Locks up every 3 seconds (even in main menu) [Linux]

[lucash]

Since the Archimedes update the game locks up every 3 seconds for about a second then runs fine again for another 3 seconds, then locks up again and so on. You can even see it in the main menu (the wavy effect in the menu pauses). It does not go away even when in the game.

I've tried a few things, such as reducing settings, turning off Vsync and different window settings. The only fix I've found is to revert to Livey.

This is on (Arch) Linux with an AMD 5700XT using open drivers. I have attached my Steam system report.

EDIT: l'm not sure if this is helpful, but I'm also getting a bunch of GLSL errors

 

[AndrewT]

From those errors it seems clearly like a video driver or card problem, but the actual errors don't mean anything to me. I tried googling them but they were over my head.

If you revert to 1.3.2 in the Steam Betas tab for the game does it then work again?

Do our other games all work okay?

You might seek help in the Mesa and Arch Linux support areas too ... good luck with that!

 

[lucash]

1.3.2 works fine, it only started happening with the Archimedes update. I've also tried turning off DLCs to see if any of those were the cause. The only thing that resolves the issue is rolling back to Livey.

I've not had any issues with any other PDS titles, this in fact the very first time I've ever encountered a problem.

I get the shader errors in Livey as well, so that may be a red herring.

 

[AndrewT]

This game has a later version of Clausewitz, and also uses the new framework Jomini so it is apparently more demanding of video than the older games. As we've seen on Macs for instance.

But you're saying you get these under 1.3.2 also?

[02:08:20][gfx_gl4_master_context.cpp:358]: Failed creating shader state
[02:08:20][pdxassetutil.cpp:502]: Failed to create material with shader tree_alpha_to_coverage (in gfx/FX/tree.shader) for mesh [tree_india_05|LOD_3|pCube18|pCubeShape18] in gfx/models/mapitems/trees/tree_india/tree_india_05.mesh
[02:08:20][pdxmeshtype.cpp:214]: gfx/models/mapitems/trees/tree_india/tree_india_05.mesh has fewer LOD meshes than expected!
[02:08:20][pdxmeshtype.cpp:368]: Pdx mesh type with no meshes, joints or locators: gfx/models/mapitems/trees/tree_india/tree_india_05.mesh.
[02:08:20][gfx_gl4_shaderstate.cpp:115]: Failed to link GLSL Program with the following errors:
error: Too many vertex uniform blocks (16/15)

I see Mesa 20.0.5 is due out in a few days, so maybe try that.

 

[lucash]

Yeah I found I was getting the GLSL errors in Livy as well, but it runs perfectly despite those errors. I didn't notice any extra errors in 1.4 (other than the performance issue I'm experiencing). The errors are also only for assets like trees and rocks, no other shader problems are reported. I doubt it's a hardware performance issue (Ryzen 5 1600X, Radeon 5700XT, 32GB RAM, SSD).

I pushed through and played the game for a bit, it looks like it's dropping frames rather than actually locking up. If you pan across the map, it will freeze then redraw at the new location (depending on how far you panned). The same goes for zooming in and out. Even when paused.

I see Mesa 20.0.5 is due out in a few days, so maybe try that.

I too am suspecting it might be a driver issue. I'll try it on the pro drivers, and wait for a Mesa update. If all else fails, I'll test on a Ubuntu image to see if the problem persists on an actually supported platform.

 

[lucash]

Well the good news is I have a workaround. I can get it working in Proton. The launcher installer crashes, but I can manually start it with

STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=~/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/859580 ~/Steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ 5.0/proton run ~/Steam/steamapps/common/ImperatorRome/binaries/imperator.exe

 

[AndrewT]

Goodness that's an elaborate command line ... well done on finding that!

 

[Kliwarrior]

Those GLSL errors

Spoiler: code

[02:08:20][gfx_gl4_master_context.cpp:358]: Failed creating shader state
[02:08:20][pdxassetutil.cpp:502]: Failed to create material with shader tree_alpha_to_coverage (in gfx/FX/tree.shader) for mesh [tree_oak_2_variation_2|LOD_0|tree_oak_3|pCylinder1|pCylinderSha] in gfx/models/mapitems/trees/tree_oak_2/tree_oak_2_variation_2.mesh

are the same that brings to the "no trees" bug (at least with nVidia drivers).
You may want to see if the hotfix for that bug (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...s-and-map-objects-disappeared-in-1-3.1302610/ ) helps here.

 

[lucash]

Just went back to the Linux version to see if the mod helps. It doesn't.

Tried to get my card working in a backup Ubuntu machine, which turned into a colossal pain in the arse. The 5700XT works on 20.04 (kernel, firmware and mesa are all recent enough), but I can't even get GRUB to start with the card attached. I might try again later when the version is officially released.

 

[lucash]

I just ran gallium hud over the top, you can see the almost clockwork like drops in FPS, what's not obvious in that screen shot is the GPU load also jumps sometimes up to 40% load at the same time. The HUD also locks up along with the game.

 

[lucash]

I tried using Mesa 21.0 from the mesa-git repository, the problem also exists there.

 

[lucash]

Persists in 1.4.2

 

[lucash]

The good news is it's not a Mesa bug. The problem occurs with the AMD pro libGL drivers as well.

 

[AndrewT]

I see. From what you say in post #10 this is a whole-of-video-system hiccup every 3 seconds, it's not just the game.

Hard to imagine how the game is causing that on your system here! Obviously it is not happening to all Linux users ... do you have any other Linux boxes set up to test this on?

 

[lucash]

The fact that this is the only game with this problem and it only happens in 1.4.x makes it hard to imagine it's anything but the game. But I'll keep plugging away, testing as much as I can. At this stage, I'm fairly certain it's not OpenGL on account of it happening with the AMD Pro drivers as well. I have a spare box that runs Ubuntu, but the 5700XT isn't fully supported on that yet so I'm waiting for 20.04 to drop before I test my card on that. Unfortunately I don't have a spare AMD card so I can't establish if it's unique to my card.

Naturally I can't expect too much support (unsupported OS, running a card that isn't supported by the supported OS), and I'm able to play using Proton, so I at least have a workaround. I'll keep posting what info I can find in the hopes it ends up proving useful to you guys.

 

[lucash]

I managed to get the card working on my backup system. The problem does not occur on Ubuntu 20.04 and the 5700XT. I've dumped the package versions for firmware, drm, xorg drivers, mesa and llvm to see what's different and if I can replicate versions on my main computer. One step closer.

 

[lucash]

I tried playing the game from a fresh user account and it worked fine. There's something wrong in my user profile. I think we'll leave it there.

100% me, thanks for your help.