14 replies to this topic

[Blow]

I'm running a slightly customized BWP-Recommended install and a short while after entering SW Baldur's Gate and doing stuff(couldn't find the exact trigger), the save starts to stutter consistently, roughly once per second of gameplay. Afterwards it keeps stuttering stays no matter the area and while it doesn't make the game unplayable, though it might if it gets worse with time, it does make it far less enjoyable.

I have a savegame just before entering the area that I used to doublecheck and I have managed to trigger the stuttering consistently, even by just MoveToAreaing to the interiors of the district.

I do not have any bags of holding, none of my stacks are over 150, removing all party members didn't seem to fix it, everything seems to be BIFfed and ambient sounds are off, so I can only assume that it is a script issue. Assuming it is, is there any way to dump the scripts running on a savefile to a textfile in order to compare, or is there an easier way of finding out exactly what's causing it/something else behind it?

Attached Files

•  Weidu.log   74.17K   168 downloads

Edited by Blow, 04 September 2010 - 01:21 PM.

[dabus]

Read the pinned FAQ from Jarno. LSTest is what you are looking for.

[Blow]

Read the pinned FAQ from Jarno. LSTest is what you are looking for.

Is installing a new weidu mod ontop of a BWP install safe, and uninstalling it possible at all?

e: no matter, backing up the whole 24gigs right now

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 03:08 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Is installing a new weidu mod ontop of a BWP install safe, and uninstalling it possible at all?

Well, all the other mods are WeiDU.exe mods just in a custom order... so yes ! The .bat just runs the files and a few other commands, it does nothing special to the install.
And like said in the thread, you would need to uninstall the mod to continue the game(if you use only one), but that's possible just like all the other WeiDU.exe mods, except the once the WeiDU.exe cannot because they weren't made to be uninstalled(read the "Why Biffing is dangerous ?"(answer #10)).

e: no matter, backing up the whole 24gigs right now

Read the answer #8 too, so you can make both games run ...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 05 September 2010 - 04:45 AM.

[Blow]

Well, installed the mod and got this upon loading the game and nothing else afterwards/coinciding with the stuttering. Guessing that means that it's something else?

e: no matter, backing up the whole 24gigs right now

Read the answer #8 too, so you can make both games run ...

Thanks, not quite sure how I didn't noice that

e:or should I run around with my non-stuttering save and try to trigger the stuttering again?not quite sure what I should do now.

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 05:19 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

e:or should I run around with my non-stuttering save and try to trigger the stuttering again?not quite sure what I should do now.

Try and find out if the non-stuttering save has the same action running... the "Running block 4 of WDRUNSGT.BCS" . And change-log log that file( wdrunsgt.bcs ), the FAQs has answer to how to make that, which is why it's a pinned topic, and in my signature...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 05 September 2010 - 05:27 AM.

[Blow]

e:or should I run around with my non-stuttering save and try to trigger the stuttering again?not quite sure what I should do now.

Try and find out if the non-stuttering save has the same action running... the "Running block 4 of WDRUNSGT.BCS" . And change-log log that file( wdrunsgt.bcs ), the FAQs has answer to how to make that, which is why it's a pinned topic, and in my signature...

Doesn't appear on the pre-stuttering save and the change-log doesn't seem to have worked properly.

[WeiDU.exe] WeiDU version 21900
[WeiDU.exe] Using scripting style "BG2"

FATAL ERROR: Sys_error("mur'neth/backup/0/MAPPINGS.0: No such file or directory")

Does BWP-Cleanup remove the backup folders, or did the mur'neth installation just not worth as it should?The NPC itself didn't have any issues.

Is it possible to bypass the error somehow(eg copying the backup of a mod just before it in the load order), or would that invalidate the results completely?

e:if BWP-cleanup is to blame, is there any way of extracting a mod/component install list for BWP if I plan to reinstall, or would I have to go through it mod by mod just to ensure it doesn't crash on loading?

e2:all the other mods still have backup folders. I suppose the pre-edit question still matters.

e3:dumped the indinpc backup in the mur'neth folder, still doesn't work

[WeiDU.exe] WeiDU version 21900
[WeiDU.exe] Using scripting style "BG2"

FATAL ERROR: Sys_error("SETUP-BBBKBG.TP2: No such file or directory")

there is no bbbkbg.tp2, just a folder by the name of bbbkbg with the backup in it. that's not right, is it?

e4:i still have the zip file, should i extract it from the zip file?extracting the tp2 from the zipfile!
as i did all the other bbb .tp2 files;extracted a nearby in install order backup folder to Naeh'taniel,bwl contest,nsc portraits under the assumption that it can't be the culprit;

this is sort of dumb, i set bwp-cleanup not to delete the backups, if that's why they are gone. and even if i did, why are 80% of them still there?

