Lag Issues

[lil_misfit]

I just got scourge of war gettysburg as a gift but when I play it it is really laggy. So much that I cant even get through the tutorials. I would like some help and fast as this game seems really awesome! Well thanks to who ever responds.
( I have a Windows vista that has alot of games. I uninstalled 2 or 3 to give space for this game. Hope this helps)

[Jim_NSD]

This game is very demanding on hardware. There are a number of options that can be adjusted to improve performance. From the main menu, select the options screen, at the bottom click the button with II on it to go to the 2nd page of options. Try reducing the percent trees down to 50 or lower. In addition the options in the Terrain section will also affect performance, try reducing the draw distances as well.

It is also quite sensitive to system memory, you really need to have at least 4 GB of system memory for this program to run.

If you are running the game on a system with shared video memory, this will also have significant effects on game performance. To check this: Start Run dxdiag.exe this will start a built in program to check hardware. Run it and look under the Display tab to see what you have.

-Jim

[lil_misfit]

Thank you I will see if this works.

[tap11]

I just purchased the game and I am having terrible lag issues. I have an Intel Core i3 cpu 530 @ 2.93 GHz / 6 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 650 Ti card. That is enough to run most games, including Total War on high settings. Could there be something wrong with the download? I have installed the game twice already with no improvement.

[histgamer]

What kind of FPS are you getting? What exactly is laggy for you? Sprit animations? Scrolling?

[tap11]

How do I check FPS? The game pauses every couple of seconds particularly when the fighting starts. Scrolling is not too bad, but right now I feel like I wasted 80 bucks because the game is unplayable. I hope there is some fix, as the game looks great if I could just get it to stop lagging.

Thanks for the help.

I should add that the lag seems to occur every time a canon fires. Additionally, it make no difference what I change my settings to on the options screen. Even if I lower them nothing improves.

[RebBugler]

Paste these lines in your SOWGB.ini file located in the Work folder. This will show your FPS in the upper left corner while in game.

[Debug]
DbgLvl=1

Your rig should handle the game fine, still, there will be some lag on very big battles but not enough to ruin the immersion I wouldn't think. On page 2 of the options set the Max Terrain Draw Distance to Medium, show 75 per cent trees, and don't check the off map stuff...this will help performance a lot and should not hinder your playing experience.

Hope this helps...

[tap11]

Well, I have tried playing the game under a wide variety of settings - from high end to just about as low as possible - and there is no difference. Every 3 to 4 seconds the game freezes for a half second to a second. I did add the line to the work file that you suggested and it runs anywhere from 16 FPS to 23 FPS which might be related to the fact that I keep tinkering with turning options like show off map trees off or back on. Anyhow, after 3-4 seconds the FPS goes to 0 and then back to 16, 20, or 23 (whatever it was running at before).

Could this have something to do with a bad download?

I just tried the full day Antietam scenario and the lag was even worse (every 2 seconds). Additionally, I was only getting about 13 or 14 FPS with high resolution and 20-25 with low res. Even with low res, however, the freezes / lag occurred just as frequently.

[RebBugler]

Since you've downloaded it twice I don't think the download is bad, besides, bad downloads usually just crash the game.

A suggestion at SOW HQ is for you to check your video card settings. Make sure it's set to let the application run it, no custom settings by you.

[tap11]

I only downloaded it once. I tried to reinstall with the same download. I also just put the sprite ratio to 10 and it did not help. How do I check the video card settings?

Thanks for the help.

[RebBugler]

Here's a quote from one of the team members:

"What about the Nvidia panel control settings? How are they set? Performance and quality should be left to the 3d party application. Perhaps he has his own custom settings, he should try leaving the settings to the application."

You should find your Nvidia control panel link on your taskbar.

[tap11]

I downloaded the game a second time and nothing has changed. I had changed the Nvidia settings to correspond with the optimal settings thread on these forums. I did, however, go back and return them all to default and if anything there is now greater lag. By the way, I assume you are referring to the 3-D settings because that is all that the panel seems to have.. I followed the instructions and selected "Let the 3-D program decide."

[RebBugler]

Another idea:

"Also please suggest that he turn off any antivirus with active scanning. Something else on his rig is causing a big loss of CPU cycles.

-Jim"

[tap11]

Well that seems to have worked.

Thanks

[RebBugler]

Great!

To help us troubleshoot folks in the future, do you mind telling us which anti-virus app was causing your lags.

Thanks

[tap11]

I have Webroot, which is always running. It is great for protection, but apparently requires a lot of memory.

Thanks again.