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1.1 Memory/Performance/Save Game Problems - look here

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1.1 Memory/Performance/Save Game Problems - look here

Check here for unofficial test exes

from GalCiv2 Forums

A lot of people seem to be having problems with memory with 1.1, so here are a few tips until we can get another build up:

1) If you haven't done it already, increase the amount of virtual memory available to Windows.

To increase the amount of Virtual Memory available to Windows:
 
1) Right click on the My Computer icon and chose properties
2) Click on the advanced tab
3) Under performance, click on the Settings button.
4) Click on the advanced tab
5) Click on the change button
6) Change the initial size to the recommended size and then increase the maximum size.
 
As a note, you should make sure that you have enough hard drive space left for the maximum virtual memory size or you'll start having problems whenever Windows has to allocate more virtual memory. You can get the size of the virtual memory in gigs by dividing the number by 1024.

2) If you still get the problems, play on Medium or smaller galaxies.  Setting planets and stars to Rare will also help, although you will probably want to set the Habitable Planets to Abundant to make sure that you do have enough good planets.  You could also try making a bee-line for larger hull sizes so you won't need as many ships.

3) Defragging your hard drive may also help if you haven't done it in awhile. 

I'm sorry that we didn't catch this earlier, but the developers and artists all have 2 GB of RAM (or more) so none of us have had this problem.   Fixing the memory issues is our top priority at the moment.

If you have Windows 2000 or XP you can try this UNOFFICIAL test exe. I will be updating this link periodically until we get the official update out.  I'm using an newer version of the DirectX SDK on my computer than the one that Brad uses to create the offical builds, and the version I'm using is not supported on Win 98/ME.

Before extracting the contents of the zip file to your GalCiv2 install folder, backup your GalCiv2.exe and Lib3D.dll and your save games, just in case. 

http://sd.stardock.com/carielf/gc2/GalCiv2MemTestWinXP6.zip

This test file is meant to

1) fix crash when loading save games

2) reduce save/load times (may only be slight difference)

3) make it less likely to crash while saving.

update:

4) This version attempts to abort saving rather than just crashing when it runs out of memory while saving.  However, it is still possible to max out your memory so badly that the game will crash even if you're not saving.

I am going to try to make it abort saving gracefully rather than crashing when it runs out of memory, because on a gigantic galaxy with everything set to abundant, you are going to max out your memory if you only have 256 MB of RAM.  This will give you the chance to try adjusting your page file in the hopes that you will be able to save again.

I am also going to try to reduce the memory usage.

Update 5/5/06: I am un-stickying this thread and making a new one to try and get more people using the test exe.

--Cari


 

50,441 views 55 replies
Reply #51 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I changed 2 things, not sure wich has fixed it, but I have been playing all morning without a crash, where as before I was getting them every other move.
1 I dropped the background star density to 500 ( looks better anyway )
2 Installed cachemanXP and set "auto recover if ram goes below 200 mb" and "cpu theshold at 35%"



I did both and it still crashes - 1 GB RAM, 4 GB swapfile, gigantic universe.
Reply #52 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Never had a problem with memory.

1GB RAM, 4096~4096MB virtual (fixed size to prevent swap file fragmentation).


Is it better to use a 4096-4096 configuration or something like a 2000-4096 configuration? What's the difference? What do you guys recommend? I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!
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Reply #53 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Is it better to use a 4096-4096 configuration or something like a 2000-4096 configuration? What's the difference? What do you guys recommend? I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!


Fixing it at the largest size you expect to need is better because then Windows won't be wasting time resizing the swapfile and worse, fragmenting it as it grows and shrinks across areas of the drive in use by other files.

In the future, feel free to make a new thread if you have a question. Please don't revive very old threads such as this, which can cause confusion since it mostly relates to older versions of the game, thanks.
Reply #54 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Kyro, thanks for your quick answer. And I will not revive old posts in the future (I know I am good at that ).

Nevertheless I am curious how you determine and fix the largest size you expect to need? What is meant by fixing? I would appreciate anyone's thoughts!

Reply #55 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What is meant by fixing?


Setting it at a specific, unchanging size.

Nevertheless I am curious how you determine and fix the largest size you expect to need?


You can try increasing it if GC2 is crashing or giving 'out of memory' errors. If you don't have those problems, then you've probably already got it big enough. If you have a good amount of RAM, you should rarely if ever need more than double that amount in my experience (but then I don't play on gigantic/abundant maps, either).