Grimrock

Hey guys

So the game is crashing for me after it runs for a few minutes - it crashes my PC and forces a reboot.

Below are the contents of the log file. Can't see anything in my Windows system logs either... any ideas?

=== System Info ===

Game Version: 2.1.18
Computer name: *********
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4670K CPU @ 3.40GHz
OS Version: 6.2
OEM ID: 0
Physical CPUs: 4
Logical CPUs: 0
Page Size: 4096
Total Mem: 8121 MB
Free Mem: 6244 MB

=== GPUs ===

Device name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Device string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
State flags: 00000005

Device name: \\.\DISPLAY2
Device string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
State flags: 00000000

Device name: \\.\DISPLAY3
Device string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
State flags: 00000000

Device name: \\.\DISPLAY4
Device string: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
State flags: 00000000

=== Settings ===

Render Engine: d3d9
Audio Engine: xaudio2
Steam: true
Resolution: 1600 x 900
Display Mode: borderless (3)
Vertical Sync: disabled (1)
Texture Resolution: medium (2)
Texture Filter: trilinear (2)
Shadow Quality: medium (2)
SSAO Quality: medium (2)
Rendering Quality: high (2)
Difficulty: normal
Oldschool Mode: false

Loading save game C:\Users\Daniel\Documents/Almost Human/Legend of Grimrock 2/savegame01.sav
Loading main campaign dungeon
Game loaded

Install the "Grimrock 2 Compatibility Test" and see if the same thing happens:
http://www.grimrock.net/2014/10/09/grim ... lity-test/

Other things you can try:

Grimrock 1 used to crash after a few minutes until I installed the newest drivers for my graphics card, so you could try that if you haven't already.

If that doesn't work, maybe your graphics card is overheating.
Open the file "My Documents\Almost Human\Legend of Grimrock 2\grimrock.log" with a text editor and change the line "maxFrameRate = 120" to a lower value, such as "maxFrameRate = 60".

In your Nvidia control panel:
- enable "overheating protection"
- change the fan control settings, so the fans become active at lower temperatures

Thanks for the tips. You were correct, it looks like it was the graphics card overheating. I've used the MSI Afterburner application to force the fan speed up, and it's fixed the problem. Thanks, i'm now able to enjoy the game!

Even if you've solved the over heating issue, you might want to investigate the root cause a little. I mean, maybe one of the fans inside your case isn't performing properly or there is a lot of dust in there?

Unless you're over-clocking, then having your computer shut-down due to over-heating could mean that you've not got enough cooling in your system (I typically play a lot of high-end games and I've never hit the shut-down temperature when everything is running smoothly). If you're hitting those high temps all the time, you're probably not doing the best to get a long-life out of your hardware!

That's true.

I've been playing a lot of other games on the computer, and never had this issue before. I'll have to monitor it closely.

bertybro wrote:That's true.

I've been playing a lot of other games on the computer, and never had this issue before. I'll have to monitor it closely.

Well, your are not the only one as this is a common issue of the engine, see e.g. here. Check also your achieved FPS with debuginfo=true in the grimrock.cfg. The game's preset of 120 FPS is often way to high and can be reduced to reduce the GPU burden and produced heat.

badhabit wrote:Well, your are not the only one as this is a common issue of the engine, see e.g. here.

Still singing the same old song?

A demanding game only uncovers failures in badly maintained/configured systems.

Dr.Disaster wrote:

badhabit wrote:Well, your are not the only one as this is a common issue of the engine, see e.g. here.

Still singing the same old song?

Sadly, yes. I have to say I'm disappointed by the persistent ignorance of AH vs this problems for years now. While I think this should be solved "correctly" (by fixing the engine) at least quickfixes like reducing the FPS preset or a warning to the users when the FPS are low or fluctuating should be given. But nothing.

Dr.Disaster wrote: A demanding game only uncovers failures in badly maintained/configured systems.

As we found out together, Log is not really demanding but suffers only from a excessive number of draw calls (reason: too simple draw calls), meaning the overhead is heating.

A well configured and set up system does not die or crash by overheating. Be it 60, 120 or 600 FPS, it simply does not matter.

Dr.Disaster wrote:A well configured and set up system does not die or crash by overheating. Be it 60, 120 or 600 FPS, it simply does not matter.

Yes, a good system can stand continously 100% load of GPU & CPU... but if this is only due to bad engine optimization & the GPU / CPU struggeling to achieve enough FPS while burning too much resources in the overhead... no, this is bad & drives only the global warming via electrical power wastage, increases the aging of computer parts and limits the customer base (no laptops, no middle class systems, no mobile devices)... or leads to unsatisfied customers who believed to buy a retro game with modest HW requirements.