Game runs slow please help

from GalCiv2 Forums
The game runs so slow on my PC.
I have more than double the system requirements:
1.6Ghz Pentium, 64mb DDR Nvidia Geforce 4, 512 SDR ram.
Should run perfectly, but it doesn't - even the movies in the game lag (like the intro for example). Why..

Thanks in advance.
Is there any options where I can reduce the graphics, the options for video seem to be very limited.
Any help would be appreciated.
7,569 views 22 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Nothing personal, that is not a really optimal config for 2006. It does meet minumum, but don't expect miracles. I'd expect it to be slow above medium maps with lots of opponents and stars.

You can change the video options in the Main Menu. It actually has quite a few options compared to a lot of games. Just don't uncheck Throttle frame rate - this will casue your video card to overheat; it does not affect the rendering speed.

If you are still having issues, you could post your debug.err log. It is in your game folder.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Update your display drivers. Normally the cause of your probs!
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's probably a lack of AVAILABLE memory, rather than total mem. Make sure there aren't too many apps running in the background when you start the game. Try running right after a reboot to make sure nothing is still holding a process open that you were running before hand. I turned off the music on my system as it is waay too laggy to listen to. But that is because I run it on a laptop with half a gig of RAM hehe
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Update: It might be your HDD access speed. What hard disk do you have?

Try defragging it if it is a proper desktop drive (it should run fast enough). A laptop hard drive often cant read/access fast enough for everything it needs.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You can change the video options in the Main Menu. It actually has quite a few options compared to a lot of games. Just don't uncheck Throttle frame rate - this will casue your video card to overheat; it does not affect the rendering speed.


lol, don't worry, that's one card that will NEVER overheat. Overheatting is only a problem for people with newer cards (IE: 6800+), because it is the result of the card being able to pump out too many frames per second ^_^;;; A card that can barely get out your standard 30, would not suffer this.

Although I believe if the intro is stuttering, it's the anti-aliasing. You might want to turn that down or off completely.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Update: It might be your HDD access speed. What hard disk do you have?


I'd like to strongly reiterate this.

Once I got 1GB worth of RAM, I found that memory and CPU speed were pretty much irrelevant for the performance of games. No, after that, harddrive speed. SerialATA is vital.

Plus, there's this stupid WinXP bug that causes your computer to slowly turn off UltraDMA on the drive. This makes the drive run very slowly. My oldest computer (whose life expectancy can be measured in hours) keeps turning off UltraDMA on the harddrive, and it makes the music/movies skip constantly. It makes autosaving painfully slow. And so forth.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How big is your virtual memory settings ? (just trying to elimante an obvious ) 1 Gb or better right ?
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Would really help to see the dxdiag part of the debug log.

@Alphonse - that is a new one on me - do you have any links with more info so I can read up on it? I am an IT pro and knowing how to resolve that issue - or even how to spot it - would be a good thing to have in my personal KB. Thanks!
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
New one to me too. You may also have a spyware issue if most things go slow on the machine. If your proccess count is over 55 at startup (listed on performance tab of task manager) you likely have a major problem. Can't count the number of times I've seen that issue.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
thanks a lot gentelmen here is what I tried:
1. The only graphics/video options available to me are: resolution, anti-aliasing, fullscreen, mouse, brightness, contrast, ambiet light. Only resolution and anti-aliasing are good for chaning performance.
2. I have most up-to-date nvidia display drivers (and WinXP SP2)
3. I have 512meg SDRAM, I rebooted, 19 processes running. I think that's the most efficient number before WinXP services (and other functionality) start so shut down.
4. HDD: 80gig 8200rpm drive (maxor or western digital.....not sure, doublt the model matters)
5. I don't see the option "throttle frame rate" is there a way to see more advanced video card options?
6. Virtual memory available: 740meg, maximum: 1.44gig (I think 1.44 gig is the one that matters, and it's quite big)
7. Here is the debug log :-----------------------------------------
Debug Message: Version v1.0 last updated on: Mon Feb 6 12:52:05 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 4/7/2006, 21:12:26
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: REIT620
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ECS
System Model: M935LR
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.60GHz
Physical Memory: 480MB RAM
Page File: 112MB used, 1008MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce4 MX 440
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0171&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A3
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.7730
Driver Date: 5/12/2005 01:34:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SiS 7012 Wave
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1039&DEV_7012&SUBSYS_70121039&REV_A0
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: sis7012.sys
Provider: Silicon Integrated Systems Corp.(1.02.01)
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.6020
Driver Date: 10/11/2001 02:51:40
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: Modem #0 Line Playback (emulated)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID:
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 81
Driver Name:
Provider:
Driver Version:
Driver Date:
Type: Emulated
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: Modem #0 Handset Playback (emulated)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID:
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 81
Driver Name:
Provider:
Driver Version:
Driver Date:
Type: Emulated
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\*.StarSystems
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for PirateShip. ***
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for Starbase. ***
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Device lost
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Device lost
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Device lost
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Device lost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Also:

I shut off anti-aliasing and it helped a lot. It's still very laggy, but much better than before.

Anything else I can do?
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Anything else I can do?


Update to patch 1.0x would probably help loads - can be found in the downloads section on this site (just look for "bonus pack" which includes the patch).

You're not going to get extreme performance out of an MX440 though, so best to keep it to small maps and turn most textures off.

Plus, there's this stupid WinXP bug that causes your computer to slowly turn off UltraDMA on the drive.


Uh-oh... that sounds like Starforce in action to me
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You could try updating your video card drivers. The ones you are using are almost a year old. The main problem here, though, is that your video card is ancient. The GeForce 4 MX-440 is a GeForce 2 level card, several generations out of date. Your system is well below the recommended requirements.

After updating the video card drivers to something more recent (http://www.nvidia.com/), try defragging your hard drive. You may also want to run at a lower resolution.
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The other video options are in the Advanced section under the Main Menu.

Your card cannot handle things as they stand. Try to get the latest drivers, but you are using a card that shares system memory - instead on having it's own onborard; so I doubt this will help much with performance. That card is a real bottleneck.

You need a modern video card that has it's own onboard memory instead of using the System memory. It would help also to upgrade to 1GB of RAM, even if you don't upgrade your card.

The game should run on your setup, but it will be slow.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Your card cannot handle things as they stand. Try to get the latest drivers, but you are using a card that shares system memory - instead on having it's own onborard; so I doubt this will help much with performance. That card is a real bottleneck.


ummm no, it has 64meg DDR ram
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
seriously guys, how do I change to lower texture and resolution settings.
I try changing the resolutions settings and it won't let me, it's stuck at that resolution (in the game). I tried changing my windows resolution, but the game changes it back to 1028x720 for some reason.
And I can't find any more graphics cards settings......I can't change the texture quality because I don't see that option...I can't find it anywhere.

Thanks
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In the Main Screen Options Menu. Read the manual - it tells you how.
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In the Main Screen Options Menu. Read the manual - it tells you how.


I just searched for the word "texture" and it didn't find anything.
I read the "options" part of it and it told me what I already know. Nowhere does it say anything about texture quality.

As far as I know, the only performance changing graphics options I have access to is anti-aliasing and resolution (resolution is locked for me and I can't change it).
This game really needs more graphics options.
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Oldsalesman, I don't see "Advanced" in the main menu....the menu that has New game, continue, load game,tutorials, Options, etc..
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
can anyone tell me where texture setting is?...please
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This game really needs more graphics options.


There is a whole page of them under Options\Video - but you do need to download the patch (v1.0x), not sure if they were all there in the original release.

Your drivers (video and sound) are also both old and need updating. But the bottom line is, I'm afraid that with only 480Mb RAM (see the debug file - something elswhere is using 32Mb of your system ram - you may well have an integrated video card on your motherboard that is not disabled prperly in the BIOS) and an MX440 card - the game is never going to have stellar performance for you.