CK III [v. 1.0.3] - Black screen and crash while in-game

[Pinty]

Hi there,

Before anything, congrats on the magnificent job! Absolutely love the game so far. It is just very unfortunate that it lacks quite some technical stability. I'm playing on the following machine:

16' MacBook Pro, 2019
Intel Core i9-9880H CPU 2.30GHz
16GB RAM
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, 4GB GDDR6

I'm playing through Boot Camp on a legal, recently purchased, Windows 10 system as the performances on MacOS were below expectation (similar issues as the issues presented by some Linux users (stuttering, etc.)

Game plays really nicely on Windows until the same crash happens at random moments when I click on random actions. Screen freezes for 1 second, screen goes black, sound still plays. There is nothing I can do. If I press Esc twice, the sound stops. I need to then close the latch of my laptop, wait for the fans to switch off, and reopen it in order to have access to my screen again. The game has then shut off, and a crash window is available.

This issue occurs randomly. Sometimes it happens while on the main menu, and I click on whatever action. Mostly it happens in game. Sometimes it happens after 5 minutes, sometimes after 40.

I deleted all the files, deleted CK3, made sure to grant all permission in Windows Defender and Avast. I'm out of ideas and find it such a shame as it is an absolute masterpiece you guys have created here.

I've attached all log files you might need, but if there is anything else, please let me know!

 

[AndrewT]

I thought I was going to see a really high refresh rate there but it doesn't seem so.

Interesting you mention Avast, I have seen other reports of it crashing this game every few minutes. Can i ask you to check with their support on how to 100% except the game from it?

And what CPU and GPU temperatures are you seeing in the game?

 

[Pinty]

I thought I was going to see a really high refresh rate there but it doesn't seem so.

Interesting you mention Avast, I have seen other reports of it crashing this game every few minutes. Can i ask you to check with their support on how to 100% except the game from it?

And what CPU and GPU temperatures are you seeing in the game?

What do you mean exactly with the refresh rate? Is my laptop not performing up to expectations. I mean, when the game works, it runs really smoothly on decent graphics.

I could get rid of Avast all together to be fair, I don't browse or plan to do anything else than play games on my partitioned drive. I'll uninstall it and try again.

Temperatures are alright. Using an extra fan unit under my machine as well. Generally between 68 and 78 degrees celsius.

 

[AndrewT]

What do you mean exactly with the refresh rate? Is my laptop not performing up to expectations. I mean, when the game works, it runs really smoothly on decent graphics.

Yours is running at the most common rate 60hz, which is fine. Some rigs run at 72, 120 or even 144hz which can drive video cards crazy.

I could get rid of Avast all together to be fair, I don't browse or plan to do anything else than play games on my partitioned drive. I'll uninstall it and try again.

Une the free utility Revo Uninstaller to make sure Avast is completely gone, if you do this. AV apps are deliberately made hard to fully uninstall.

Temperatures are alright. Using an extra fan unit under my machine as well. Generally between 68 and 78 degrees celsius.

Actually that's getting pretty high; 80c is where things start going wrong. I think you need to do something more about cooling here.

Clean out all air vents it has (compressed air cans are good for this). Make sure airflow to them is not blocked by anything like walls, books or whatever.
If that doesn't drop the temps enough, you probably have a faulty fan or a heatsink/thermal paste problem. You may need professional help at that point.

 

[Pinty]

Yours is running at the most common rate 60hz, which is fine. Some rigs run at 72, 120 or even 144hz which can drive video cards crazy.


Une the free utility Revo Uninstaller to make sure Avast is completely gone, if you do this. AV apps are deliberately made hard to fully uninstall.


Actually that's getting pretty high; 80c is where things start going wrong. I think you need to do something more about cooling here.

Clean out all air vents it has (compressed air cans are good for this). Make sure airflow to them is not blocked by anything like walls, books or whatever.
If that doesn't drop the temps enough, you probably have a faulty fan or a heatsink/thermal paste problem. You may need professional help at that point.

I will follow your advice for uninstalling the AV.

The MacBook is 3 months old, so I don't think there's any dust. Both fans, left and right, are not blowing at their maximum capacity. I'll tweak them manually and see if that provides some extra airflow. Thanks for the tips.

Any other ideas that might cause the issue?

EDIT: I installed FanControl and the game runs at a temperature around 73 degrees without cooler underneath it. Just thought I’d add this to the mix of information ;-)

EDIT2: Game ran smoothly until another crash happened. This time the screen remained on and didn’t go black. I was able to return to desktop without any keyboard action. No error log has been generated unfortunately. I kept a constant eye on the temperature and it never went above 75°.