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 06:17 AM.

[Blow]

Created over 20 backup subfolders total, 19 of which for the NSCPortrait mod and 3 for the earlier listed mods, which shouldn't modify this script. that means that this changelog might be correct in spite of everything I did.

[WeiDU.exe] WeiDU version 21900
[WeiDU.exe] Using scripting style "BG2"
override/WDRUNSGT.BCS
override/WDRUNSGT.BCS



Mods affecting WDRUNSGT.BCS:
00000: /* from game biffs */ ~SETUP-GMINION.TP2~ 0 0 // gMinion v1.8: v2 BGT-Expansion_v2
00001: /* from game biffs */ ~LSTEST/SETUP-LSTEST.TP2~ 0 0 // Test general causes of slowdown from the game scripts

Assuming that gMinions is somehow behind it, what do I do now? Grab the bcs from the backup folder of Gminions earlier listed subcomponent?

e:there is no wdrunsgt in the subfolder. welp, i'm done. What about just erasing it in NearInfinity and saving over it?Is there any way to stop it through shadowkeeper?

e2:can it be saved over?
e3:i overwrote it with blank space,keeping a backup handy, and all that did was stop the messages from coming up, so obviously the issue is what's calling it up, not the script itself. how do i find that out?
e4:520 hits of stuff referencing it . should i post the results.txt?

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 06:43 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

e3:i overwrote it with blank space,keeping a backup handy, and all that did was stop the messages from coming up, so obviously the issue is what's calling it up, not the script itself. how do i find that out?
e4:520 hits of stuff referencing it . should i post the results.txt?

From here:

The AI applies only to PARTY monsters and does not increase the intelligence of "wild" or enemy creatures.

So your "summons" do it. Yes, they are still active even when they are not in the current area area. The only way to avoid such a thing is to kill each one of them...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 05 September 2010 - 07:34 AM.

[Blow]

e3:i overwrote it with blank space,keeping a backup handy, and all that did was stop the messages from coming up, so obviously the issue is what's calling it up, not the script itself. how do i find that out?
e4:520 hits of stuff referencing it . should i post the results.txt?

From here:

The AI applies only to PARTY monsters and does not increase the intelligence of "wild" or enemy creatures.

So your "summons" do it. Yes, they are still active even when they are not in the current area area. The only way to avoid such a thing is to kill each one of them...

I haven't summoned any summons in quite a few attempts and, according to NearInfinity, NPCs such as Commoners use the script. I'm just not quite sure that's it or, at least, all of it.

Even so, the amount of summoned creatures left in the world couldn't be over ten or so. I never did manage to find a Wand of Summoning or bother learning any summoning spells other than a single raise dead.

e:and if that was it, why would that specific area sort of trigger it?or that group of areas, anyway

e2:and if i was completely wrong with the script guess, what else could it possibly be?

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 08:50 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I haven't summoned any summons in quite a few attempts and, according to NearInfinity, NPCs such as Commoners use the script. I'm just not quite sure that's it or, at least, all of it.

Well, the summoned creatures do not need to be in the same map... but of course it might be that some mod has added the script to the Commoners to give them more usage and so cheesed the whole thing.

and if i was completely wrong with the script guess, what else could it possibly be?

