Problems!!!

ShadowChild · 04-24-2003, 06:47 AM

I've been playing SOA without any problems for quite a while (it crashes sometimes tho, but doesn't everything)- but my game seems to have slowed down a hell of alot.

The movement of anything on the screen is jerky at best, this makes playing the game a pain in the bum! as fights that would take a couple of seconds take about an hour. Moving from one place to another takes an age as well.

My PC is'nt that fantastic its:

550MHZ Processor
128mb ram (i knows its low but its never effected it before)
8mb 3d card

Its laugable by todays standards i know, but up until now i've never had problems with BG1 or BG2 (except when there are alot of sprites on screen).

I've closed stuff down in the sys tray that i don't need, basically tried everything i know to free up resources, but it makes no difference - and to top it off i've looked for an English patch! and there ain't one! theres a US one, a european one (no english on this one) and an international patch.

Please help a poor deluded, naffed off and generaly peeved off individual!

Raistlin Majere · 04-24-2003, 08:13 AM

Off the top of my head, make sure that you dont have 3D acceleration on. that may cause jerkiness, at least it did for me at one point. another solution MIGHT be to turn down the frame rate. it could also be a hardware problem, to which i would advise you to check you have the latest drivers for your video card(a new one might not be a bad idea either). try out those before doing anything radical [img]smile.gif[/img] .

ShadowChild · 04-24-2003, 08:18 AM

Radical?...like smashing it to shards with a hammer?...too late!

Raistlin Majere · 04-24-2003, 08:25 AM

LOL!

Malthaussen · 04-24-2003, 08:39 AM

My computer is just as obsolescent as yours (except that I have a 32 mb video card), and I experience the "slowdown" phenomenon you speak of regularly. However, if I'm reading you right, you've had this happen before (with many sprites on the map), only now it happens all the time...

My game tends to run fine for about an hour (depending on how many sprites are on the map where I am) and then rapidly deccelerates to the point of almost locking up. This problem is especially acute in IWD2, because there are so many creatures on just about every map in that game...

Since I run okay for an hour (sometimes less; for example I can rarely make it to one end of the Docks and back to the entrance without experiencing slowdowns), my only "fix" thus far has been to reboot my computer. But all other methods, as you have noted, do nada. I speculated once in another thread (we aren't the only people to have this problem) as to what might cause the problem, but it would appear to be some kind of programming error and not the fault of the user. I experience it in some fashion in every IE game I own.

The only thing that puzzles me is why you have only recently started to experience this difficulty. It makes me worry if it isn't some kind of hardware problem after all.

-- Mal

ShadowChild · 04-24-2003, 08:50 AM

Aye, i know what you mean! everything will work fine for a while and then all of a sudden things just get worse and worse. It could well be a hardware problem as other odd things have started to happen - it all seemed to happen when we installed broadband! not straight after but around that time.

Only thing i can do is get a bit more RAM and see what happens, failing that i shall have to reformat!! NOOOO!!!

Cheers for all your help anyway [img]smile.gif[/img]

DSlaytern] Reduced the length of the "NO" to prevent horizontal scrolling.

[ 04-24-2003, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

SixOfSpades · 04-24-2003, 01:55 PM

One of the big causes of programs slowing down or locking up is other programs running "in the background." Try it now: If you're running Windows, Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete ONCE, and a window will pop up, showing all the programs that are running at the moment. Some of these are programs that you can see, like Internet Explorer and (if you've got it minimized) Baldur's Gate. Other programs are part of your operating system: Explorer and Systray are vital for Windows to keep working, for example.

The BAD programs on this list are those that are "Not Responding." They're locked up, but they haven't told Windows that they've screwed up, so Windows doesn't know what to do with them. They're still running, and Windows is running in circles trying to figure out what to do with them, and all of these processes eat up RAM that you'd much rather put to more useful purposes--like animating several spell effects at the same time without slowing down the computer.

If any program or programs are "repeat offenders" on the Not Responding list, consider moving them to a different directory to see if they actually DO anything, and if they don't, you'd probably be better off deleting them entirely.

Aeschylus · 04-24-2003, 10:25 PM

If you're really interested in addressing generally poor performance in windows, I could babble on for a couple of hours. But quickly:

Six of Spades was too conservative. Kill the lot of 'em. On any given windows platform you only need explorer running as a program. So if you do end task on everything, you should be okay (you can even kill explorer- it'll be back). In addition, any programs you close will function as normal on the next start up.

