Hollow Knight Switch's Input Lag bums me out

[AtomicShroom]

So I recently started playing Hollow Knight on Switch and while the game seems amazing at first glance, something immediately felt off in the controls: input lag. Amounts that one wouldn't expect in a 60fps 2D sidescroller. It's not gamebreaking by a long shot, and most people will probably never even notice, but having grown up playing NES and SNES games on a CRT TV all my life, I know very well what lagless feels like. And Hollow Knight doesn't.

So I took out my Phone and did a slo-mo 240fps recording of the game to confirm my suspicion. And for sure, there it was: Ungodly amounts of input lag.

Below you will find the comparison I did between Hollow Knight and Blossom Tales, the game I found with the least input lag in my library (it even beats Mario Odyssey by a tiny bit):

In Blossom Tales, hitting a button and getting a visual response takes 16 frames of my 240fps video. That means that the visual takes FOUR frames of realtime to respond, which is 66ms response time. (Technically it seems this is almost the best 60fps games can hope for on the Switch).




Hollow Knight, however, produces a visual response in 28 frames of my 240fps video. That means the visual takes SEVEN (!!!) frames of realtime to respond! That's a 116ms response time! YIKES!!




I'm hoping to raise awareness so that maybe the developer can look into it and fix it in a patch. Clearly something must be very wrong in their controller polling/render/vsync mechanism for the game to waste 6 frames before responding to inputs. Maybe they could get in touch with the developers of Blossom Tales and see if they'd be willing to assist/share their method?

 

[Conkerkid11]

"Most people probably won't even notice."

"Ungodly amounts of input lag."

Pick one. Personally, I haven't encountered any input lag, and this thread is the first time I've seen anybody complain about input lag in the Switch version of the game.

 

[Satonaka]

I thought I was going paranoid since my gf finds the controls smooth and lagless. It's hard for me to enjoy it this way, specially in a platforming where jumps are a crucial part of the gameplay.

 

[LCGeek]

That's also the amount of pixel persistence that screen should have. Does this exist on the pc version when someone has any amount of frames but has a high refreshrate monitor?

Only way to fix that problem is to have a screen running at a faster rate.

I don't think it's input lag considering the one factor I just mentioned.

 

[NIN90]

There is definitely slight input delay. The controls did feel off to me at first compared to the PC version.

 

[Deleted member 21996]

Thanks for raising this. 4 frames seems like a big deal for this type of game, particularly if you're playing docked and have to also factor latency from your TV. Was waiting to get this for Switch but looks like a PC purchase now.

Edit: seems the perceived lag is jump-related and by design?

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Playing in portable mode, never noticed it.

 

[AtomicShroom]

That's also the amount of pixel persistence that screen should have. Does this exist on the pc version when someone has any amount of frames but has a high refreshrate monitor?

Only way to fix that problem is to have a screen running at a faster rate.

I don't think it's input lag considering the one factor I just mentioned.

Click to shrink...

Uh did you miss the part where I compared with another game which doesn't have the issue? How is the screen to blame if Blossom Tales doesn't suffer from the problem?

 

[wondermagenta]

Is this specific to handheld mode? I've been playing exclusively docked with a Pro Controller and it feels perfect to me.

 

[ohitsluca]

Played 20 hours in both modes, haven't noticed any and I'm usually pretty conscious of input lag.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Is this specific to handheld mode? I've been playing exclusively docked with a Pro Controller and it feels perfect to me.

Click to shrink...

I feel the same lag when docked. And I'm playing on CRT HDTV. Didn't have this problem with other games, only Hollow Knight.

 

[Instro]

Haven't played the Switch version, but the PC version did have some input lag as well albeit mostly solved by turning off VSync. Possibly the same issue is present in the Switch version.

 

[K' Dash]

No input lag for me.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

Do any other versions of the game have this problem?

 

[LCGeek]

Uh did you miss the part where I compared with another game which doesn't have the issue? How is the screen to blame if Blossom Tales doesn't suffer from the problem?

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You only said that hollow knight had an increase over the game not that either were free of what I mentioned. Pixel persistence is global since it's derives from your refreshrate short of decreasing it will have compound problems on input lag as blurbusters has noted in studies.

You also were more on the money calling it a controller polling a problem.

 

[Temtastic Muns]

Hm, I do seem to notice a spot of lag when playing in docked mode via Pro Controller. Handheld/portable feels better to me.

 

[LossAversion]

Haven't noticed this at all personally. It feels great when I'm playing it. I guess my brain just adjusted to the input lag quickly.

 

[Prodigal Son]

there's VERY noticeable input lag when its docked with a pro controller for me. A much better experience in handheld mode imo

 

[Orcastar]

Do any other versions of the game have this problem?

Click to shrink...

The PC version also suffers from noticeable input lag when v-sync is enabled.

 

[TheIdiot]

Sometimes i visit this forum and I just feel like gaming is worth getting stressed and obsessive about for some of you.

 

[Skittzo]

Here's my video that I tried to share with you but you ignored:



No more than 70ms of input delay which I think is pretty typical for any game. So I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

Is it just me, or does the character react immediately on button press, and jump with a slight intentional delay? You can see the sprite change slightly with the same minimal delay as the first video, and the jump follows afterwards. As if it's intentionally designed that way, though for what reason I cannot fathom.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Here's my video that I tried to share with you but you ignored:



No more than 70ms of input delay which I think is pretty typical for any game. So I don't know what to tell you.

