Horrid Freeze Problems

-Logan- · 02-05-2011, 11:39 AM

Hi,

Recently I upgraded my OS from Windows Vista to Windows 7. Everything went nicely, but recently I ran into a major problem when playing Regnum.

I seem to randomly get screen freezes when around many players at once, especially in the middle of a big war or when fighting a boss. I have no idea where it comes from, but I believe it could be from when many players cast powers at the same time. The freeze makes my entire computer go haywire, the audio begins to cut rapidly like a chainsaw, and it usually lasts around 10-15 seconds.

Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated, because the game is barely playable for me at the moment. I already did re-installs of Regnum and that didn't solve the problem.

OpperVaagheid · 02-05-2011, 05:25 PM

Same problem here.
On my main pc the freezes sometimes 2/3 min. And its not an useless pc. Its a decent gaming pc.
On this laptop the game worked awesome.
The game even run without problems in shader 4.
Since a while i had to switch it back to shader 3. Last couple of days i even cant play in shader 2 anymore and fixed pipelines are now activated. I think NGD really should pay more attention to fixing problems then adding new stuff (I hope the feb update will solve a lot of this)

Orimae · 02-05-2011, 05:25 PM

What he said...

Quote:

Originally Posted by OpperVaagheid

Same problem here.
On my main pc the freezes sometimes 2/3 min. And its not an useless pc. Its a decent gaming pc.

The game even run without problems in shader 4.
Since a while i had to switch it back to shader 3. Last couple of days i even cant play in shader 2 anymore and fixed pipelines are now activated. I think NGD really should pay more attention to fixing problems then adding new stuff (I hope the feb update will solve a lot of this)

We have the very same problem,( as opper said above ) its terrible when i log on in a town in realm, or next to a fort, approach a fort (full or not :/ ) ... but your lucky your freezes only last like 10- 15 secs..mine are at least a minute till the game catches up... and in that time, i'm usually dead or all around me are dead because i cant heal them :/

So yeah, an explanation of why this happens and how i can fix it will be greatly apreciated.

I run shared model 2, no weather, no weapon trails, no shadows..and no, i wont go fixed pipeline, i paid good money for paint..i wanna see it >.>

Znurre · 02-06-2011, 01:03 AM

If you have plenty of RAM (4 GB or more), try turning off swap.
Windows is known for having bad memory management, and your problems sounds like swapping problems to me.

Orimae · 02-06-2011, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Znurre

If you have plenty of RAM (4 GB or more), try turning off swap.
Windows is known for having bad memory management, and your problems sounds like swapping problems to me.

Um, i am not too sure what this is, Swap thing (imma noob, sorry) and both me and Opper run Linux, Ubuntu 10.10 , was same on last version tho...( as far as i can remember)

impp · 02-06-2011, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Znurre

If you have plenty of RAM (4 GB or more), try turning off swap.
Windows is known for having bad memory management, and your problems sounds like swapping problems to me.

From a quick scan on forums this is a pretty radical suggestion (particularly is you read Microsoft posters).

I'll probably end up trying it just for fun.

Znurre · 02-06-2011, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orimae

Um, i am not too sure what this is, Swap thing (imma noob, sorry) and both me and Opper run Linux, Ubuntu 10.10 , was same on last version tho...( as far as i can remember)

It could be a swapping problem on Linux too.
The client for me uses around 1.6GB ram, and even with 4GB of ram I run out of memory when having KDE4, Firefox, Mumble, Amarok, etc, etc. started while playing.
The OS will then try to swap unused memory to the harddrive, this is called "swapping".
The harddrive is much slower than the memory, so this will take a while.
During the swap, hard drive activity will increase and music can stop for a while etc. since the disk is busy writing, and the RAM is full.

The only thing you can do to prevent this in Linux, is to close some applications.
Linux never starts swapping unless your memory is full.
Windows, however, starts swapping immediately to have as much memory available as possible for new applications.
This could be the source for Logan's problems.

If he disables the swap file, in advanced system settings, Windows wont be able to swap.

-Logan- · 02-06-2011, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Znurre

This could be the source for Logan's problems.

If he disables the swap file, in advanced system settings, Windows wont be able to swap.

It's not the source of the problem for me :S
Something else.

Zodar · 02-06-2011, 05:06 PM

I'd agree that closing as many apps as you can should help. Firefox seems to use a lot or RAM and CPU, so I always make sure to kill that, along with any other thing that might hog resources. It might also be worth checking the Task Manager, just in case something has crashed - it might appear to have quit successfully, but could still be running in the background, using up valuable resources.

I had freezing problems a while ago and naturally blamed NGD. The freeze was long enough for me to get killed running from Syrtis CS to PP1, get aggroed by a mob and die before I knew what was happening. Freezing would usually be worst during battles, or when a lot of stuff was going on. It would usually get worse the longer I'd been playing, i.e. the first 30 mins or so would be trouble free.

