Game stutters at the beginning and after load. Driver problem?

from Sins Forums
Whenever I start a game or after I load one, sins will hang anywhere from a second or two to ten or so seconds.  It will do this repeatedly (a couple seconds to a minute between each hang) for several minutes into the game.  In between hangs, it runs just fine (it's on max detail and runs smooth as silk inbetween the hangs).  The hangs usually occur when I'm zooming in on ships or planets, so it seems like it's a problem with the game loading textures, but it also happens if I'm moving around the galaxy view or a gravity well.  I've also noticed the same problem in the main menu.  The problem usually goes away after about five minutes of play, but sometimes it lasts much longer. However, It's never actually resulted in a crash.  The game will always keep going; it just takes it awhile.

When I first installed the game, it ran just fine with no problems.  Then I installed a Geforce 8600 gts with the 169.25 drivers, and it started acting up.  I've heard that the latest nVidia drivers have had problems, so could that be the problem?  Here are my system specs:

Intel Core2 Quad 2.40 GHz
2 gig RAM
Vista 32-bit
GeForce 8600 GTS (169.25 drivers)

I've also installed the Vista KB940105-x86 update.

Thanks for your help.
technical
3,904 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, it's generally caused by background texture loading. You can try using lower res textures, or disabling background loading completely in the user.setting file, though doing that will probably cause a notable increase in the up-front load time.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
disabling background loading completely in the user.setting file, though doing that will probably cause a notable increase in the up-front load time.
End of quote


1. would u pleaze indicate, kryo, which line has to be edited in the file, and what info, there, must be indicated instead of the default one ?

2. what do u precisely mean by « notable increase in the up-front load time » ?

... my « old » GF 6800 and my old 1 GB of RAM seem to handle the « highest » textures well, but if i can do something to have smoother texture loading further on in longer games, i am willing to try your user.setting file editing.

thanxxx

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
IsTextureBackgroundLoadingOn TRUE
make it FALSE

however I doubt it will help in anyway in long games.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
IsTextureBackgroundLoadingOn TRUE make it FALSE
End of quote


OK ... but what positive consequence doing that might have ?

(and i still dont understand what « « notable increase in the up-front load time » means ...)
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
i'm bumping my post up cause i really would like an answer to my reply #4 (linked to r #2)... kryoooooooooooo ...  :) 
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
im having a similar problem


whenever i run SINS and play my FIRST game loading time takes about 2 min (1 min 58 seconds longer then usual!!!!)
now i dont have alot of trouble with it... i just make a 1 on 1 ai and let the game load... then quit an play online with friends and load within 2 seconds


it works for me.... but why it goes so slow at first.... no idea..

al the game graphics on HIGH (not HIGHEST)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+
tad old but should be more then enough to handle the game... so why = it so slow @ start .. :P?
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
It means that the load screen and the initial wait when you start the game (when the movies play) may be considerably longer.

whenever i run SINS and play my FIRST game loading time takes about 2 min (1 min 58 seconds longer then usual!!!!)
now i dont have alot of trouble with it... i just make a 1 on 1 ai and let the game load... then quit an play online with friends and load within 2 seconds
End of quote


Once the textures are loaded the first time, they're kept in memory if possible. So subsequent games in the same session will have greatly reduced loads.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Once the textures are loaded the first time, they're kept in memory if possible. So subsequent games in the same session will have greatly reduced loads.
End of quote


OK ... but, in the context of the OP's situation ... does having the textures loaded up-front reduce texture loading delays during & within one particular game ?

(that is what interests the OP author & me ... im not concerned about « subsequent games in the same session »)