Extremely long loading times

**the_mango55** · April 29, 2011, 04:18 PM

Not sure if there's a section for tech help in MTW anymore, so move this if necessary.

I just reinstalled MTW, and the loading times are extremely long, like every time I load a save, or start a battle, the game sits on the loading screen for 3-5 minutes before the red bar even starts filling up.

**caravel** · May 03, 2011, 05:05 AM

I have the same problem - never found a solution to it... It's why I don't play the game. Can you list your hardware/software? CPU, motherboard, amount of memory, graphics card and OS?

BTW, Shogun (1) does not have this problem - it's MTW specific and only on certain hardware.

**Laserg** · May 03, 2011, 11:24 AM

Off all the CTD's in the world the one in my copy of Shogun TW is the best - battles are ok, and so the loading times, I just can't quit the game without ultimate freeze of my PC. So a game runs smoothly, I'm able to save my progress, all I need to do is just alt+tab and close the program "manually". I wish MTW would work like that.

Originally Posted by the_mango55

I have the same problem - never found a solution to it...

I've heard about one - try to disable video codecs (uninstall, or exclude MTW from them). I haven't done that yet so if someone will please share with results.

**handsome pete** · May 04, 2011, 01:33 AM

I read a thread somewhere else that said this problem and general glitching is a common feature of the gold edition (at least with respect to newer computers).

I've had the same problem (with the gold version) so I bought a second hand copy of the original version of MTW + Viking but it has not arrived yet, so I am unable to say for sure atm if that is the solution.

**caravel** · May 04, 2011, 04:15 AM

Originally Posted by Laserg

Off all the CTD's in the world the one in my copy of Shogun TW is the best - battles are ok, and so the loading times, I just can't quit the game without ultimate freeze of my PC. So a game runs smoothly, I'm able to save my progress, all I need to do is just alt+tab and close the program "manually". I wish MTW would work like that.

Original (unpatched) STW v1.00 does not freeze on exit for me, Original (patched) STW v1.12 and STW/MI 1.02 (Warlord/Gold) does*. MTW/VI does not, but has done in the past under different hardware. AFAIK there is no solution except to alt tab and end task - I've tried many things, even removing the sound that is played on exit to no avail. It also messes up your screen resolution and grouping/order of desktop icons. A hugely annoying problem, but not as bad as the long loading times...

Originally Posted by Laserg

I've heard about one - try to disable video codecs (uninstall, or exclude MTW from them). I haven't done that yet so if someone will please share with results.

I wouldn't imagine that would solve the long loading times as it's got nothing to do with - video codec issue only relate to STW which has the throne room and event movies. Where did you read this?

MTW only has the startup videos which can be disabled via the "skipcredits.txt" method. None of this makes any difference to loading times. I was able to reduce loading times a fraction by restricting RAM, but not by enough. I got the RAM down to 128MB (with Windows XP) and still loading times were just over 2 minutes - down from about 3 or 4 minutes.

Originally Posted by handsome pete

I read a thread somewhere else that said this problem and general glitching is a common feature of the gold edition (at least with respect to newer computers).

Where did you read this?

Originally Posted by handsome pete

I've had the same problem (with the gold version) so I bought a second hand copy of the original version of MTW + Viking but it has not arrived yet, so I am unable to say for sure atm if that is the solution.

I've tested the original MTW v1.0, v1.1 and MTW/VI v2.01, both have the same issue. The gold edition is identical to MTW/VI v2.01 so don't expect any difference.

*One notable difference between STW v1.00 and v1.12 is that the credits sequence that plays when you exit the game was removed. This may have something to do with it - if so the problem was carried over to MTW - which is the same engine.

**the_mango55** · May 04, 2011, 05:21 PM

I can't figure it out either, but I found out it works fine on my crappy 4 year old laptop so I'm just going to stick with that I guess.

But with just a 15 inch screen I'm not a big fan of playing it.

As for my computer:
AMD Phenom II X3 720 - 2.8 Ghz
4 GB ram
Radeon HD 5700
XP Pro SP3

**Laserg** · May 05, 2011, 05:46 AM

Originally Posted by caravel

Quote:
Originally Posted by Laserg

I've heard about one - try to disable video codecs (uninstall, or exclude MTW from them). I haven't done that yet so if someone will please share with results.

I wouldn't imagine that would solve the long loading times as it's got nothing to do with - video codec issue only relate to STW which has the throne room and event movies. Where did you read this?

MTW only has the startup videos which can be disabled via the "skipcredits.txt" method. None of this makes any difference to loading times. I was able to reduce loading times a fraction by restricting RAM, but not by enough. I got the RAM down to 128MB (with Windows XP) and still loading times were just over 2 minutes - down from about 3 or 4 minutes.

Someone posted that laggy loading times are connected with ati radeon memory or something like that, but there was a virus on my PC, messed up lots of files, including dll's and others. Now my loading times last 1 minute instead of 3-5, and game is playable now. Why? I've got no idea. My RAM is 2gb as it was before.
I think pretty everything could actually be a source of this problem.

I forgot: now if I don't move from the main menu (enter options, load a saved game, start a new one) within about 15 sec I get CTD. If I move quickly enough, my game rans normally with 1 minute loading times. So another quite-easy-to-circumvent bug.
What about that?
I have MTW gold edition.

**handsome pete** · May 06, 2011, 02:01 AM

Based on your advice that it is a memory error related to the video card I removed my video card and now it's running like a treat. About 20-30 times faster load times, will have to play for a bit to see if it still CTD randomly.

I've tested the original MTW v1.0, v1.1 and MTW/VI v2.01, both have the same issue. The gold edition is identical to MTW/VI v2.01 so don't expect any difference.

Thanx for the advice, I'll take your word for it.

Edit; The game no longer randomly crashes.

**handsome pete** · May 06, 2011, 10:44 PM

Okay I just played a really long battle two times and both times it CTD. So although it is much better it is not perfect, how do I try reducing my memory usage in Windows?

**handsome pete** · May 07, 2011, 07:54 AM

Reducing memory did not work for me. What has however worked is a) never using the windows key/ alt ctr delete and b) never using quick save. When using quick save it appears to sometimes to create a randomly occurring CTD (crash to desktop error) that remains within any associated concatenation of save files. The solution is to go to an early save file.

So long as I follow these three rules (the first rule being to not use my video card), the game works fine.