Varying Input Latency

[Stranded Lander]

Not too long ago, I started suffering from input latency which varies from time to time, but seems to get worse when I make more complicated ships. To put it into simpler terms, when I press a key, the game doesn't respond for a short time (5 seconds at most) before it registers the input. I think it has something to do with how the game runs calculations, but if there is any way to fix it or at least lessen its effects, please share it with me.

[Scarecrow71]

Obvious question incoming:  Are you sure that it's an actual input latency/lag issue, and not just the craft you are attempting to control being too large and just taking forever to move?  For example, I've got a craft that is a decent size (100 tons prior to adding payload), and no matter how many reaction wheels I put on the things it turns like a dead whale on roller skates that are missing most of the wheels.  If I add RCS or engines dedicated to moving the thing I can get it to move faster, but without them it seems as if I have to hold down the A/D/W/S/Q/E keys forever until it starts spinning in the direction I want it to go.

Second obvious question incoming:  Does this happen only when you are providing input, or does it happen even when you select one of the options on SAS for a course hold?  For example, if you are already pointed prograde but click SAS to turn you retrograde, does the ship move quickly...or does it also seem to take forever to move?

[Stranded Lander]

 

2 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Obvious question incoming:  Are you sure that it's an actual input latency/lag issue, and not just the craft you are attempting to control being too large and just taking forever to move?  For example, I've got a craft that is a decent size (100 tons prior to adding payload), and no matter how many reaction wheels I put on the things it turns like a dead whale on roller skates that are missing most of the wheels.  If I add RCS or engines dedicated to moving the thing I can get it to move faster, but without them it seems as if I have to hold down the A/D/W/S/Q/E keys forever until it starts spinning in the direction I want it to go.

Second obvious question incoming:  Does this happen only when you are providing input, or does it happen even when you select one of the options on SAS for a course hold?  For example, if you are already pointed prograde but click SAS to turn you retrograde, does the ship move quickly...or does it also seem to take forever to move?

It's not just large spacecraft having poor movement times. Some of the most basic spacecraft and aircraft I have built can take about 5 seconds to move after I press a key at worst. This doesn't seem to be the case for when I use my mouse to click on buttons.

[FleshJeb]

What color is your game clock when this is happening? If it's yellow or red, that means KSP is struggling to do all the physics calculations in real-time.

The KSP engine always does 50 physics updates per game-world second, to ensure the accuracy of the simulation, but that will often take more than one real-world second.

See here: 

You probably want to try sliding the Max Physics Delta-Time per Frame to 0.12. You'll have to get to the settings in the main menu. It's under General, System.

Side note: Until I read the above link, I always thought this affected the quality of the simulation. It does not.

Edited December 18, 2021 by FleshJeb