Two caveats:

1. The applications list is present in all versions of windows, but xp/2k/nt also have a task list. Don't mess with it. Taks list != apps list. You can kill everything on the apps list, but not the task list.

2. Obviously, if you have Bg2 running (I think the executable is bg2.exe) you shouldn't kill that.

In addition, update your video drivers/version of direct x. Both upgrades are free, and if either has been corrupted/partially overwritten/etc this should fix it.

That's the really quick stuff. There's plenty more you can do (esp. in XP) to improve performance, but that's the easy stuff. Hope it helps.

Assassin · 04-24-2003, 11:46 PM

Go to 'Run'. Type in 'msconfig'. Go to Startup. Check out the programs that are there. If they aren't essential, remove them from starting all of the time that you start up the computer. Usually, the only ones that I have are Systray and Explorer.

ShadowChild · 04-25-2003, 03:03 AM

Aye, i've tried shutting down resources. Only thing is i'm using Win98 so there is'nt a processes tab that i can use to shut off resources that i don't need.

Haven't tried the MSCONFIG thingy yet, been wondering how to stop things from loading up on boot. So i'll try that one!

And sorry boot that Mr.Slaytern! me and me amateur dramatics again [img]smile.gif[/img]

04-24-2003, 06:47 AM	#1
ShadowChild Manshoon Join Date: February 19, 2003 Location: Scouse Land... Age: 45 Posts: 230	I've been playing SOA without any problems for quite a while (it crashes sometimes tho, but doesn't everything)- but my game seems to have slowed down a hell of alot. The movement of anything on the screen is jerky at best, this makes playing the game a pain in the bum! as fights that would take a couple of seconds take about an hour. Moving from one place to another takes an age as well. My PC is'nt that fantastic its: 550MHZ Processor 128mb ram (i knows its low but its never effected it before) 8mb 3d card Its laugable by todays standards i know, but up until now i've never had problems with BG1 or BG2 (except when there are alot of sprites on screen). I've closed stuff down in the sys tray that i don't need, basically tried everything i know to free up resources, but it makes no difference - and to top it off i've looked for an English patch! and there ain't one! theres a US one, a european one (no english on this one) and an international patch. Please help a poor deluded, naffed off and generaly peeved off individual! __________________ Never violate a woman nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.<br /><br /><i>Druss The Legend</i>

04-24-2003, 08:13 AM	#2
Raistlin Majere Ra Join Date: March 26, 2002 Location: Finland Age: 37 Posts: 2,323	Off the top of my head, make sure that you dont have 3D acceleration on. that may cause jerkiness, at least it did for me at one point. another solution MIGHT be to turn down the frame rate. it could also be a hardware problem, to which i would advise you to check you have the latest drivers for your video card(a new one might not be a bad idea either). try out those before doing anything radical [img]smile.gif[/img] . __________________ If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One. "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

04-24-2003, 08:18 AM	#3
ShadowChild Manshoon Join Date: February 19, 2003 Location: Scouse Land... Age: 45 Posts: 230	Radical?...like smashing it to shards with a hammer?...too late! __________________ Never violate a woman nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.<br /><br /><i>Druss The Legend</i>

04-24-2003, 08:25 AM	#4
Raistlin Majere Ra Join Date: March 26, 2002 Location: Finland Age: 37 Posts: 2,323	LOL! __________________ If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One. "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

04-24-2003, 08:39 AM	#5
Malthaussen Manshoon Join Date: May 10, 2001 Location: Horsham, PA USA Age: 69 Posts: 151	My computer is just as obsolescent as yours (except that I have a 32 mb video card), and I experience the "slowdown" phenomenon you speak of regularly. However, if I'm reading you right, you've had this happen before (with many sprites on the map), only now it happens all the time... My game tends to run fine for about an hour (depending on how many sprites are on the map where I am) and then rapidly deccelerates to the point of almost locking up. This problem is especially acute in IWD2, because there are so many creatures on just about every map in that game... Since I run okay for an hour (sometimes less; for example I can rarely make it to one end of the Docks and back to the entrance without experiencing slowdowns), my only "fix" thus far has been to reboot my computer. But all other methods, as you have noted, do nada. I speculated once in another thread (we aren't the only people to have this problem) as to what might cause the problem, but it would appear to be some kind of programming error and not the fault of the user. I experience it in some fashion in every IE game I own. The only thing that puzzles me is why you have only recently started to experience this difficulty. It makes me worry if it isn't some kind of hardware problem after all. -- Mal __________________ \"Of two choices, I always take the third.\"

