(seems to be solved) BAD Memory Leak in 0.45 when it was first released.
Version Alpha 0.45.188581
I am playing the GC IV on the Test version track after downloading the new test version 0.45 today. It has the new version of how to choose your next Tech to research. It also had a different setup screen for the game. I choose to play ARM with HUGE for Sector Size with 16 AI Races at I think it was gifted. I am using the Test version icon to start up a new game. So I am definitely playing 0.45. I am also playing on a rather large game map.
It started off with a few lags and slow spots, but it kept getting worse and worse, by May 2307 (only the 5th month of the game) it was unplayable. The graphics would stay frozen for many seconds with the music on a constant loop or repeat of small section of the music, then it would advance a couple of frames in the graphics and the music would update a little, then it would lock again. It kept doing this. It was even hard to save games when you tried to change the name of the saved game that I wanted to use.
I got off the computer for several hours and turned it off, and just came back (just before 10PM time in the Eastern Daylight for the USA. I live in PA). Now I seem to have no problems with the game.
From what I have read about computer programs this behavior is the sign of a serious memory leak in the program, i.e. variables or objects being created for use and memory locations in the computer's RAM assigned to them, but not deleted properly after they were done being used, to free up the memory that they were using. Over time more and more of the computer's memory is tied up in unusable form.
My computer is an Intel CPU with a quad core (that I got new about 3 years ago) on an ASUS motherboard, 16 GB of RAM, with the GC IV program being stored on a 480 GB SSD with Windows 10 on my boot SSD of 114GB. I have a NVidia GeForce Graphics Card, a 1050 Ti with 4 GB of Video RAM. My sound is handled via an external Sound Blaster that uses a USB port to link the computer to the sound generation equipment.
I do have several saved games but my Drop Box account is full at 2 TB, and I have not been able to figure out how to get Drop Box to delete most of those files that I used to download things, usually computer programs. If there is another way for me to send you a saved game file I will, if you want it.
William Ameling, (Masters degree in Physics) also know as Dray Prescot on Steam. (I do not mind connecting the two names, in my Steam Profile for Dray Prescot, I already give my real name.) I have been playing Galactic Civilizations since it first came out on Windows about 18 or so years ago, i.e. before even the first addon was released.
I am happy with my start in the new game as long as I can get it to play and respond reasonably. I got the Eyes of the Universe Wonder and have researched the first of the Subspace Streams Techs. So I can see the locations of all of the Home Worlds of Races with Hyper Drive tech, but at the moment I do not know the locations of the Subspace streams connecting to my Sector (I am looking for them), I have at least 2 Races in my Home Sector, the Drath and the merchants (Iridium or Iridia for HW).
I have already played several games of 0.4 on Large to Gigantic Maps with 16 Races, for several game years, i.e. at least 4 or 5 game years, and have been posting messages on the Forum and Discord for GC IV. My posts for GC IV have been using the William Ameling name.
It is possible that having Eyes of the Universe contributed to me having this problem, i.e. the problem may not have started until after I got Eyes of the Universe built. This is only a possibility, but I think that I saw signs of the memory leak developing, before I got it built.
Question: Can you get memory leaks in the Graphics/Video Card's memory rather than the computer's RAM?
Maybe a better video card, i.e. with 8 GB instead of 4 GB would help me with GC IV. (I looked on Amazon.com and the cheapest 8 GB graphics cards are well over $500 to over $1,000. A little too much for me. )
added: I accidently declared War on the Krath by right clicking on one of their scout ships. So I went back to a saved game from about turn 12 and restarted. Now I am NOT having any of the problems that I thought were due to a memory leak, and it is turn 35. The game seems to be playing fine.
The only problem is something I had noticed in 0.4, sometimes when I get an survey/exploration result and get a new piece of equipment, particularly a Diablocatalyist, and I tell the ship to take the piece of equipment, it seems to end up on a different ship, probably another of my scouting/surveying ship that had an exploration result on the same turn. It is hard to be 100% sure of this, but that is what I thought was happening.