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WHAT THE HELL?

Private
Feb 1, 2022
14
0
Description
MASSIVE STUTTERING ONLY WHEN TIME IS RUNNING, ONLY IN GREEN PLANET DLC


Windows


Steam

What is your game version?
1010784

What DLC do you have installed?
Green Planet

Please explain your issue is in as much detail as possible.
So I started off playing the main game, was having great fun and took over almost the whole map in my game.
Then I downloaded the Green Planet DLC and started a new game and was loving it until about SOL48, when the game began to stutter, or freeze the screen every 2 to 5 seconds, but only when the play button is turned on, so only when time is flowing does this happen. I can scroll around the map when its in pause mode with no problem, but the stuttering once i hit play makes it unplayable now. I am not using any mods, I only have the main game and the Green Planet DLC.

I tried updating my drivers, clearing all temp files, rebooting, even lowering the graphics quality to bare bones and it had no effect.

The one odd thing is that my saved game from before that does NOT include Green Planet DLC still plays fine at full speed and that saved game had much more progress and stuff moving all over the place than this current stuttering Green Planet DLC save.

Can you replicate the issue?
I haven't tried to sit down and play another game and put in so many hours, no.


File(s) attached
 

Attachments

  • New Terraforming Mission.savegame.sav
    33,2 MB · Views: 0
Upvote 0
  • MINIMUM:
    • Processor: 4th Generation Intel i3 CPU or equivalent
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: HD 4600/Geforce 620/Radeon 6450 or equivalent GPUs with 1 GB of video RAM
  • RECOMMENDED:
    • Processor: 5th Generation Intel i5 CPU or equivalent
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Geforce 750 Ti or equivalent with 4GB of video RAM
So certainly your memory and GPU are more than sufficient. CPU is a bit harder to judge but it seems equivalent to the minimum requirement at least.

Run up Task manager-performance, then start the game in windowed mode so you can see TM. When this problem happens, do you see anything maxing out - CPU, GPU, anything else?
Ok so i opened task manager on my other monitor, set to the performance tab, and ran the game. The CPU and GPU were not maxing out at all during the game currently as I have it saved, with all the slowdown. Both were running between 79 and 81 percent.
Then i tried what you had mentioned, and deleted all the shuttle hubs. First though, I just deactivated all with Ctrl click on the one, and there was an instant free up of speed, (i was in 5x speed play mode) with a few stutters here and there, but the CPU alone was totally maxed out at that point and for about 30 seconds after. After finishing up deleting all the shuttle hubs, it all settled down and seemed to be running at the right speed.
Then, I built 1 shuttle hub, and BOOM. Staggered slowdown. As soon as the hub was completed being built the slowdown happened and the cpu maxed out for a bit before going back to about 80%. GPU never maxed out, bounced around 78 and 84 percent. The stuttering and slowdown remained even though the CPU calmed down. Deleted the hub again, and its back to full speed, so something weird is happening with the shuttle hubs.
 
Definitely!

If you start a new test game does this happen there too, or is it confined to this one colony?
 
When I load the save, the logs don't show the persist errors but a lot of these:
Code:
                         time 0:04:12:515
[LUA ERROR] HGE::`anonymous-namespace'::l_GetSpotBeginIndex:
Mars/Lua/Buildings/ShuttleHub.lua(1414): method ShuttleLeadIn
Mars/Lua/Buildings/ShuttleHub.lua(1270):  <>
[C](-1): global sprocall
D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Surviving Mars\CommonLua\Classes\CommandObject.lua(118):  <>
        --- end of stack

And the ShuttleHub building is not available in the Infrastructure menu. Not sure if that helps Choggi in troubleshooting...

And OP's log also show POPS error messages, and a final
Code:
[POPS]Steam autologin failed: not-authorized

Can you try this -
  • rename the "Surviving Mars" folder in this path to "Surviving Mars Backup"
    • Code:
      C:\Users\mkoce\AppData\Roaming\Surviving Mars
  • Launch the game and Quit
  • Copy+paste your save from the Backup to the freshly created "Surviving Mars" folder (under the long string of numbers)
  • Do you still see the POPS errors in the log, after loading the Save?
If yes, may need to log out of Steam client, Exit it and then relaunch and login again.

And yes, I concur on testing with a new game too. You could try in Creative mode and with a Sponsor/Commander that gives the ShuttleHub as a perk and test with that right away...

If issue still persists, can also add the Clear Steam Download cache in the next troubleshooting attempt - https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6AD7-820D-8BE5-E51F
 
Definitely!

If you start a new test game does this happen there too, or is it confined to this one colony?
I know that it definitely happens in every game i start, but not as soon as the shuttle hubs are installed. It seems like it starts to happen later as the colony has grown. Im currently in a new game, on sol 50 with only 2 domes but all the shuttle upgrades and 12 shuttles per bay, with 4 bays on 2 domes that have no colonists yet. Everything runs like a top, no problems yet. So maybe its a combination of so much going on AND something to do with the shuttles? Im still playing ahead to see when it starts acting up. Im wondering if its at X number of domes, colonists or just number of shuttles, drones or rovers.
 
So my new test game got to sol 90 and population over 1k with a dozen domes and its JUST STARTING TO STUTTER, and slowdown.
All my shuttle hubs have been upgraded but the terraforming has barely started. Maybe its to do with a shuttle threshold?
*This time around I waited a long time to bring actual colonists and i made sure to have every dome with fully upgraded shuttle bays, as opposed to previously building out domes and adding the bays piecemeal with the upgrades later.
 

Attachments

  • TEST MISSION - SLOWDOWN.savegame.sav
    34,5 MB · Views: 0
There have been no patches to this game for nearly 2 years, so I'm afraid any problems that existed back then will still exist now.

That said, as you can see here we have not got other reports like yours, so even if there were any dev activity it seems likely they would not be able to reproduce your problem and so get it fixed. That is, it appears to be confined to your setup only for unknown reasons! On the other hand you seem to get it reliably in every colony, AND it is very specific to the drone hubs, which in other circumstances (ie widespread reports) would indicate a game bug.

Do you have access to any other machine to start and play a new colony on, to see if the issue appears there too?
 
There have been no patches to this game for nearly 2 years, so I'm afraid any problems that existed back then will still exist now.

That said, as you can see here we have not got other reports like yours, so even if there were any dev activity it seems likely they would not be able to reproduce your problem and so get it fixed. That is, it appears to be confined to your setup only for unknown reasons! On the other hand you seem to get it reliably in every colony, AND it is very specific to the drone hubs, which in other circumstances (ie widespread reports) would indicate a game bug.

Do you have access to any other machine to start and play a new colony on, to see if the issue appears there too?
Hi Andrew, thanks for your analysis. Thats so weird. No I dont have access to another machine i could install it on.
Do you think maybe a complete re-install is my only next option? Im so bummed bc i really liked this game.
 
Do you think maybe a complete re-install is my only next option?
Of the game, you mean? May as well - can't hurt.might help:

- move any valued save games elsewhere; they are under
C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Roaming\Surviving Mars\{large number}\
- "uninstall" in Steam-Surviving Mars
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Surviving Mars AND C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming\Surviving Mars\ folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add MarsSteam.exe to the exceptions list/whitelist of your antivirus app
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular you need to make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam SM or AppData SM locations, before installing again.