I actually noticed this during beta 4, but it was the first time I noticed buildings, on my new laptop, so I thought they just needed some optimizing, which would be done for the release.
I get a constant max framerate (limited to 90 in my case, for example) over all the map, on a bare ground, units for example are ok. But as soon as a small 3D object enters the field, it decreases. A tree in the corner? 45 fps. A city (not a big one, just the first settlement) visible? 15 fps.
I tried to change the various settings, deactivated soft lighting, AA, shadows, resolution, it's still doing the same. It works good on the cloth map, without a problem, though, as there are no such elements.
Now I would understand such thing on my older laptop, but I'm surprised to see this on the new one. Specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz (8 CPUs), ~1.6GHzMemory: 8192MB RAMVideo Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
So I'm guessing there is somehow a problem with drivers (though latest ones from ATI), or at least some incompatibility somewhere. Because the objects are nice, the cell shading effect too, but it's hardly something to bring this computer to its knees.
ps: I understand that a game like this doesn't need to run at 90fps. But 15-20 is actually unpleasant on the long term.
Edit: To make a complete (more or less) analysis, I tried at a high and low configuration, similar effects:
LOW Settings:
- Video Configuration
- Over a city: 20 fps
- Without objects: 138 fps
HIGH Settings:
- Over a city: 18 fps
- Without objects: 80 fps
So it doesn't seem to be related to the video settings. I also tried windowed, same.
It is really related to these 3D objects, as shown by these two other screenshots:
- Full zoom, empty ground: 99 fps
- Same place, just a bit higher to have one tree in the view: 29 fps
So far, the only thing which seems to improve performance is to force the game to run only on one core (physical one, so two virtual cores on Core i3/5/7), as suggested by thebigJ_A in this answer.
It should be the other way around, clearly, so maybe it's giving a hint on where the problem could be. Note that this doesn't solve the performance problem, there is still a big decrease on framerate when passing on cities, but less than when the game is authorized to run on all cores. I noticed however that doing this since the 1.05 version makes the sound choppy, probably because it was expecting to run on a different core to begin with.
AA has no impact on my performance at all. I have tried all different levels of detail but the problem persists. Over the course of 30min I went from 200ish fps when I first started to a low of 14 while looking at a town.
Seems like my video problems start if I reload a game, unless I restart the program.
I have this same problem as well, I have tried numerous resolutions and many different set ups (graphic settings). I still get low fps above cities around 10-20.
Windows Vista 32bit
4gbs ram
nvidia 250GTS
quad core processor as well
For that matter, changing any of the settings didn't have an appreciable impact on my framerates.
Same here. I have a Quad 3.2 AMD processor 940, 4870 AMD graphics card. 4 gigs of ram. Win 7 64 bit.
Putting it to low settings didn't do anything to change my framerate.
I'd like to get on the bandwagon and also report choppy/laggy performance on the 3D map. As with everyone else, changing video settings has no effect but the cloth map runs smooth so I mostly play from that perspective.
Sys. specs:
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.40GHz (2 CPUs)Memory: 3072MB RAMPage File: 936MB used, 4020MB available DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
GPU:
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Chip type: GeForce 9800 GTDAC type: Integrated RAMDAC Display Memory: 512.0 MBCurrent Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)Driver Version: 6.14.0011.9062 (English)
Debug err.:
Debug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 15) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 16) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 14) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 14) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 13) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 10) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 6) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 7) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: CDXSASManager ERROR: DXSAS Script Command (Type 11) leaked. 1 RefsDebug Message: IDirect3D9 object not cleared; 2368 ref counts still remaining.
This is just a small example, the list of these and similar errors is a mile long.
I have now been forced to play in cloth map mode, as it is the only way to get acceptable frames, though at times, the cloth map mode can get sluggish too. Also, in tactical battle I usually get about 80fps, but a bit ago one of my battles had me down to 16fps, with nothing going on special effects wise.
Same issues for me
Core i7 Q720
Mobility Radeon HD 4870
4GB Ram
Tweaking settings doesn't change anything.
