Memory Problem?

[Kugutsu]

Just had a CTD while using toggle_fow to see how the rest of the world was doing. Windows gave an error message along the lines of virtual memory has run out and it was trying to create more. Unfortunately I killed the error message box before I thought of copying what it said, but if it happens again I'll make sure I record it and post it This was after about 8 hours playing, so I was thinking perhaps there might be some memory leak which was made acute by the need to show the whole map.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Very well could be. Could be someone on your system specifically though. At least we know exactly what the problem was though and it isn't something that is likely to cause major grief in the future.

[Kugutsu]

Well, no more CTDs, but I am suffering from chronic lag. Its so bad that it takes me about 30 mins to complete a single turn, most of that being waiting for the pointer to move, then readjusting to compensate for overshooting, and the 5 min wait to open any info scroll (army, settlement, spy, anything)
Battles are beyond a joke, and I've turned off all sound and turned all the settings to low or off ( something I have NEVER had to do before with RTW or EB0.74)
I thought it could be perhaps because my computer needed defragging, so I did that, and scanned for viruses while I was at it. Restarted EB after a pretty much wasted evening, and ... it still takes forever. No improvement at all.
Im wondering, is it perhaps my system that is at fault?

Windows 2000 SP4
on
2.40GHz P4
512 MB RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9600 256MB Graphics card

Its a clean install of RTW 1.0 patched up 1.1 -> 1.2 -> 1.3 -> 1.5
I tested it before I installed EB and it was fine, nothing like this.

That should be enough, shouldnt it? Grr, so frustrating

edit: there is nothing running in the background except whatever windows does. I even unplugged from the net so I could shut off zonealarm.

[NeoSpartan]

I run into the same issue after 3hr+ of playing. I had a similar issue in .74 bud not as bad. What made .8 occupy more memory and is the Resources (so far thats what I know) Only that I don't have time to play 8hrs anymore.

But try lowering the Graphics, and take out shadows. It will help a bit. Also, when it starts getting slow, save the game, exit and restart. When u re-start ur PC gains its Virtual Memory back (or so my programming teacher in High School told me)

[Kugutsu]

erm, this was turn one...
I have switched shadows off, along with grass, the music and everything else you possibly can.
Is there any way of going back to the old resources graphics ? As much as I like the pretty new graphics, at the moment it is totally unplayable for me
My last hope is that a hard restart of the whole machine will help, otherwise Im at a dead end

edit: will giving windows more virtual memory help?

[Bonny]

How much free space do you have on your HD? And more crucial how how much free space do you have on your HD where your os is beeing installed?

virtual memory is afaik a part of your HD that is used by your os to save current working data that is to big for your RAM (it is defined somwhere in the windows systempropertys and can be either an fixed amount of mb for example 1000 or "administer by windows" which is afaik default). And since you are low on RAM (yes 512 seems to be low these days) you need much of it.

To avoid such errors you can save your game and reboot your system every 2 - 3 hours, or make sure that you have enough freespce on your had.

[Kugutsu]

30 GB free on my HD... That should be enough, I hope
Is 512 MB of RAM really too low? Thats depressing.
I have now set the virtual memory to 1500MB

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Yeah, HD seems like it should be something to look at on this particular case. The type of HD you have is one, but whether it's been defragged anytime lately could be another. The ram is a little low too, but are you running many other things at the same time? Lots of background stuff? In a window? Check the loading times are killing me thread and see some of our times.

[Geoffrey S]

RTW patch 1.3 introduced a memory leak; patch 1.5 largely alleviated this issue but there is still a leak that can cause problems after sustained play, particularly in the memory-intensive EB. Sounds like this is what you ran into.

[Kugutsu]

No, not running anything in the background. Like I said, I even shut off the firewall.
I defragged the HD yesterday too, without any noticable improvement. My HD is a Seagate 80GB, so shouldnt have any issues there, as its only half full. Is there any way to minimise a memory leak? Or is that an unsolvable game core issue?