I was able to confirm it wasn't R.O. because I got the same pauses with Quake3 Area. I tried fitting extra fans around the GPU. I also lowered the graphics settings. Both helped a little, but not enough. In the end I swapped my graphics card.

*edit - not sure if this is relevant for your o/s... sorry!

I don't use Windows any more, so can't test the performance benefits of doing this, but if you're running a machine with more than one hard drive, another thing to try might be to move the swap file onto a different disk to your OS/Regnum and ideally onto the fastest drive you have. Its something I used to do all the time when I did run Windows:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886/

Do you have a few different games to test against and a different graphics card to try?

makarios68 · 02-06-2011, 05:24 PM

This is a common problem.

If you do a google search you will find plenty of evidence of gamers using Windows 7 complaining about game freezes.

It's also worth checking out your graphics card, as apparently certain ATI graphics cards are causing problems for gamers. (Also check your driver is up to date.)

I play several MMO's (i don't play Reggers anymore) and i get the freezes in every game. I hardly ever PVP anymore because it's just too annoying when you freeze in the middle of a fight - so i mostly PVE (yawn.)

I've tried all the suggested 'fixes' to the problem, but to no avail, so i'm hoping that one day i'll get an auto-update that fixes the issue.

02-05-2011, 11:39 AM	#1
-Logan- Banned Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Łódż, Poland Posts: 70	Horrid Freeze Problems Hi, Recently I upgraded my OS from Windows Vista to Windows 7. Everything went nicely, but recently I ran into a major problem when playing Regnum. I seem to randomly get screen freezes when around many players at once, especially in the middle of a big war or when fighting a boss. I have no idea where it comes from, but I believe it could be from when many players cast powers at the same time. The freeze makes my entire computer go haywire, the audio begins to cut rapidly like a chainsaw, and it usually lasts around 10-15 seconds. Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated, because the game is barely playable for me at the moment. I already did re-installs of Regnum and that didn't solve the problem.

02-06-2011, 01:03 AM	#4
Znurre Marquis Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: RA Posts: 1,897	If you have plenty of RAM (4 GB or more), try turning off swap. Windows is known for having bad memory management, and your problems sounds like swapping problems to me. __________________ Winning a fight is not what makes you a good player, it's how you do it. http://home.znur.re/screenshot%20201...2011_39_37.jpg

02-06-2011, 05:06 PM	#9
Zodar Apprentice Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 93	I'd agree that closing as many apps as you can should help. Firefox seems to use a lot or RAM and CPU, so I always make sure to kill that, along with any other thing that might hog resources. It might also be worth checking the Task Manager, just in case something has crashed - it might appear to have quit successfully, but could still be running in the background, using up valuable resources. I had freezing problems a while ago and naturally blamed NGD. The freeze was long enough for me to get killed running from Syrtis CS to PP1, get aggroed by a mob and die before I knew what was happening. Freezing would usually be worst during battles, or when a lot of stuff was going on. It would usually get worse the longer I'd been playing, i.e. the first 30 mins or so would be trouble free. I was able to confirm it wasn't R.O. because I got the same pauses with Quake3 Area. I tried fitting extra fans around the GPU. I also lowered the graphics settings. Both helped a little, but not enough. In the end I swapped my graphics card. edit - not sure if this is relevant for your o/s... sorry! I don't use Windows any more, so can't test the performance benefits of doing this, but if you're running a machine with more than one hard drive, another thing to try might be to move the swap file onto a different disk to your OS/Regnum and ideally onto the fastest drive you have. Its something I used to do all the time when I did run Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886/ Do you have a few different games to test against and a different graphics card to try? __________________ Zodar - The Evil Bald Fu^wPerson... Last edited by Zodar; 02-06-2011 at 05:19 PM. Reason: Sorry - just re-read and noticed it relates to Win7, not XP! D-oh!*

02-05-2011, 05:25 PM	#2
OpperVaagheid Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Holland Posts: 226	Same problem here. On my main pc the freezes sometimes 2/3 min. And its not an useless pc. Its a decent gaming pc. On this laptop the game worked awesome. The game even run without problems in shader 4. Since a while i had to switch it back to shader 3. Last couple of days i even cant play in shader 2 anymore and fixed pipelines are now activated. I think NGD really should pay more attention to fixing problems then adding new stuff (I hope the feb update will solve a lot of this)

02-06-2011, 05:24 PM	#10
makarios68 Count Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: England Posts: 1,300	This is a common problem. If you do a google search you will find plenty of evidence of gamers using Windows 7 complaining about game freezes. It's also worth checking out your graphics card, as apparently certain ATI graphics cards are causing problems for gamers. (Also check your driver is up to date.) I play several MMO's (i don't play Reggers anymore) and i get the freezes in every game. I hardly ever PVP anymore because it's just too annoying when you freeze in the middle of a fight - so i mostly PVE (yawn.) I've tried all the suggested 'fixes' to the problem, but to no avail, so i'm hoping that one day i'll get an auto-update that fixes the issue.