature development grind to a halt for the indeterminate amount of time a fix could take. Some of these new features may require a large shake-up of the areas causing these performance problems (technologically speaking, but otherwise largely invisible to all of you). Spending weeks to fix them, only to throw out that hard work for the next big feature would be really sad, not to mention inefficient!

That said, topic loading performance is definitely not where we want it to be, and we will definitely be taking steps to address it in the future. As always, it's a matter of balancing against current critical issues, as well as keeping future changes in mind.

As to whether to file a bug report or not, normally I would say you should. The more bug reports we get, the better idea we have of what is affecting users. However, in this case, literally every developer working on Realm Works is already painfully aware of the performance problems we're having. More bug reports about this specific issue would probably just cause unnecessary work for our support personnel. But rest assured, we hear you!

[MaxSupernova]

Joe, you rock. THAT's the type of awesome information we need to hear.

Thanks.

[Gord]

Indeed it is. Thanks Joe. Even it's being swept under the rug for now, at least we know why it's happening and that makes it more bearable.