[keravnos]

No, not running anything in the background. Like I said, I even shut off the firewall.
I defragged the HD yesterday too, without any noticable improvement. My HD is a Seagate 80GB, so shouldnt have any issues there, as its only half full. Is there any way to minimise a memory leak? Or is that an unsolvable game core issue?

It's RAM. I used to have MAJOR issues with RTW since I had 512 MB also. Now, since I got me 756 MB, I noticed MAJOR difference. I didn't even get to 1GB like most people nowadays... I understand that upgrading for a game, even if it is EB may be a bit too much, but be sure that your overall PC experience will be much, much better.

So, go for 1 GB if you can, but 756MB will also suffice. Just get off the 512MB.

[Kugutsu]

So if I get myself another GB of RAM that should sort me out? I only hope I dont need to upgrade my processor and graphics card, otherwise I might as well build a whole new PC, and I dont really have the funds for that right now. £70 for some RAM I will probably be able to afford...

[keravnos]

Kugutsu,

I believe it will. With your Harddrive defragged and 1.5 GB of RAM, EB will run faster and smoother. Just don't expect miracles. You should be down to a few minutes per turn. However bear in mind the following fact. RTW, even 1.5, has a memory leak. What that means is that every turn you play your PC has a bit less physical memory (RAM) to use and needs more page memory (hard drive). That takes time as hard drive is 1000 times slower than RAM.

Which means that after some time, *with 1.5 GB that should be MANY, many turns, your PC WILL SLOW DOWN. At that point, save. exit and re run EB. You should be good to go. After that many turns, repeat. Sounds corny, I know, but helps keep urge-to-break-PC low.

Also, with 1.5 GB of RAM, ALL your games will play better, not just EB. So, it is a no brainer really, if you can afford it. Just don't do it only for EB.

[Kugutsu]

Thanks for the tips Keravnos.
I think I'll get me some RAM this weekend. It most probably will be only for EB, as this is the only game I really play, but it will be worth it, methinks, to be able to fully appreciate it. I hope it improves enough that I can switch some of the nice graphics back on!

[NeoSpartan]

Oh god I have 512 of RAM too.

I have an AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3400+ and a ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card.

RTW 1.5 didn't bad after 3hrs+, but it did after 6hrs. I will try to reduce the settings a bit (right now it looks like they are default at max, with shadows and whatnot) and decompress.

Thanks Keravnos for ur advice... hopefully, since I don't play more than 3hr straight I won't have to buy a new RAM.



p.s For the EB team: I heard that factions where making too much $$ due to the resources.... I was thinking u could REDUCE the resources on the map that way:
1- Factions make less $$.
2- Helps to speed up gameplay.

And here u have killed 2 birds with one stone. Just don't take that many from the barbarians we are always broke

[keravnos]

..., as this is the only game I really play, but it will be worth it, methinks, to be able to fully appreciate it. I hope it improves enough that I can switch some of the nice graphics back on!

well, hmm, I can stop any time, ...it just happens that I love ancient times, ...sure I play other games too! ...no YOU CANT BORROW RTW, EVER, BUY YOUR OWN!!! ...My Kataprhakts got GOLDEN CHEVRONS!!! ...I lost track of time, sorry baby!

because those are my reactions... In fact, if/when a total war game gets you, it holds you!

[PigLatin]

I had a similar problem with the previous version of EB. I started a new campaign and the problem went away.

[Kugutsu]

Just thought Id post an update: Having got an extra GB of RAM (so 1.5GB total) the game runs MUCH faster. It still takes quite a while to start up, but activating the script, loading battles and the turn time for the AI factions is much faster. It also doesnt lag while scrolling round the map now

I highly recommend this to anyone having serious performance issues.

[NeoSpartan]

Just thought Id post an update: Having got an extra GB of RAM (so 1.5GB total) the game runs MUCH faster. It still takes quite a while to start up, but activating the script, loading battles and the turn time for the AI factions is much faster. It also doesnt lag while scrolling round the map now

I highly recommend this to anyone having serious performance issues.

....I guess I'll get a new RAM for my lattop... since..... I JUST GOT PAID!!!