[Windows 10] Random permanent in-game freezes

[NoxxNostraEst]

Hello!

The game randomly freezes when playing. This has not happened before and randomly started one day. There is no pattern I have discovered or anything similar. It can freeze in the first few seconds or after minutes of gameplay. The freeze does not result in the .exe being non-responsive in the task-manager or anything - it just cuts the sound of the game and freezes completely, but the custom mouse cursor can be moved around. Game is not modded.

Attempted remedies with no effects or improvements:

1. Uninstall game, delete files in Documents and Steam folder, reinstall game, verify integrity of files;
2. Disable DLCs ;
3. Run the game in another compatibility mode (Windows 8);
4. FIddle with settings (lower them, switch between fullscreen and windowed)
5. Update graphic driver (the issue started before the update and persisted afterwards)
6. Disable Steam Overlay

Gameplay notes:

• Played Cocomes - worked just fine, did like 400 years or so.
• Switched to European countries (i.e. Wallachia, Byzantium). The first few runs with Wallachia went well then it... randomly started freezing? Switched to Byzantium and issue pesisted.
• The freeze does not occur at a specific date. One time the game froze while paused and idling; other times it froze when fiddling with game menus (both IG menus and even general game settings); one time it froze when moving troops, one time it froze because I was clicking stuff too fast (?) It really has no pattern. Actually, it froze like two times when simply choosing the country.

Available logs (if need be, I will attach): setup; system; error; error_old_old; code_revisions

EDIT: For some reason it does not let me to attach the DxDiag in any way, shape or form. If u got any tips, please lmk!

 

[grotaclas]

EDIT: For some reason it does not let me to attach the DxDiag in any way

Can you attach it to a new comment now? The error.log and system.log might also hold some information, especially if they are from the time when it was freezing. And if there are subfolders in "Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV/crashes" which coincide with the time of the freeze, you could post the exception.txt from them.

Run the game in another compatibility mode (Windows 8);

Do you mean that you have windows 10/11 and used the windows 8 compatibility mode? Or are you using windows 8 and used a compatibility mode for an older version? A compatibility mode probably does more harm than good, because the current eu4 version was made for current windows versions and not for windows 8 or older.

Have you posted about this issue somewhere else before? There was a post on reddit about freezing issues in eu4 a few days ago and I think somebody on the steam forum posted something similar as well. If these are different people, it might be that they have something in common which is causing the problem(e.g. GPU driver or some kind of external software)

 

[NoxxNostraEst]

Can you attach it to a new comment now? The error.log and system.log might also hold some information, especially if they are from the time when it was freezing. And if there are subfolders in "Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV/crashes" which coincide with the time of the freeze, you could post the exception.txt from them.

Do you mean that you have windows 10/11 and used the windows 8 compatibility mode? Or are you using windows 8 and used a compatibility mode for an older version? A compatibility mode probably does more harm than good, because the current eu4 version was made for current windows versions and not for windows 8 or older.

Have you posted about this issue somewhere else before? There was a post on reddit about freezing issues in eu4 a few days ago and I think somebody on the steam forum posted something similar as well. If these are different people, it might be that they have something in common which is causing the problem(e.g. GPU driver or some kind of external software)

Attached additional stuff. Posting DxDiag via Jumpshare as it still doesn't wanna be attached: jumpshare[.]com/s/6e0aQrM6DIKCEWZDrF21 (Please remove the brackets. I was not allowed to post a link directly).

Noteworthy fact: crash folder is empty. I believe this is somehow not classified as a crash, for some reason? Only one or two times it actually crashed and sadly I didn't save those logs before reinstalling completely.

Sorry for the ambiguity. I am using Windows 10 and attempted to run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 8, but I reversed this as it didn't work. A desperate attempt really, without any basis.

I did not post anything else regarding this. I've done my best to search for a solution for the past two days, however, to no avail.

Another thing. I've tried playing Itza and it was pretty fine (?) At least better. It didn't freeze for a few minutes then I quit. Then I switched to Byzantium again, I didn't unpause, didn't even click on anything, and it froze after like a minute maximum.

