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Thread: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

  1. #1
    dvk901's Avatar Consummatum est
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    Default Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    ....and how to correct some these problems, as well as a guide to being able to play this mod without CTD's.

    It has become apparent to me that in the last year or so, people have started having problems with RTW\BI\ALEX running on newer Operating Systems, in particular Windows8. But Windows7 offers some of its own bugs as well, so I'm going to try and address some of these problems. But first, a very general guide that should apply for all PC's.

    1. Disable anti-virus programs while playing RTW, or at the very least, configure your AV program to ignore the RTW folders.

    2. Do not ever use Autosave or Quicksave in RTW. They are bugged and result in CTD's. Instead, save often, and especially before and after big battles. Just name saves 'save1, save2, save3, etc'...it only takes a few seconds, and it will save you a lot of grief if a save file gets corrupted, because you can go back to a previous save and restore your campaign.

    3. Make sure your PC is clean and dust free, and that all fans are working. One of the most common causes of CTD's is overheating. So a clean PC helps a lot.

    4. RTW was not made to see more than 2GB of memory. However, this can be corrected. I cannot, however, explain how.

    5. Don't max out settings if your PC can't handle it. RS2 uses high definition models for trees, bushes, and all units. It can really tax your PC to try and ramp up settings to a point where you start having issues. RTW doesn't know how to use more modern video cards...all it cares about is processor speed and memory (both video and PC Ram). The faster the better. I would recommend at least a 2GHZ processor (dual or quad), and a GB of video memory.
    RTW doesn't see more than one processor, so you could have 8 of them and it would make no difference.

    6. There is an option in the Launcher to set 'Affinity'...which is PC talk for telling RTW to use only one processor and not allow Windows to 'distribute' parts of it to more than one. It 'can' help some people, but it doesn't always result in better performance. So it's something you should test.

    7. In preferrences.txt you will find a setting that says:

    USE_TRIPLE_BUFFER:FALSE

    Set this setting to 'TRUE'. RTW has a built in capability to do this, and it can add a good 10% to your performance..or more. What it does is allow the Video refresh routines to store three copies of pixels instead of two, resulting in faster refresh...especially on newer and bigger monitors. It does use more memory, so if your PC is memory starved, you may not want to do this.

    8. RTW and all RTW related exe's have what's called 'memory leaks'.....which is a fancy way of sying that the program chews up more memory than should really be using, and loses track of it eventually. The longer you play (as in hours), the more memory RTW will chew up. At some point, it will get unstable and crash. So it's just a good practice to quit after an hour or so, and then resume playing. This clears memory and gives RTW a fresh start.

    9. Windows8 is causing some issues for players due to a suspected incompatibility of RTW with DirectX11. It is apparently 'subtle', but the problem seems to get exponentially worse as campaigns progress. If you are having random or frequent crashes in Windows8, the solution 'appears' to be to extract the DirectX9.0c files from the RTW\BI CD's (do not try to install them!), and then copy them all into the RTW folder. This way, RTW seems to find what it wants first in its own folder. This is just a 'suspicion' right now, and appears to be the answer, but people are testing this, and it has solved their issues. Here is a download link for the files:

    http://www.filehippo.com/download_directx/

    10. There is growing evidence that RTW has issues with paths that are longer than 128 characters, and the result is random CTD's. So make your paths to RTW and RS2 as short as possible.

    11. Never talk about Rome2 in front of RS2.6. Crashes are very likely to occur often as a result. (Just kidding.)
    Last edited by dvk901; March 18, 2014 at 11:49 AM.

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    to give the game more "juice", irrelevant of what system you have, use Razor's "Game Booster" which mainly just closes down irrelevant programs and frees up your processor.

    http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en/gamebooster

    Also, your processors are, by default, set as "Parked" this basically means the are set to perform certain tasks which aren't important if you mostly just game, so if you "unpark" them, this frees up your processors to purely focus on the task at hand.

    http://www.coderbag.com/Programming-...arking-Utility

    This is also a generic "fix" for mostly older games and some nwer ons too wwho have a pesky time with regards to multi core behavior.

    These programs will not guarantee a performance increase, but for me, they have increased my fps, loading times by 10% and drastically reduced ctd's of all my games.

  3. #3

    Icon1 Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    My first campaign game on RS 2.6 with 8.0 and my new pc; Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 cpu @ 3.40GHz 3.89 GHz Ram 16.0 GB 64-bit
    Nvidia Ge Force GTX 660 version 331.65

    was a disaster. ctd almost with every major battle or siege and sometimes doing nothing the game would ctd with a box saying there's a problem with running the game. After the 4th severe crash I sought help here and pms. Got alot of help. Thanks to everybody.

    Now after 34 years of game time, 68 turns, a mini marathon playing RS 2.6 and seeking out the largest battles and sieges to provoke ctds; large battles with multiple armies involved and sieges with same, looking good.

