Performance and memory issues (looking for help)

from Stardock Forums

Hey, I just recently bought Elemental Fallen Enchantress on Steam and I'm enjoying it a lot, but I have some issues with performance. I've read that the previous games had issues with memory leaks. It could just be an issue with my system in general (my computer is very very old, at least in computer years).


I thought it could be issues with the graphic setting's, so I messed around with those and lowered and disabled most of them, but the problem persists. The main problem is after a few hours the game becomes very unstable and my framerate plummets to almost nothing. When I look at my memory usage for the game, its getting up over 2 GB of ram (and I've never really seen any game get that high, except maybe some really hardcore shooters online). It gets that high and usually crashes my computer. I've only been playing on small and medium maps with 3-6 cpu players (to start with). 


My computer specs are not spectacular at all.. really its a blast from the past, but I can still run games like Dawn of War 2, Deus Ex:Human revolution, Skyrim, even Battlefield 3 (single player.. multiplayer makes my computer cry). My specs are:

Dual core Amd Opeteron Processor 175 2.21 GHz

3 GB of DDR 1 ram

Running windows 7 64 bit (my cpu was one of the 1st 64 processors..lol)

A Nvidia GTX 550 TI 1024 meg card, running the latest driver to date


Fallen Enchantress specs are (off of Steam):

Processor:2.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor
Memory:2 GB RAM
Graphics:256 MB DirectX 9.0c Compliant Video Card w/Pixel Shader 2.0 (Radeon X3800 / GeForce 7900)


I know my system is old, but I still can run alot of demanding games (at lower graphic settings) without many issues. It's well within and surpasses most of the recommended computer specs. Is there any way of alleviating these memory/framerate issues? Is there anything I can do to modify or change the game so it demands less ram (if that is the issue). I know the game makes Debug files when it crashes, so I could also attach one of those.


I'd really love to find a way to fix these issues, cause I do really enjoy this game. If you have suggestions please send me a message, thanks.




7,121 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I was a very unsatisfied early buyer of EWoM, yet I'm loving FE.   With the exception of the UI, it's sooooooooooooooo sluggish I can't believe.  And I have an awesome   laptop.  What I did to fix the issue was just enable "always use the cloth map".  I don't know if it will solve the memory leaks (I haven't seen them but I have 16 GB ram, so it would take me a while to hit them), but the whole game seems to run more smoothly.

 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

If you're willing to have ugly fonts you can delete the sd overlay dll in the directory (or rename it).  It has a slight perf hit on some systems.  You can also turn off outlines in options.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

The main problem is after a few hours the game becomes very unstable and my framerate plummets to almost nothing. When I look at my memory usage for the game, its getting up over 2 GB of ram (and I've never really seen any game get that high, except maybe some really hardcore shooters online). It gets that high and usually crashes my computer. I've only been playing on small and medium maps with 3-6 cpu players (to start with).
End of quote

Practical tip: When you notice the game getting slower, save at the end of your turn, fully exit the game, start it again and load that save. Sometimes the computer players get an extra turn that way, but it resets memory consumption.

Do you save and load several times? Loading without fully exiting is the main memory leak still in the game. There may be some other leaks left that accumulate over several hours, but they pale compared to what the leak from loading even only once without exiting.

Once the game gets over 2 GB it gets unstable anyway, and closing it down and restarting it is required. A warning sign is if after loading the oceans have vanished.

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Hey, I kinda thought this post was forgotten so I kinda stopped looking at it.. lol, my mistake (I'm not the most forum savvy person, sometimes I think only the posts WITH LOTS OF CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATIONS WILL GET ATTENTION!!!, but I see that's not the case with Stardock forums).

Thanks, those are some good suggestions, I'll havta try them out. I do exit the game and reload a save when things start getting a bit wonky, so I have done that (after playing for an extended period). But ya I do tend to reload quite a bit.. I guess I try and be too nit-picky when it comes battles and random events. I'll need to try and let the chips fall where they may more often, don't need Everything to go my way.


I'll also try turning off outlines and perhaps the sd overlay, if it can extend my performance over a longer period. I wish I had alot more memory.. but finding nice DDR 1 ram is pretty damn tough these days (especially the type I currently own). Overall I'm still really enjoying my experience, these performance issues just kinda slow me down. The game reminds me of a cross between Age of Wonders/ HOMM 3 (two of my favorite classic strategy games ever) and maybe even a bit Civilization thrown in. Pretty close in saying this is my top turned based strategy game of all time. I also really love SINS back in the day, so keep up the good work.


Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

You say your comp is old...out of curiosity what OS are you running with?

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

My 1st post stated my OS, but it did say alot, lol. Currently I'm running E:FE on windows 7 64 bit, with the latest service pack. I also have XP on this computer.. but I only really use it for my older games that are temperamental on Win 7 (like Baldure's gate games or Max payne). My mobo is very outdated though.. an Abit one and Abit doesn't exist anymore (for the most part) and very little to no support for it.