Virtual memory problems

Virtual memory runs low

from Stardock Forums
Ever since upgrading to Dark Avatar, I get virtual memory errors after playing the game for an hour or so. The screen starts flashing and I can only see a small block around my cursor that also flashes. Has anyone else had this problem? I am running a Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB with the latest drivers under Windows XP with 512m of memory.
2,196 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Have you checked the virtual memory usage when such problems occur? (use task manager, the tab "Performance", then look at the bottom-left part called commit charge)

DA is renowned for using more than the 2GB of virtual memory that Windows will allocate to a program, see other threads in this forum.
However since you "only" have 512 MB physical RAM, first check how much virtual memory your machine is currently set to (control panel > system > advanced > performance settings > advanced, then look at the "page file" settings on the bottom)

Also, as mentioned in some threads here on the forum, some updates (don't remember by heart which version, perhaps 1.7) will be a great help in avoiding memory issues --> make sure you're running the latest version of DA. However note that updating Galactic Civilizations II may cause your saved games to be unusable after the upgrade...
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have 3 GB Virtual Memory, as well as 2 GB Phys. Ram (DDR - PC2700) and I face this same issue. In fact, I faced this issue about 5 minuties before this post, which is why I'm on the forums right now in the first place I have all updates for devices, and the game as well.

Any other ideas or things I might try?
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Any time you report a problem you should also post the debug.err info.

It is located in the main program folder, usually C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2 for DL and C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar for DA.

You can open it with Notepad. Select everything, then copy and paste it into the reply box.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I believe the response is to wait for 1.7 to be released. You can try turning the settings down. "Enhanced Ship Textures" and "Planet Terrain Variety", or something close to those names, should be turned down or off too. The game has an issue that quickly consumes memory, and will max out it's allowed Ram in no time. That causes the out of memory error, as well as the ctd.


I'm hoping 1.7 does what has been promised, so I can play this game again. Right now, it's sadly not worth playing because of the memory problems.