    Not one ctd. Kinda, I mean, I was heavily blitzing the game to get these situations where I remembered having a few CTDs. Blitzing, meaning I was spending almost all my funds on troops and mercs to continue on, but now the bill is coming due: cities starting to rebel and more and more enemies are coming at me. So, experiment over and no ctds in any form and will start a new normal game.

    Take note on 8.0; I was an XP guy forever, so this may not have been a big a problem for me if I'd been more familiar with this os system. For instance, it didn't dawn on me to okay the the game with my virus system. (most important) And another thing I did, I ran a capability check which was by default windows 7, changed it to widows 8.0. So far its good. Also, to keep my browser working right, l had to okay it with my virus scan.

    Alot of applications have to meet with mister 'Virus Scanner' if you want to do business in 8.0 territory.

    In RS2.6 preference I chose 120 man formations, better than large 80. I prefer huge 160 in battles, but I fight a lot of sieges and huge does not seem to fit there, and I believe this may increase chances of a ctd, in my opinion.

    But thinking back, I should had picked huge formations in my blitzing. Would have made a more relevant test, I think.

    I do pick; unlimited men on the battlefield. Also, I used the SEGA version Alex exe.

    All settings on high except grass, medium. No anti-aliasing. Only other picks are smoke/dust and unit shader. I don't use bloom but do use hi res models. Of course, many of these setting are not recommended for lower end PCs.

    I likely did a few extra tweaks to 8.0 I forgot about but nothing big I think.


    Good gaming.
    Last edited by stackero; November 21, 2013 at 07:32 PM. Reason: spelling
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    dvk901's Avatar Consummatum est
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Thanks for the info. It is encouraging to know that RTW\RS2 will still work on Win8.

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    onmy6's Avatar Miles
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    DirectX files that you may need if you can't find them that came with RTW CD. Instructions: extract files it should be called DirectX once extracted, then extract the zips/cab within the folder (use 7zip or WinRAR) there should be 5 zip/cabs to extract, (DO NOT INSTALL DIRECTX USING INSTALLERS) move folder to the RTW folder it should reside between the data folder and the launcher folder! download link: https://mega.co.nz/#!KRpBXBZB!SPnJM0...l8z7YEPf32EJeE

  6. #6

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    empty
    Last edited by Alavaria; February 06, 2014 at 02:53 PM.

  7. #7
    neep's Avatar Tiro
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Quote Originally Posted by dvk901 View Post
    8. RTW and all RTW related exe's have what's called 'memory leaks'.....which is a fancy way of sying that the program chews up more memory than should really be using, and loses track of it eventually. The longer you play (as in hours), the more memory RTW will chew up. At some point, it will get unstable and crash. So it's just a good practice to quit after an hour or so, and then resume playing. This clears memory and gives RTW a fresh start.
    This was the final part in the puzzle for me getting everything to run perfectly.
    For my configuration, I noticed that after every battle upon returning to the campaign map I would be using an extra 300M.

    So, I have my main screen for playing and a secondary screen running a memory/GPU utilization monitor.
    At the start of playing I note what my baseline memory usage is ( eg 6.5G ) and then watch it tick upwards as I play all day.
    When the value approaches the baseline plus 4G, then it's time to stop playing, save, and restart from a fresh invocation.
    Now, no matter how heavy the battles become I can get adequate warning of when I'm getting close to the limit and cleanly save and quit.

    (Also, I noticed that when returning to the campaign map, during the bar loading phase, right before you get back to the campaign map there's a memory spike just a little above the peak value that I experienced during the main battle.
    So, if you're near the upper limit then this would be the perfect place for the game to CTD
    Just don't cut it too close and you'll be fine.
    No more crashes for me. )

  8. #8

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Could you tell me what settings can I get with a i7 3770 at 3,4 (3,8 turbo) Ghz.

    8 GB RAM.

    GTX 650 2 GB.

    I mean in game settings and launcher settings.

    Thanks!

  9. #9

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Quote Originally Posted by IamOdysseus View Post
    Could you tell me what settings can I get with a i7 3770 at 3,4 (3,8 turbo) Ghz.

    8 GB RAM.

    GTX 650 2 GB.

    I mean in game settings and launcher settings.

    Thanks!
    You have a very awesome specs. But as Dvk pointed out it does not matter as RTW only runs on one core. But since your processor is 3.8GHZ almost 4 then that will give you great performance. The ram is great but sadly it will not be using it all. Their is a way around it but unfortunately we cannot explain how to do that.
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  10. #10

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Thanks for the answer. I undestand what you have told me. This is why I purchased a high Ghz processor per core, to play mods like RS2.

    I'll try to explain me better. Which settings from RS2 menu and ingame menu can I maximize with my specs? Because there are some of them that must be on low despite the specs of my computer.