It wouldn't be surprising if this was related to the Iris Xe driver, as I already had to report two game-breaking bugs caused by its driver (related to other games, non-Paradox), which Intel had to fix directly. However, I haven't heard of others experiencing this, especially while running the Iris Xe.

NOTE: system log says window 8, I am aware. It was probably generated when running the compatibility mode and not update since.

 

[AndrewT]

IF dxdiag.txt fails to attach here, rename it to dxdiag.log , or zip it up.

NOTE: system log says window 8, I am aware. It was probably generated when running the compatibility mode and not update since.

Actually that should update every time you run the game. Do check 100% that NO compatibility mode is selected for eu4.exe . While you are there, tick the "Disable fullScreen optimisations" box too.

 

[grotaclas]

Your error.log says:

[main.cpp:1345]: Failed to backup error log

This indicates some kind of problem with writing to the Documents folder. Is there maybe an antivirus or ransomware protection software which is blocking eu4? Or is the Documents folder on OneDrive or some other cloud storage which is not syncing correctly.

[dlc.cpp:1489]: Could not find item in store backend.

That's unusual as well. Are you starting the game through steam? Starting eu4.exe directly causes issues with verifying DLC ownership

 

[NoxxNostraEst]

Actually that should update every time you run the game. Do check 100% that NO compatibility mode is selected for eu4.exe . While you are there, tick the "Disable fullScreen optimisations" box too.

Confirming after checking again. 100% sure the compatibility mode is disabled. Also checked the given box now. Same result.

I deleted all files and reinstalled the game to be certain everything log-related updates properly (it does indeed update properly whenever I run the game). Funny thing is, the newly-generated system.log still says Windows 8 lol. I even checked paradox launcher in Appdata, just to make sure. Same thing, there is no compatibility mode enabled.

Also thanks for the DxDiag fix! Attached!

This indicates some kind of problem with writing to the Documents folder. Is there maybe an antivirus or ransomware protection software which is blocking eu4? Or is the Documents folder on OneDrive or some other cloud storage which is not syncing correctly.

Running Malwarebytes with real-time protection atm. Just added: eu4.exe, dowser.exe (Steam folder) + paradox launcher.exe, bootstrapper (Appdata) as exceptions. Same result, still freezes.

Onedrive is running but it is not full and does not give any errors. Like I said, I could also do 400 years playing Cocomes with no issues - not a single freeze. I'm not sure if this is not related to European part of the map in some way.

That's unusual as well. Are you starting the game through steam? Starting eu4.exe directly causes issues with verifying DLC ownership

I have indeed tried to run the game via the eu4.exe after fiddling with the compatibility mode (also tried running it as admin but then it wouldn't let me go past the paradox launcher, so I reversed that too). That might have been the cause. My subscription expired recently anyways and I didn't renew it for now due to freezes. As such, any fix I attempt from now on won't involve the DLCs. So the error log no longer flags missing DLCs but now says something else - see attached updated.

Attaching any remaining UPDATED logs. The crash folder is still empty.

 

[grotaclas]

So the error log no longer flags missing DLCs but now says something else - see attached updated.

The entries in your new error.log (and setup_error.log) are normal and harmless.

I'm not sure if this is not related to European part of the map in some way.

You could try to disable city sprawl in the video settings. This has caused freezes when looking at Australia and America for some users with AMD GPUs. Maybe your intel driver has problems with Europe instead

 

[NoxxNostraEst]

That was way simpler than I expected, lol. It has stopped freezing since for a few good minutes of gameplay. Will do further testing and return if any other freezes arise. Thank you kindly! Will inform Intel regarding freezes with City Sprawl on

 

[NoxxNostraEst]

Well, nevermind. It does in fact keep freezing. Unless you have any other tips, I'll go to Intel since it's probably driver-related.

 

[grotaclas]

Does Intel have some kind of software which tries to "optimize" the performance of games or allows you to set options for individual programs? Then you could try to change the options for eu4 to see if that helps