Nasty slowdown and artifacting in 4c

from GalCiv2 Forums
So with the latest update, 0.96a[b].004, and the latest nvidia drivers, 169.28, (as well as previous nvidia drivers) I have started getting major slowdowns in menus (got it once while changing the tech speed from very fast to normal) which then leads to artifacting (text becomes blocks). I also got this when looking at the civilization manager and clicking the columns to sort them. When this happened the gamma setting was immediately reset so that it was extremely high (I upgraded to the new drivers after this) and the whole game slowed down. I'm running an 8800gtx w/ 4 gigs of ram on xp 32 bit so its not memory. Anyone else have this problem?

edit: Twice in a row tried to start the game and got the lockup/slowdown on the main menu.
3,456 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have noticed alot of choppiness and lag, especially in the beginning of the game. I have attributed it to the fact that there are still parts missing/not implemented, and the game is going through the temporary workarounds installed to allow it to function.

My guess is once everything is fully implemented, some, if not all of this will go away.

Even if there are glitches, it really makes no sense to fix them now, as they are in the temporary workarounds, not necessarily the actual game code. We won't know if a problem exists until everything is opened up and working...

T
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you're getting artifacts, that'd be a bad card, not the game.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Its not the card because its not the heat artifacts that you get when the card is trying to cook itself, there are no problems in other games. I call it artifacting but a better description is probably that game elements are rendered incorrect, there is nothing thats not supposed to be there its just that the things that are supposed to be there are rendered incorrect and sometimes at distorted ratios and in the wrong places. Previous versions were fine, I'm just concerned that 4c had some accidental change which resulted in this.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Its not the card because its not the heat artifacts that you get when the card is trying to cook itself.
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2 minute education:

Heat doesn't cause the artifacts. Heat damages your VRAM. VRAM gets corrupted. Game tries to write to faulty VRAM. Faulty VRAM spits back corrupted data. Artifacts!

If your card was damaged, you probably wouldn't know it right away, but it most likely is permanently damaged, no matter how cold you have it.

Don't tell me it's not your card. If it's not your card, then it's something else in your system. I'm pretty sure you're not the only one with an 8800GTX and the new drivers... (Wait, I have them too!)
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
2 minute education:

Heat doesn't cause the artifacts. Heat damages your VRAM. VRAM gets corrupted. Game tries to write to faulty VRAM. Faulty VRAM spits back corrupted data. Artifacts!
End of quote


2 minute math.

Transitive property.

If a = b and b = c then a = c.

If heat causes memory damage and memory damage causes artefacts, then heat causes artefacts.

If your card was damaged, you probably wouldn't know it right away, but it most likely is permanently damaged, no matter how cold you have it.
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If GC2 is the only place he is getting artefacting, then it's more likely the cause is a corrupted file.

Don't tell me it's not your card. If it's not your card, then it's something else in your system. I'm pretty sure you're not the only one with an 8800GTX and the new drivers... (Wait, I have them too!)
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Heh...ultimate arrogance. IT'S YOUR CARD, DON'T TELL ME OTHERWISE. Unless ...it's something else wrong. (Those seeem to be the only 2 options, thanks for your insight) If you were a doctor, you'd make diagnoses without running any tests.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Have you tried uninstalling, de-fragmenting then reinstalling? It is possible that the data did not install correctly when you patched/installed. I've had to do this before on a separate game and it seemed to solve the problem. At any rate, good luck.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There are bug reports of ships rendering incorrectly, disappearing,reappearing... Combined with the lag at times and the choppiness it looks like it could be a vid problem... However, I believe it to be game related, and it will get addressed/disappear as the betas move on.

If you can create a specific issue, or a save game with a repeatable issue, the best thing to do is send the save to stardock support so they can address it. At least then maybe someone there can tell you definitively that it's game related or not.

T