[EM 2.708] - Game Lag after Jump *INFO*

[Vhaerun]

I used to play EM about a year and a half ago on a weak laptop and I don't remember having this problem... maybe I'm mis-remembering, but, anyway...

Whenever I use the fulcrum jump from one sector to another, the game lags on a white screen (with cockpit), frozen, for about 30-50 seconds. There's no activity at all. I figure the lag has to do with loading the next sector. I've also noticed a similar lag when crossing sector lines -- the game just seems to freeze for a half a minute or so.

The system requirements say that 3GM is optimal, and I've got plenty of space to put it. When I installed, I didn't get an option for a "full install" or "custom install". I can only assume I installed the 1GB version of the game. I've installed a couple little mods, and the game folder is still showing only about 310MB of memory used.

I tried reinstalling, thinking I might have missed a full install option, but it wasn't ever in the install program.

Any thoughts?

[SeeJay]

Hi.

Does this happen in both MP and SP?

Have you tried removing all mods? If not, do that first and see if that solves it.
If it does, then put the mods back one at a time to figure out which one that causes it.

If I recall correct, I had a similar problem way back when I tried some nebula mod.

/SeeJay

[Vhaerun]

It was doing it before I added any mods to the program. I added the mods to see if there was any kind of difference in game play, and there isn't.

[Vhaerun]

And it's happening in single player. I haven't tried multiplayer yet. Internet connection is suspect right now.

[Vice]

30-50 seconds is certainly excessive. As SeeJay suggests, start by removing the mods you applied. If performance returns to normal, start adding them back in one at a time and testing to determine which one was causing the delay.

There are two primary potential causes. One is a mod that is so memory hungry, it is forcing your system to utilize the hard drive as memory once your system RAM runs out. Another possible cause is that your system has some other task running in the background (such as a security program) that is interfering with the game's ability to quickly load media it needs, including mods you may have installed. Watch your hard drive activity light and see if it is lit/flickering during the delay.

[Vhaerun]

I will try removing the mods now, though I am 100% certain this was happening before the mods. I just added mods today and I've been playing again for three days and had this issue.

Meanwhile, I did time the 'lag', and I hit right at 30 seconds from the moment it freezes. I will do it again when I remove the mods and restart the game. Additionally, the CPU light didn't blink any more than usual while stuck in 'warp'.

[Vhaerun]

Okay, tried a system restart and then launched the game without mods. Results are a lag of 31 seconds, and the CPU light flashed only twice near the end.

Just checked something else, and I figure I know what the problem is now.

[Vice]

What did it turn out to be?

[Vhaerun]

A 1.64Ghz CPU.

[Vice]

Unless it is being seriously underclocked (ie power setting or something), a 1.64 GHz processor shouldn't hinder performance that much. What are your other system specs? An integrated 3D chipset could also contribute to low performance problems. But long loading times when using the jump drive is generally attributed to something with the read/write performance of the system, since that's basically all the game is doing during that phase.

[Vhaerun]

Windows 8

AMD-E1-1500 APU w/Radeon HD Graphics 1.48 Ghz (Huh. Coulda sworn it said 1.64 earlier).
RAM: 6GB
Type: 64 Bit OS, x64 based processor
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics

There's nothing else running in the background that I can see. Windows 8 sucks, by the way.

[Capt_Caveman]

what frame rates are you getting when in game ?

[Vhaerun]

Not sure how to figure that?

[Capt_Caveman]

press ~ when in game,

top left corner will show some numbers
top row is fps then ping

example 145/85

[Edited on 9-4-2013 by capt_cronic]

[Vhaerun]

Ah thought that might be it.

Seems to hover between 100000 and 120000

[Vice]

Must be looking at a different value there. It'll be in the upper left corner, first value before the '/' slash.

Is your hard drive almost out of space? What is the available physical memory value listed in the system summary screen of msinfo32?

[Vhaerun]

When I press ~, either with the shift or the alt key, I get a box that looks like this:

110444
K: 6 | R: 46

It appears in the top left corner.

The hard drive is pretty empty, actually. 385 GB free of 449.

Available physical memory listed in msinfo32: 3.12 GB.

[Capt_Caveman]

hey Vice, did'nt we have an impossibly high fps glitch durring beta testing at one point on some systems ?

hey Vhaerun
have you tried turning off any antivirus programs you have ?


[Edited on 9-5-2013 by capt_cronic]

[Vice]

There is a vertical slash in there, so it's probably in the teens or lower, which would be pretty low performance. But load time should still be better, regardless of such a low framerate. Perhaps the hard drive is malfunctioning and taking way too long to load anything or its performance is being hindered by something else.

The delay in load time certainly has me curious, I'd like to see the msinfo report if you'll save a copy of it, zip it and e-mail it to me (starwraith.com > contact).

[Capt_Caveman]

Vhaerun

I just loaded in single player and pressed ~
this is what I see the first number is fps

145 l 24
K: 15476 l R: 26443

[Vhaerun]

Okay, email is sent.

Disabled the anti-virus. Going to test that now.

[Vhaerun]

Disabling antivirus had little to no effect.

[Capt_Caveman]

I'm out of ideas
Vice will surely figure it out soon
hang in there


[Edited on 9-5-2013 by capt_cronic]

[Vhaerun]

Vhaerun

I just loaded in single player and pressed ~
this is what I see the first number is fps

145 l 24
K: 15476 l R: 26443

Taking a closer look, it is this:

12 | 256

[Capt_Caveman]

ahh ok, thats better
have you tried it with in game settings set to minimum ?