Tactical combat has no issues.
Cloth map has no issues.
I have a radeon 5850 and I get really choppy frames once the cities get built up. I can run Crysis on High settings great. This is the first game since I upgraded that I have performance issues. I'm just baffled at this point.
i7 Q720, 4GB RAM, Ati 5730 1GB
Windows 7x64
Video Driver: Catalyst™ Version 10.4
Simular hardware to all of the above. I get near slide show FPS in all settings. I've tried extreme combiniations. No difference game is always a terrible slideshow.
Current Setting is:
I know these are pretty random settins, but that's because I've been fighting with them trying to find which random thing is killing it.
I have more variables to figure as I got a new laptop this weekend and thus wasn't able to download Beta 4 on to it. Beta 4 ran great on my old laptop with a much much weaker set up (Core2 2.13, Ati 3650). However that system ran Beta 4 with everything high and no AA really well. I think it must be something that changed since Beta 4.
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5ghz
Nvidia 9800GTX+
I'm getting maybe 2-8 FPS on the world map right now, owning 8 cities. Resolution = 1920x1080, No anti-aliasing, standard foliage, low shadows, depth of field disabled.
Hey guys. I had this same problem, but seem to have fixed it. Try this, If you have a multi-core processor, switch the game's affinity to just one of your processors. To do this, hit Ctr-Alt-Del while the game is running, then right click "Elemental" under Processes. Down the bottom of the list, see "Set Affinity". Just uncheck one. I hope this works for you like it did for me!
Thanks. Will try it as soon as the patch goes live.
This has definitely helped with performance. I recommend others to try the same!
If / when Elemental runs properly on multiple cores, then the performance should increase even further.
Nice find, doing so increases indeed the performance. I'm not sure then if it's supposed to be the full performance to expect or not, but at least you pointed the good direction. I hope that this will help devs to find what is going wrong.
Though that doesn't explain why it can display plenty of trees during a tactical battle on full framerate, and a single tree on the regular map slows it down that much. It seems like there is a performance difference between the "overgrown" and the other trees and buildings.
Chalk another one up to the same problem...tired on 2 different rigs...both designed for high end gaming (Both run Crysis at a solid 20-30fps no problem on Ultra)....but after 2-3 minutes the game slows right down, bar when on the cloth map and tactical battle screen.
Options haven't changed much...I'm running it windowed now with no AA and it's still not good....set it to run only on cloth and it works fine (minus frequent CTD's)...
Loving the game, though it's getting a little frustrating haha
EDIT: Tried changing the core affinity....did nothing except max out the core left in charge of the game no performance increase. I'm monitoring the performance load on my memory and cpu, cpu hovers at 40% and memory around 50-58%
Frogboy said that tomorrow's day 0 release should have major performance improvements, so hopefully we'll see that...
I got an update via impulse that improved performance for about 2 minutes....and that's about all
EDIT: Come to think of it...I had two units of 8 drath warriors before the patch....and only one when I loaded after it lol.
Yep, that definitely helped a lot.
Great find.
Still far from perfect, performance-wise
Changed core affinity, no significant improvement.
No that's not the day 0 version. I did see a small increase in performance but still the game begins to chug when viewing cities as soon as it gets reasonably big...
That affinity thing didn't work for me either, nor did the patch released last night (the interim patch I assume?) I'd say it's definitely the cities that are causing the problems for me. When starting a new game my fps is comfortably around 30, but immediately when I build a city and a few buildings there, it drops to 10 when I'm viewing the city. When I move the view somewhere less populated, it goes back to 30. Later in game it's now around 3-5 fps over big cities, and 10-15 elsewhere Here's hoping that the 0-day patch helps!
I'm also getting poor performance with the game. Currently running default video/graphics settings.
E6600XFX Radeon HD4890 w/ 10.7 driversIntel D975XBX2 mobo4GB DDR2X-Fi ExtremeMusic soundcardWindows XP Pro 32-bit w/ latest directX
Have similar issues. Day 0 patch seemed to have helped marginally. Changing affinity does not help for me.
Win7 64 here
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