04-24-2003, 08:50 AM	#6
ShadowChild Manshoon Join Date: February 19, 2003 Location: Scouse Land... Age: 45 Posts: 230	Aye, i know what you mean! everything will work fine for a while and then all of a sudden things just get worse and worse. It could well be a hardware problem as other odd things have started to happen - it all seemed to happen when we installed broadband! not straight after but around that time. Only thing i can do is get a bit more RAM and see what happens, failing that i shall have to reformat!! NOOOO!!! Cheers for all your help anyway [img]smile.gif[/img] DSlaytern] Reduced the length of the "NO" to prevent horizontal scrolling. [ 04-24-2003, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ] __________________ Never violate a woman nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.<br /><br /><i>Druss The Legend</i>

04-24-2003, 01:55 PM	#7
SixOfSpades Dracolisk Join Date: September 16, 2001 Location: Bellingham, WA, USA Age: 48 Posts: 6,901	One of the big causes of programs slowing down or locking up is other programs running "in the background." Try it now: If you're running Windows, Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete ONCE, and a window will pop up, showing all the programs that are running at the moment. Some of these are programs that you can see, like Internet Explorer and (if you've got it minimized) Baldur's Gate. Other programs are part of your operating system: Explorer and Systray are vital for Windows to keep working, for example. The BAD programs on this list are those that are "Not Responding." They're locked up, but they haven't told Windows that they've screwed up, so Windows doesn't know what to do with them. They're still running, and Windows is running in circles trying to figure out what to do with them, and all of these processes eat up RAM that you'd much rather put to more useful purposes--like animating several spell effects at the same time without slowing down the computer. If any program or programs are "repeat offenders" on the Not Responding list, consider moving them to a different directory to see if they actually DO anything, and if they don't, you'd probably be better off deleting them entirely. __________________ Volothamp's Comeuppance Everything you ever needed to know about the entire Baldur's Gate series......except spoilers.

04-24-2003, 10:25 PM	#8
Aeschylus Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: April 10, 2003 Location: Attica Age: 42 Posts: 5	If you're really interested in addressing generally poor performance in windows, I could babble on for a couple of hours. But quickly: Six of Spades was too conservative. Kill the lot of 'em. On any given windows platform you only need explorer running as a program. So if you do end task on everything, you should be okay (you can even kill explorer- it'll be back). In addition, any programs you close will function as normal on the next start up. Two caveats: 1. The applications list is present in all versions of windows, but xp/2k/nt also have a task list. Don't mess with it. Taks list != apps list. You can kill everything on the apps list, but not the task list. 2. Obviously, if you have Bg2 running (I think the executable is bg2.exe) you shouldn't kill that. In addition, update your video drivers/version of direct x. Both upgrades are free, and if either has been corrupted/partially overwritten/etc this should fix it. That's the really quick stuff. There's plenty more you can do (esp. in XP) to improve performance, but that's the easy stuff. Hope it helps. __________________ God sees not as man sees. _His_ will be done.<br /><br /> -Charlotte Bronte,<br /> \"Jane Eyre\"

04-24-2003, 11:46 PM	#9
Assassin Symbol of Cyric Join Date: March 23, 2003 Location: Canada Age: 37 Posts: 1,134	Go to 'Run'. Type in 'msconfig'. Go to Startup. Check out the programs that are there. If they aren't essential, remove them from starting all of the time that you start up the computer. Usually, the only ones that I have are Systray and Explorer. __________________ In The Terminator, Sarah Connor is told a speech by John Connor\'s father that John has given in the future. When John is born, Sarah tells John this speech, and John grows up to tell it in the future. So who wrote the speech?!

04-25-2003, 03:03 AM	#10
ShadowChild Manshoon Join Date: February 19, 2003 Location: Scouse Land... Age: 45 Posts: 230	Aye, i've tried shutting down resources. Only thing is i'm using Win98 so there is'nt a processes tab that i can use to shut off resources that i don't need. Haven't tried the MSCONFIG thingy yet, been wondering how to stop things from loading up on boot. So i'll try that one! And sorry boot that Mr.Slaytern! me and me amateur dramatics again [img]smile.gif[/img] __________________ Never violate a woman nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.<br /><br /><i>Druss The Legend</i>

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