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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    I have an I5 Intel processor in my laptop, with a 710 Nvidia Video card 2GB of ram, and 8gb of ram overall. The processor is 3GHZ. I have unit settings set on 'High', which is best, because it will still use sprites at a distance. Setting to 'Highest' will not use any sprites, and there's really nothing to be gained by that. I set grass to medium....for some reason, grass is very video intensive, so medium is best. I play with units set on 'Large', mostly because this seems to work best with pathfinding...especially in cities and towns, and it still provides a nice 'epic' feel. I turn anti-aliasing off, as RTW does this badly (turn it on in your video settings if you want it), and I set building detail to 'highest'....might as well, otherwise you can get crappy textures, and buildings aren't very intensive because they don't move.

    Also, in preferrences.txt, set this:

    USE_TRIPLE_BUFFER:TRUE

    By default it is set to FALSE. I have found this setting helps a lot in RTW to 'smooth' out battles.

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  12. #12

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    But these settings in the RS2 menu or the ingame ones? for example there is unit quality in RS2 menu options but the default quality is low. Yeah I have set triple buffer as you advised in the first post.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Quote Originally Posted by IamOdysseus View Post
    But these settings in the RS2 menu or the ingame ones? for example there is unit quality in RS2 menu options but the default quality is low. Yeah I have set triple buffer as you advised in the first post.
    RS2 MENU

    Also remember to experiment with the settings both in game menu and RS2 menu.
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    Laetus
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    when i attempt to go into the rs2 preferences in the launcher, i get an error message saying that its unable to open the preferences folder.
    any idea how to fix this?
    my problem is that my fps is really low in this mod, around 30 i would guess, its worst in battles.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Quote Originally Posted by Fiddi View Post
    when i attempt to go into the rs2 preferences in the launcher, i get an error message saying that its unable to open the preferences folder.
    any idea how to fix this?
    my problem is that my fps is really low in this mod, around 30 i would guess, its worst in battles.
    Do you lag a lot in battles???
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Quote Originally Posted by Fiddi View Post
    when i attempt to go into the rs2 preferences in the launcher, i get an error message saying that its unable to open the preferences folder.
    any idea how to fix this?
    my problem is that my fps is really low in this mod, around 30 i would guess, its worst in battles.
    Make sure there IS a preferences folder in the campaign you want to play first. Not all of them have one. If there isn't one, you can't 'edit' the file in it because it doesn't exist. But if all else fails, go into whatever campaign you want to play, start it up (go to the campaign map), then quit. Doing this creates both the folder and the file in the 'Play_(whatever-faction)' folder. Then you can just manually edit it.

    I usually just have a 'preferences' folder that I know works as I wish, and copy it into anything I want to play. Saves a lot of bother.
    Last edited by dvk901; February 17, 2014 at 02:53 PM.

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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Updated first post with new information about long paths (over 128 characters) causing CTD's in RTW\RS2.

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  18. #18

    Icon1 Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    Strange thing happened to my downloaded RS2 games. I had a glitch in my PC 8.1 a few days ago, and decided to use 'Restore' which fixed the glitch. I then tried to launch RS 2.6. A white screen launcher popped up with error saying music missing or some such other when I tried to load again.

    I went into my drive where 3 copies of RS2 reside, two 2.6s (one to practice minor modding) and a 2.5, 4tpy. Checking the files I was astonished to find virtually all modding files were gone, including exc files. Save files and custom battles save files where untouched. I had one other mod, 77BC in its own file and it too had all its modding files wiped out. So beware of using 'Restore'. Strange again because months ago I did a Restore with no effect on modded game files. Also, when I reinstalled everything, Windows kept telling me the games were incompatible and would fix it.

    What Windows did was force RS2 exc to use Windows 7. After that, all RS2 modded games worked fine and the 77BC mod also. I have no idea why the Restore would go through my modding files like a hurricane or why Windows decided to change the properties capability OS to 7 to play the RS2 games. Windows requires capability setting OS XP2 to play 77BC.

    May just be some configuration glitch. For instance, my Windows movie maker has quit working twice for no reason. I fixed it both times, once going into the exc and the last time with a Restore, the one that ran off with all my modding files.

    I may have clicked or unclicked some setting in some Window's setting to cause Restore to do this.
    But anyway, beware of 'Restore'.
    Last edited by stackero; April 07, 2014 at 01:15 PM.
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  19. #19
    dvk901's Avatar Consummatum est
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    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    I don't know what your settings are, but I can 'theorize' why this may have happened. If your RS2 and other RTW games are on the same drive as the OS, then Windows monitors ALL activity and changes on that drive....which would include modded files that Windows apparently sees as 'program' type files and not 'data' files. The restore function is not supposed to mess with changes to 'data' type files, but it sounds like 8.1 has a bug in what it thinks a data file is.

    I use Windows7, but my OS is on a separate drive from all the stuff I 'really' use...like RS2 and other games. Those drives have monitoring turned off.

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  20. #20

    Default Re: Issues with RTW on newer PC's....

    One of the best things to do is install RTW and its submods anywhere else, just not in Program Files or Program Files (x86) folders.

    Windows feature called User Account Control monitors everything which is located/installed in these two folders, and it can interfere with the games/mods which you install.

    It can even increase turn time.
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