MWL_PlainsPillar1 Causing Huge Performance Drop

[MiR4i]

Hi, I'm loving the MWL mod, but I've run into an issue where, when wandering through the Plains biome, I was seeing crippling performance hits in certain areas. I was finally able to troubleshoot the issue down to the MWL_PlainsPillar1 object being the culprit, and while I'm not certain if it's the only object that causes issues in the MWL AIO pack, it is one that I'm able to replicate.

MWL AIO (including PlainsPillar1): Areas where PlainsPillar1 is present are affected by major performance issues.
MWL AIO (excluding PlainsPillar1): No issue with performance in problematic areas.

Details:

Valheim: 0.221.4 (n-35)
Seed: RGAZ40IKnI
World Type: Local (Non-Server), Default World Settings

Mods Loaded:

BepInExPack Valheim 5.4.2333
HS FancierConsole 0.1.4
Jotunn 2.27.0
JsonDotNET 13.0.4
More World Locations AIO 2.0.12
Server Devcommands 1.101.0
Upgrade World 1.74.0

Console Output:

Exception: Unity Log]

  at ZoneSystem.SpawnLocation (ZoneSystem+ZoneLocation location, System.Int32 seed, UnityEngine.Vector3 pos, UnityEngine.Quaternion rot, ZoneSystem+SpawnMode mode, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T] spawnedGhostObjects) [0x00067] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0
        ↑→  at ZoneSystem.PlaceLocations (Vector2i zoneID, UnityEngine.Vector3 zoneCenterPos, UnityEngine.Transform parent, Heightmap hmap, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T] clearAreas, ZoneSystem+SpawnMode mode, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T] spawnedObjects) [0x00155] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0
                ↑→  at ZoneSystem.SpawnZone (Vector2i zoneID, ZoneSystem+SpawnMode mode, UnityEngine.GameObject& root) [0x000b9] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0
                        ↑→  at ZoneSystem.PokeLocalZone (Vector2i zoneID) [0x00037] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0
                                ↑→  at ZoneSystem.CreateLocalZones (UnityEngine.Vector3 refPoint) [0x00044] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0
                                        ↑→  at ZoneSystem.Update () [0x000c6] in <d22e5e8de7fd45e3a0f0d74171a7826a>:0

Demonstration Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqsxy0VO7VQ

Steps To Replicate:

1. Generate a world using seed RGAZ40IKnI with included mods listed above
2. Ensure MWL_PlainsPillar1 is spawning using the console command locations_list MWL_PlainsPillar1 (command via Upgrade World)
3. Visit their listed locations using the goto X,Z command, courtesy of the Server Devcommands mod
   3a. Do not teleport directly onto the coordinates as you may not be able to load into the area
   3b. In the video, I showed the top two locations in the list: 553,4486 and 2869,2673 - safe teleport locations (320,4234 | 3200,2490)
4. Approach map locations of where the pillars should spawn, and observe game performance quickly, and noticeably drop
   4a. Console output error spam begins when nearby object's location
   4b. Do not log out near a problematic location, as you may not be able to log back in.

To confirm the issue is being caused by MWL_PlainsPillar1:

1. Exit Valheim completely
2. In the MWL AIO config file, set Spawn Quantity of item [92. PlainsPillar1] to 0
3. Re-generate world with the same settings listed in previous section
4. Ensure MWL_PlainsPillar1 is not spawning using the console command locations_list MWL_PlainsPillar1 (command via Upgrade World)
5. Re-visit the locations listed in the previous section.
6. Observe no issues with performance in those same areas.

Further Details

• Manually adding MWL_PlainsPillar1 via the Upgrade World console command does not seem to produce the same performance drop, at least not immediately, but the console error spam was present.
• I did not test the standalone Plains Pack 1 to see if it produced different results.
• I did not bother to check each and every location listed in the console to see if all pillar locations are causing issues.
• I do not know if other objects in the AIO pack are causing issues
  • I have flown around the Meadows, Black Forest, Mountain, and Swamp biomes in multiple maps to check for performance issues, but...
    • Have not specifically visited Mistlands or Ashlands (avoiding spoiling these before I reach them through normal gameplay).
    • Some objects/locations may be rare enough to where I haven't yet seen them.
• In addition to Vanilla maps, I've run into this same performance issue with PlainsPillar1 using both Riverheim and Better Continents maps.
• I have never seen the object in the image below spawn in any of my Plains biomes, so I assume it must be PlainsPillar1:

[MiR4i]

I completely forgot to include this, but I am going to provide my config file because I did greatly reduce the amount of locations that were spawning in the game, which may affect where the pillars can spawn when you get a chance to check the issue above.

https://pastebin.com/02Ji20rK

[MiR4i]

In an attempt to further troubleshoot this, I disabled the MWL AIO mod and tested the individual Plains Pack 1 that is available on the Thunderstore, and the MWL_PlainsPillar1 spawns without an issue—no console errors and no performance issues. So, installing the individual packs seems like a temporary workaround for the time being

[jneb802]

Hey friend, thanks a ton for sharing this analysis of the issue. It was very helpful in debugging. I've fixed the issue in the most recent thunderstore release! The issue was that location was missing a location script.