Game takes ridiculously long time to start

**HolyBob** · May 18, 2014, 09:18 PM

Recently, upon initiating the game I have had to wait about fifteen minutes for the game to actually start up. Why does this happen?

**irishron** · May 18, 2014, 09:20 PM

Vanilla? Mod? One of the four Kingdoms campaigns? Steam?

**Gigantus** · May 18, 2014, 11:43 PM

Sounds like Pro Deo et Rege: if so then it's the initial map generating which happens only once.
If you have worked with Geomod on the mod then it's the faulty historic_events file.
Any other M2 mods it's the processing of custom files - which means it could be the processing speed of your computer

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 06:27 AM

No matter what mod. No matter if it's the vanilla or a Kingdoms campaign. It's the Gold Edition of Medieval 2. Every other game works fine (it is a brand new computer) and this problem only started occurring recently.

**irishron** · May 19, 2014, 06:34 AM

When was the last time you ran Windows Update manually and installed all software options?
When was the last time you ran disk cleanup and did a deep optimized defrag?
When was the last time you did a deep antivirus/malware scan?
Gold Edition, disc, Steam, other download?

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by irishron

When was the last time you ran Windows Update manually and installed all software options?
When was the last time you ran disk cleanup and did a deep optimized defrag?
When was the last time you did a deep antivirus/malware scan?
Gold Edition, disc, Steam, other download?

Gold Edition disc.

Manually? About three weeks ago. My computer usually just updates automatically. Or at least it says it will.
I have no idea how to do that or what that entails (if I did, I don't think I would need to ask about this), but I doubt it's necessary. Medieval 2 is the only game that has this problem.
Last week.

**Earl Dibbles Jr** · May 19, 2014, 06:40 AM

Go into the medieval 2 file and delete everything. Uninstall the game via steam as well, then reinstall.

**Gigantus** · May 19, 2014, 06:47 AM

Let me guess: multiple core processor with low individual frequency?

You said 'recently' - does this mean previously you had reasonable start delay (1-2 min)? Could be a recently installed app that runs in the background and has priority on processing.

When I had a machine with a slow core speed I put this thread together, the game booster was particularly helpful.

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by Gigantus

Let me guess: multiple core processor with low individual frequency?

You said 'recently' - does this mean previously you had reasonable start delay (1-2 min)? Could be a recently installed app that runs in the background and has priority on processing.

When I had a machine with a slow core speed I put this thread together, the game booster was particularly helpful.

I don't understand what that means. It's a new computer. This problem never happened even on my crappy older machine. I've never had a start delay before. I'll check out the thread.

**irishron** · May 19, 2014, 06:57 AM

I find Windows Update automatic wanting and do it manually.

Start > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup.
http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html is my favorite. Free version.

What other games and programs do you have installed including EA and emulation software?

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by irishron

I find Windows Update automatic wanting and do it manually.

Start > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup.
http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html is my favorite. Free version.

What other games and programs do you have installed including EA and emulation software?

Yeah, about that. I don't have a start menu button on my desktop screen. I have no idea why. It was there and then, one day, it wasn't. Can I somehow do this from my files menu?

I have mostly Steam games installed. Medieval 2, Victoria 2, and some Atari collection are the only ones that are disc based. I don't have any emulators, nor do I have any torrent programs installed (though I did have the latter quite some time ago, I have since deleted it and anything that came with it).

**irishron** · May 19, 2014, 07:28 AM

Win 8/8.1?

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 08:04 AM

Windows 8.

**irishron** · May 19, 2014, 08:17 AM

Things that slow this game down:
1. The game trying regenerate a map.rwm. Most mods don't iclude it with the download.
2. Fragmented harddrive. After a fresh install of Windows, get it updated, get the motherboard and graphics drivers installed and updated, and a couple of games, 25% fragmentation has been common. One member in Shogun2 forum was comaining about taking 25 minutes to load, finally took six hours to cleanup and defrag his harddrive, his load time dropped to less than three minutes.
3. Game copy protection can play this game and Medieval2 uses SecuROM.
4. Slow cpu and how much is running in the background. One reason for Gig mentioning Game Booster.
5. Heat. laptops/notebooks, and netbooks are known for it.

And I am sure there are some have not run across or even forgotten. I have also read the dxdiags of some of these "new, more powerful computers" in here the last few years and for this game, they were actually better off with the old XP one. Too bad for some things XP is no longer supported by Microsoft.

**HolyBob** · May 19, 2014, 08:34 AM

I don't know how to fix any of these things. It seems like when I start up the game, it will occasionally remain in a window sized screen rather than go into full screen mode.