Lock up on loading

[juliejayne]

Was having slow loading issues with the Steam version, so I loaded a new version direct from you.

With the Steam version there was a pause loading at 40%. This could last from 20- 40 seconds. Sometimes pressing ESC seemed to help.

With the direct version it pauses at 30% and then locks up at 40%.

It will always pause at these points, it does not always lock at the 40% mark, but when it does it seems that the whole PC slows down, I presume that it is trying to perform some CPU intensive task that it cannot complete.
For reference the PC is a laptop... specs
i5 6300HQ CPU @ 2.3 ghz
8MB RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 960m 4 mb

I just tried again, and this time it works.... but it seems to be about 30% of the time it locks at that 40% loading point... Any ideas why.

[posila]

Hello, when you start the game is your laptop plugged to charger or is it powered just by battery?

For Steam version, navigate to %APPDATA%\Factorio\config in File Explorer (hit Win+R on your keyboard, type in %APPDATA%\Factorio and click OK, File Explorer should pop-up, open config folder)

Open config.ini (it should open in Notepad if you double click it)
find line contaning

Code: Select all

; thread-sprite-loading=true

remove leading semi-colon and change true to false

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thread-sprite-loading=false

Please let me know, whether this helps.

[juliejayne]

Tried this... On the Steam version it felt as if the general loading took longer but it is hard to be sure without timing it, and it varies every time.

[posila]

Ah, I am sorry, I misunderstood the problem.

It is actually both RAM and CPU intensive task, so it is possible the computer starts swapping RAM to disk. You can try to open Factorio properties in Steam Library and set launch option

Code: Select all

--force-opengl

, lower Sprite quality to Normal in graphics settings (assuming you play with default settings), or free up more RAM by closing other applications (ie. web browser)

EDIT: When you start the game is your laptop plugged to charger or does is run just on battery?

[juliejayne]

Sorry forgot to answer... laptop is permanently on the power cord.

What is the difference between the steam version, and the "direct from you" version? Since they are both on the same laptop, they seem to be accessing the same files, is there a way to seperate them completely?

[juliejayne]

OK, did some timing too....
Steam version 95 seconds load.
Pure version 75 seconds load IF it doesn't lock at the 40%

[posila]

There are only minor differences in Steam version and DRM-free version, mostly related to Steam API integration.
Both Steam version and exe installer version from our website use %APPDATA%\Factorio as its write folder (for saves, config, mods, caches and temporary files)
Zip package from the website works as portable version, it will create new files only inside a directory it's unzipped to.

Steam allocates additional buffers in video memory for purpose of drawing an overlay, that might do something to do with it.

At this point, I'd like to ask you to post your log file (from %APPDATA%\Factorio\factorio-current.log) so I don't tread water here.

[juliejayne]

This is the file from yesterday.

[posila]

Thanks for the log and I am sorry for the late response.

I can see you play with High sprite quality and Video memory usage set to All. Also your GPU has only 2GB VRAM.
If you measured 75 seconds on zip package (not exe installer) version from the website, the difference would be explained by the game running with Normal sprite quality.

You have very good CPU for a laptop, but it also consumes lot of energy; is it cooling fine? Maybe your fans got clogged up by dust, so the CPU is underclocking itself to prevent overheating.

[juliejayne]

OK, I did some basic clean up on the laptop, and the browser, and things are running a little better.

If it hangs again... it hasn't for a few days now, then I would like to resurrect this thread. Otherwise... Thanks.