4 GB RAM systems

I don't think the CTDs are just memory alone. I have a 16 GB system and I'm crashing constantly after turn 80 ish.  I was working on some sub optimal conditions but I don't think mem usuage was a factor. 

Crashes and running out of memory should probably be separate issues.  You can always open your task manager and see how close you're getting to using it all up though in any event...

Unfortunately 8GB is sort of the new currency these days, 4-6GB just has trouble cutting it...

Of note, Stardock did insert a setting that would keep you from starting a galaxy that is outright too big for your memory - unsure how good it is at the edges (ie as you get built up and use more memory - where their prediction/cut-off is)...

https://forums.galciv3.com/464513/page/1/

Honestly though - I would highly recommend just springing for some more memory, IMHO.

cheers

I think I agree with you. I was having problems in the first half of the game, but after a certain turn (I need to check now) the crashes stopped (until the invasion battle screen bug showed up). However could the lower memory be exacerbating other crash factors? I'll leave that to SD to investigate as I don't know.

Upgrading to more RAM is an option, but since the min requirements for the game are listed as 4 GB then it should still work (albeit with not all map option for example). What about other people who don't know how to upgrade or can't afford to. My system is a bit old now, so I need to hunt down the correct RAM and make sure it will play nicely with the rest of them!

This is a very valid point, if it is indeed memory constraints that are leading to crashes.

-tid242

I have 12 GB of RAM and haven't crashed yet. That  said, its now only a matter of time before I do...lol

out of curiosity whats the op's graphics card?

It's Radeon 6800 series. I did say my system is getting on a bit But still above the minimum requirements!

I did install the game in a different drive than Windows, not that it should make any difference though...

Yesterday I had a battle hangup problem (tried watching several battles in the same turn, first worked fine, but the second one didn't come up). But that is known problem. However, I was forced to kill the game in the task manager and to my surprise I saw that the game used over 5 Gb of RAM at that moment (have 8 myself)??

If 4 Gb is the minimum spec, you should be able to play all map levels ( I played on excessive myself), if that's not possible it should be mentioned as well.

...

What?

It's Minimum, not Optimal.

Minimum spec should be "able to play smoothly, but with low settings". Not "able to start the game, but running at 1fps", but also not "Able to play everything with 60fps+ and everything on abundant while simultaneously streamig to Twitch)

You wouldn't expect Minimum requirements to allow for the best graphics settings. Think of map size as being different memory settings, rather than just a gameplay choice.

Like I said: if that is the case, and you are not able to play certain maps with just 4 Gb, it should be mentioned somewhere, that's all. One of the key arguments at the moment to promoting Galciv III as a new game, and not as Galciv II .5 is the possibility to have insane map sizes with lots and lots of players. If that's not possible because of memory restrictions: just say so, or grey out certain map sizes.

If I play on my laptop everything but tiny is greyed out. Minimum requirements is what you need to play with everything at the lowest. Generally if you have this should just expect 10-15  FPS, tiny maps and maybe even lower ai difficulty. 

Recommended should be the mid point. To run at passable quality with midrange settings. 

I think system requirements should have a beast mode system listed where you can run at everything maxed out. However, this game that would be tough because as stated before the game will use the resources you have. More cores = more AI threads. 

I play it on minimum and it plays smoothly. I tried higher settings and it's still ok, only stutteres when bloom UI is on and anti-aliasing turned up. But you would expect that. Even the largest maps I don't expect to be able to play without significant delay with specs near the minimum.

I expect people to be able to play without any crashes even with the barest minimum specs however. Since the optimisation is still underway hopefully the source of the crashes will be found out.

Don't forget that there is another factor that goes hand in hand with the amount of RAM you have: The settings for the OS's swap file (virtual memory). If you have only 4GB RAM and have the virtual memory settings set to limit the swap file to 4GB or less, or even turned off, then you are at risk of running into "out of memory" problems or hangs, even with the lower game settings.

I think for most people it's safe to leave this on to system managed. I tend to set it to a fixed amount, at least twice my RAM.

I had 4gb of RAM so I decided to upgrade to 16gb hoping this would fix my constant crashes with this game.  Unfortunately it did not.  :/

Specs:

Core i5 2500

16gb DDR3-1600

Radeon HD7850

3TB hard drive

Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

OK I used to have 2 AMD 6990's in Crossfire  and every 2 minutes or so the game would freeze for 30-40 seconds. I replaced my cards with my brothers old card a 7970 and I have no more issues. Not only that but my W.E.I went from 7.7 to 7.9  My room is a lot cooler now too...lol 6990s generate a lot of heat.

PS: my other stats are: Alienware Area-51 (2009) Intel i7CPU x990 @3.47GHz  3.47GHz (why it shows the GHz twice I've no idea) and 12GB RAM and WIN7x64

I also have my pagefile on a seperate 40GB SSD drive

i used to run on a 4gb mem system and while i crashed semi frequently 3x in the first hundred turns then stable for 100 turns then unplayable. these crashes were clearly identified as low memory

i would get a windows popup saying windows is running out of memory we suggest closing some or all of the following programs
galciv 3

then a few turns later something to the effect of 

Windows has runt out of memory and is shutting down the following program
galciv 3 

Interesting. I never got a warning like that. Mine just crashes usually after a click on the end turn.

Actually I noticed yesterday that the game is unstable in the beginning and then irons itself out and I can play for longer periods. I e, I get three crashes when I first start playing, then on the fourth load it's much more stable.

EDIT: I've come to the realisation that the fog of war might be a contributory factor in these crashes. I've always had some showing when I had the crashes and sometimes I remember seeing a fog of war artefact, a sort of line, forming on the upper part of the screen and then the crash. Don't have any evidence for this though, except what I remember...

Same as this no warnings on my crashes either.

First up I have to say the optimisations between beta 6 and 5 have been huge though I cannot comment hugely about 6.1 because I updated my ram at the weekend but in doing so my video card (old card noticeably not performing to what it should - a Nvidia GTX 680) decided to die and no longer function so instead of a Ram upgrade alone I've got a Graphics Card upgrade as well (Got a cracking deal on a R9 285x). However I've got to say running galciv today was smooth as anything immense galaxy, tight clusters, all AI's occasional on pretty much all settings with all game settings as default. My system is a AMD Fx 8320 running 8 cores at 4.1ghz, 12gb ram and a 2gb R9 285x, which is hardly a high end system (cost me £400 total to build this year - including a 1tb hard drive but no OS, which is less than a console but will kick make them look poor), though it is modern.

Since I've been playing since beta3 I've got to say this game has come along so far and is really looking solid now and even with 4gb ram the optimisations in removing the freezes and crashes have come along miles.

I think I'm pretty sure now the fog plays an important role. I don't know if this is in combination with lower RAM. 

I just continued the game I was playing with where I was getting crashes. I had now almost completely cleared the unexplored areas and had no fog of war in my main playing area. My game didn't crash at all. I then decided to check if there was any fog left and I found a few patches at the edge. Immediately the game stuttered significantly. Importantly it didn't crash. So I believe the fog of war sets up the game for crashing and then if End turn is clicked (or something else) the game will crash.

The Hex grid is big as well if you have it up for the entire galaxy its pretty draining.

Well, I upgraded to more RAM and still got crashes. So it might be something else. I'm sending tickets as it crashes...

EDIT: Ticket number #RPO-914-62329

EDIT: I'm just grasping at straws here, could the first generation i7 (Nehalem) have anything to do with it?

Thank you for this, and sorry for your issues. We will get those crashes through support and make sure they get addressed.

When you added RAM, did you check your "virtual memory" settings?