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70ms of input lag is simply *horrible* by any kind of metric. Most 60fps games are within the 16-33ms range.

 

[AtomicShroom]

Is it just me, or does the character react immediately on button press, and jump with a slight intentional delay? You can see the sprite change slightly with the same minimal delay as the first video, and the jump follows afterwards. As if it's intentionally designed that way, though for what reason I cannot fathom.

Click to shrink...

Nah it's leftover frames from its landing animation. I measured the same amount of lag with any other action. Even navigating the menus has this lag.

 

[carlsojo]

Sometimes i visit this forum and I just feel like gaming is worth getting stressed and obsessive about for some of you.

Click to shrink...

We're all very glad you decided to stop by this forum and contribute to this thread in a meaningful way.

 

[impact]

I think the lack of a dpad would bother me more, but that looks pretty bad when slowed down like in the op.

 

[Black_Red]

Played the game on PC and now on switch, doing way better on switch TBH si I don't think it has an anormal input lag

 

[Jawbreaker]

Haven't played the Switch version, but on PC, with fast sync enabled and capped at 120 FPS on a 60 Hz monitor, input lag was very minimal. It didn't feel great at all with vsync engaged.

 

[Deleted member 4970]

70ms of input lag is simply *horrible* by any kind of metric. Most 60fps games are within the 16-33ms range.

Click to shrink...

I believe you are thinking about something different. Input latency isn't just about frame pacing

 

[Heazy]

Portable has been fine for me, playing docked I've felt the input lag though.

But I've only played docked for 20 minutes, the rest has been portable and I've played for 10 hours so far.

 

[newline]

So glad someone brought this up. I'm not usually that sensitive to this kind of thing but I find the input lag pretty noticeable in this game.

I'm playing docked with the pro controller.

 

[Bartend3r]

Really? Didn't notice but now it may affect me.

 

[Mullet2000]

Here's my video that I tried to share with you but you ignored:



No more than 70ms of input delay which I think is pretty typical for any game. So I don't know what to tell you.

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70ms is actually very high

 

[ryechu]

3-4 frames is typical for 60fps games. That being said, the input lag is greater on the Switch compared to the PC versions.

 

[Theswweet]

I noticed some pretty bad input lag on PC with v-sync on, and I had to turn it off in order to curb it. I'm guessing it's a similar issue here, but you can't turn off v-sync on switch.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Just tried it again. I can see it I guess but it doesn't feel at all out of the ordinary. I didn't notice it before, it hasn't hampered me at all, and I doubt I'll notice it again.

This is handheld mode btw.

 

[Cudpug]

Haven't noticed this in the slightest, honestly. Certainly hasn't affected my play or performance in a negative way.

 

[Skittzo]

70ms of input lag is simply *horrible* by any kind of metric. Most 60fps games are within the 16-33ms range.

Click to shrink...

Do you know what the input lag is on PC? Someone in the other thread was saying something about this being a limitation of engines like Unity.

 

[InfiniDragon]

I did notice a delay while playing, but only jumping oddly enough. All other actions come out instant so I'm not sure if it's by design.

 

[linko9]

Yeah, me too. Noticed it immediately, at first I was constantly running off ledges because of it. I adjusted to it soon enough, but it's still unfortunate. It's not horrible by any stretch, but much more than ideal.

I did notice a delay while playing, but only jumping oddly enough. All other actions come out instant so I'm not sure if it's by design.

Click to shrink...

Good point, I would say the same. Maybe you could test an attack OP? And I haven't played the PC version to compare.

 

[Liquid Snake]

This is kinda lame. Was going to pick up the game and probably still willl but this makes me want to wait for a sale.

 

[Starsunder]

havent noticed it at all

you want *real* imput lag? mmlc 1 is terrible

this aint shit

 

[Ometeotl]

I thought I was just imgaining it when I walked off ledges multiple times because the jump didn't jump.

 

[Deleted member 2620]

No input lag for me.

Click to shrink...

Personally, I haven't encountered any input lag, and this thread is the first time I've seen anybody complain about input lag in the Switch version of the game.

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You guys think he doctored the video or something?

 

[Laserbeam]

I did notice a delay while playing, but only jumping oddly enough. All other actions come out instant so I'm not sure if it's by design.

Click to shrink...

Yep, this is what it feels like to me, too.

I noticed it when I first started playing. Like the character had a weird "weight" that felt abnormal but not broken or like "real" lag to me.

I got used to it quickly and everything else (attacking, dashing) feels great as well.

weird issue. Maybe some people are just really feeling it. I don't know. I'm usually pretty aware of it, too.

 

[GDGF]

Not a tech person but is this because devs can't turn vsync off on the Switch?

 

[Quad Lasers]

70ms of input lag is simply *horrible* by any kind of metric. Most 60fps games are within the 16-33ms range.

Click to shrink...

70ms is actually very high

Click to shrink...

Where the hell are you people getting your reference points from?

 

[Meffer]

Haven't noticed lag.

 

[linko9]

Not a tech person but is this because devs can't turn vsync off on the Switch?

Click to shrink...

Lag isn't an issue in most other games, so whatever the problem is, other devs have been able to avoid it.

 

[Disclaimer]

This is kinda lame. Was going to pick up the game and probably still willl but this makes me want to wait for a sale.

Click to shrink...

It's basically already on sale. $15 for a game with ~50+ hours of content and more free DLC coming.

The OP's observations are very overstated in practice. Most people haven't noticed any input lag whatsoever, but even so, ~60ms is nothing even in competitive environments, which this isn't.