Lagging

[fdkjnfgknd]

The game lags every so often. I've put all my sound and graphics settings on minimum - doesn't change anything. I've looked at the forum and can't find anything, if there's no fix i'd like my money back.

CPU - 1.8Ghz intel
RAM - 1GB
Graphics card - radeon connect (or something)

Peter

[martin]

what exactly do you mean "lags every so often"? Is it the occasional ten seconds of low FPS or entire levels of slow?

And are we talking main campaign or mods?

[fdkjnfgknd]

No mods, first level (+). Every few minutes it stutters, apart from that it's ok.

one other thing, is there any actual AI or is the aim of the game walking around shooting things? *Later* It seems so, just a point and click game. Surely it's more though?

[xander]

"Darwinia is to artificial intelligence as Half-Life is to particle physics." --Rkiver (I think)

That is, AI is a plot device in Darwinia. Darwinia is basically an RTS, with some arcade style options thrown in. As to the problem that you are having, what OS are you running? Are there any other processes running? What, exactly, is the video card that you are using?

xander

[fdkjnfgknd]

I read that post. It doesn't matter anyway, can anything be done about the stuttering? In the sound options it says VOIP usb phone, which is my skype phone. It's playing out of my speaks; my windows settings are set to use my speakers and not my phone; maybe the game's getting confused over the 2 speaker outputs.

Also on the sound option menu is the cpu usage. When the game lags, the cpu usage spikes (goes red).

[xander]

Please go back and read my last post, and answer the questions I asked. Additionally, if you unplug the phone, does that change anything? Is there a process running in the background related to the phone that is causing the CPU to spike when the game starts dropping frames?

xander

[fdkjnfgknd]

OS - XP
Grpahics card - Radeon 9550

I don't know what you mean by 'are there any proceses running'. I have things running but they're not taking up nearly as much as the game. My graphics card handles the game fine, apart from the glitches. I've played bigger and more complex games smoother than this so i don't think it's my PC.

Peter

[KingAl]

So have you tried unplugging the phone?

xander's question regarding other processes was due to the fact that the periodic nature of the lag - i.e. the fact that, the way you've described it, it seems to happen every few minutes - suggests there's some scheduled background task that intermittently makes greater use of the CPU. If there were such a process, it would explain why there would be a frame rate drop.
Try just shutting down all the 3rd party processes you don't need and see how the game runs then.

Also, I presume from the way you're describing it that the lag isn't linked to anything in particular? i.e. it doesn't just occur when you're just using lots of grenades or flying over hundreds of Darwinians etc.?

I've played bigger and more complex games smoother than this so i don't think it's my PC.

...disregarding the assumption you've made with regards to the complexity of the game, it's running poorly on your computer. It runs fine on others. Assuming it isn't related to the lunar cycles, what other explanation would you provide?

[fdkjnfgknd]

I'll time the intervals if you like, but if i start up the game and wait it does it. I have been keeping an eye on processes and there's nothing that uses excess CPU. I close down known CPU hoggers like firefox and skype. I had the same problem when i tried the demo and that was before i had the phone, but i'll unplug it and see what happens anyway.

*later* I did that and still get a lag. It's pretty much every 7 seconds. The cpu goes from 3% to 80% and it definitely is the game using it up.

*later later* I was looking at my task manager and every 7 seconds or so 'system process' jumps up to the top of the cpu usage. Can i kill it?

[KingAl]

As a general troubleshooting rule of thumb, have you tried just turning down all the detail settings and things like Hardware 3D sound? If it doesn't occur then, try turning up each setting again and seeing whats seems to cause the effect. Some people find turning off pixel effect in particular can make the game run a fair bit faster.

[fdkjnfgknd]

Please read my edit

[KingAl]

Sure, try to kill it and see if it makes any difference - if it's a critical process you can always reboot. How exactly is the process labelled in the task manager? If killing it doesn't work, it may at least suggest a workaround.

[fdkjnfgknd]

You can't kill it - it's a system process. I googled and found this 'It sounds like your hard drive is dying on you. If you have a spare hard drive, try clone it and boot up with the new hard drive.'. Which would make sense. I was only talking about my hdd making funny noises yesterday.

I guess it's a new hard drive then :\

[fdkjnfgknd]

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/wi ... 1030139428

Actually it looks like no one has a clue on what the problem or remedy is. I've closed down all programs and done whatever that forum tells me, but still nothing.