1. Always patch the game(s) with the latest official patch, start a new game and exit after the game has auto-saves itself(so you have to make a char or choose a pre-made one), before you install any mod, and you might as well make a safe backup from the important files: data and override -folders, baldur.exe, BGMain.exe, dialog.tlk and CHITIN.KEY, baldur.key, baldur.ini, in the unmoded game this should take about 960 to 1020 MB's, depending on how the computer counts it, or use the BWS to do it with a lot less space required.
2. Put the ambient sounds off from the BGConfig.exe, as some of the areas might have no ambient sounds and so the game tries to start them many time continuously, and so looses processing power.
3. Get a huge RAM storage, and set the Cache size to huge from the BGConfig.exe... the recommendations wary, but it can be from the 300 to 4000(Mb's) depending on the size of your installation and how large the .bif files end up being. This will eat your hard drive space fast, but only temporarily.
4. Don't mess with the game configurations so the speed adjustment percentages stay on "normal" ratings even if you have very high end machine, as the game has own it's internal fps counter, it sometimes tries to correct the fps on it's own by lowering graphs etc. Also the games frame rate should be set to about 30, as that's the default.
5. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to install any of the speaking item mods, as they use the only script the game uses to control everything essential, and as the mod changes the complete structure of the baldur.bcs to fire the comments everywhere, that's bad for the frames/second count, and can make the everything essential not to work, and that's bad and worse.
6. Trying to avoid too many effects on a character(about 20 is fine, 200 is too many, and 20 000 is way way too many...)
7. De-fragmenting your hard drive might also help... as you don't have to go find the data in the pieces. (hmm, there is a joke in there, hih)
...
---
...
13. Repeat the step 7 again, if you think it might help.
14. Run as few programs on the background while playing as possible, if you think it might help. And scan for viruses, but do so when you are not playing the game... so don't have the Anti virus program running in the background.
15. When you quit the game, delete all the files from the Cache, temp and tempsave folders, if the game even puts any files in these. This might cause a little loading time increase, but it is worth it, cause it removes lags and assertion errors when playing the game.
---
...
19. Leave no summons alive, especially if you have the party AI enabled and they use an enhanced version of that, as they won't be moving from one area to another, but their AI will still be active and so be responding to no stimuli... which can cause lag.
20. Complete all the quests you are given, as in a long game, some scripts that are looking IF you have this-or-that quest active, will be screaming and causing lags, if their checks are in global category and they remain true all the time... it can be very bad, but the mod doing this should be fixed.
21. For some unexplained reason, when you have played the game quite long time, starting a new game so it autosaves in ToB and importing the BG1 or SoA game in, might help to clear out some of the stutter in them, even after you go back and load the game in the BG1 or BG2 portion of the game, we have to investigate this a bit.
...
23. Keep in mind that these advices won't solve the whole problem, as there can be things that make a lot of lag for no apparent reason, until they are found, and then it's more than obvious... like the ambient sounds caused lagging problem, it's caused by missed files that references have never been rechecked to be accurate.
24. The last miracle cure, while you are desperate, and so still reading this, let me remind you that there is nothing at the bottom of the barrel, so you have probably missed one of the earlier tweaks, so it's time to recheck them again. And the latest version is of this Mini infopack is the only accurate one, as I might have changed a few of the above mentioned things, after the last time you have read them, and don't just dismiss a point because it didn't hep before as all these are here for a reason and that's to help in the lagging, so read them again.

This indicates subjects that you should re-check you have done.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 05 September 2010 - 09:21 AM.

[Blow]

It seems I was completely wrong about the assumption that it was SW Baldur's Gate that's to blame, as the stuttering issue cropped up after 30 minutes even without visiting it at all, so that's back to square one. Literally the only thing I can be sure of now is that it's Baldur's Gate and it's not a script, as the "safe" save didn't have any going off at all.

On the bright side, importing the game into TOB fixes the stuttering. It also sets the game to Chapter 8 - BGII, sends me to Watchers keep and gives all the characters about 8 levels too many. How do I go about importing the game into TOB/Sending it back without that happening?

e:also, ambient sounds off, presumably not an issue with speed settings/background programs due to the fact that earlier point of the game/new games run well. also, default speed settings. and tried clearing the cache/temp folders

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 09:34 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

On the bright side, importing the game into TOB fixes the stuttering. It also sets the game to Chapter 8 - BGII, sends me to Watchers keep and gives all the characters about 8 levels too many. How do I go about importing the game into TOB/Sending it back without that happening?

Well, the mythical thing about ToB importing is, that it can solve the problem from any save game that you load... so go and try if the problem is solved in the BG1 game.

[Blow]

On the bright side, importing the game into TOB fixes the stuttering. It also sets the game to Chapter 8 - BGII, sends me to Watchers keep and gives all the characters about 8 levels too many. How do I go about importing the game into TOB/Sending it back without that happening?

Well, the mythical thing about ToB importing is, that it can solve the problem from any save game that you load... so go and try if the problem is solved in the BG1 game.

i killed the iron throne in Candlekeep and, uh, it went away.  
might post if it reappears again, but it sort of does seem like the sort of thing that can't be easily troubleshooted.

Unrelated issue - The game crashes consistently on loading Ogre's Reach, an outdoor area presumably added by DSotsC with

---------------------Start Logging Session---------------------

ASSERTION FAILED!
File: CGameEffect.cpp
Line: 2631

Exp: FALSE

Msg: no msg.
Run Debugger?

as the error. Should I be worried about that?

Edited by Blow, 05 September 2010 - 12:15 PM.

[Wisp]

Unrelated issue - The game crashes consistently on loading Ogre's Reach, an outdoor area presumably added by DSotsC with

---------------------Start Logging Session---------------------

ASSERTION FAILED!
File: CGameEffect.cpp
Line: 2631

Exp: FALSE

Msg: no msg.
Run Debugger?

as the error. Should I be worried about that?

It probably means there's a creature there with an item with incorrectly indexed effects. It won't set fire to your computer but you'll be unable to access the area until the problem's fixed.