 

[Pinty]

Also, Andrew, sorry for not asking this in a separate thread, but do you have any idea why the FPS on MacOS would be so much lower than on Windows? Obviously same specs apply. Manually tweaked the fans on there too. Changing the graphics makes no difference at all. Tried on the lowest and on the standard/high settings. Always runs the same. Once a Crusade kicks in, it becomes unplayable. Stability is much better and it never crashes, however.

 

[Pinty]

Another update from the front: I deactivated Ironman and haven’t had any crashes since. Also check my edited post above for more details about the situ. Thanks for looking into this, much appreciated!

 

[Pinty]

It just crashed again, even without Ironman deactivated. No crash logs were generated. It crashed in the same way as above. No black screen, just a return to desktop.

 

[AndrewT]

do you have any idea why the FPS on MacOS would be so much lower than on Windows?

Macs use openGL as a video standard instead of DirectX that Windows users. OpenGL is much much slower.

Obviously same specs apply.

The minimum requirement specs for the game on Mac are markedly higher than on Windows.

If you disable Map Objects in the game's settings, does that help at all?

 

[Pinty]

Macs use openGL as a video standard instead of DirectX that Windows users. OpenGL is much much slower.

The minimum requirement specs for the game on Mac are markedly higher than on Windows.

If you disable Map Objects in the game's settings, does that help at all?

Understood. Unfortunately that has been one of my first things to do and it didn’t change anything...

Still freezing on Windows though... I just don’t quite understand what I can still do. It’s quite concerning to see others having the same issue as I have. Do you think this is something that will/can be addressed ASAP in a new patch?

 

[Pinty]

Right, so I've managed another 30 minutes of gameplay. I upload the crash logs here. Hope it helps!
Reinstalled the graphics driver as well just to be sure. Unfortunately, as you can see, without any positive results.

 

[satoru]

Hmm honestly looks like the graphics card is having issues. Try updating your drivers to the most recent ones from AMD

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/apple-boot-camp

Given its a Mac... maybe the GPU is throttling or something

 

[Pinty]

Hmm honestly looks like the graphics card is having issues. Try updating your drivers to the most recent ones from AMD

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/apple-boot-camp

Given its a Mac... maybe the GPU is throttling or something

That was all done already, I’m afraid...

 

[athos-livys]

That was all done already, I’m afraid...

Hi!
i could have post the exact same post : new machine, really good spec, bootcamp and windows properly installed.
and exact same experience.
I tried to have a look to updates of graphic card pilot but it perfectly up to date...
As ck3 crash on windows, I play on iOS but it’s soooo damn laggy...

 

[Pinty]

Hi!
i could have post the exact same post : new machine, really good spec, bootcamp and windows properly installed.
and exact same experience.
I tried to have a look to updates of graphic card pilot but it perfectly up to date...
As ck3 crash on windows, I play on iOS but it’s soooo damn laggy...

Hey man,

Sorry to hear that. I might have found a solution, however! I’ve been playing for three hours straight now and all seems to work fine. Had no crashes so far!

1. Install Revo uninstaller on your Windows 10 bootcamp
2. Through Revo, uninstall CK3 and delete everything CK3 related from your computer (don’t forget the stuff in your Documents folder), uninstall Paradox Launcher and uninstall Steam
3. Reboot and install everything again.
4. Install Mac’s Fan control and once install, put your fans on highest
5. Once you’re in the game, lower all the graphics a tiny bit so it’s still nice to play but won’t drain your GPU power too much

This worked like a charm for me! Hope it does for you too.

 

[athos-livys]

Hey!
Good idea, I will try that and tell you. From your point of view, no risks to damage anything (I not feeling confident with modifying fan speed...)
Thanks anyway for the tip

 

[Pinty]

Hey!
Good idea, I will try that and tell you. From your point of view, no risks to damage anything (I not feeling confident with modifying fan speed...)
Thanks anyway for the tip

What type of MacBook do you use? I always let my fans turn at maximum speed when I play. It doesn’t harm them and only helps your laptop stay cool. Make sure your computer has enough space to get rid of the hot air as well. I’m having mine on a cooling set I bought from Amazon. Works like a charm and allows my MacBook to perform well while staying around 70°C average

 

[athos-livys]

What type of MacBook do you use? I always let my fans turn at maximum speed when I play. It doesn’t harm them and only helps your laptop stay cool. Make sure your computer has enough space to get rid of the hot air as well. I’m having mine on a cooling set I bought from Amazon. Works like a charm and allows my MacBook to perform well while staying around 70°C average

I’m using a Mbc 16 i9 32go and the 5500 AMD.
Relatively good for a new computer from my point of view.

 

[Pinty]

I’m using a Mbc 16 i9 32go and the 5500 AMD.
Relatively good for a new computer from my point of view.

About the same laptop as I use. Well, have a look at what I said above. Hopefully it’ll make the difference for you.

 

[athos-livys]

About the same laptop as I use. Well, have a look at what I said above. Hopefully it’ll make the difference for you.

Hi !
just a question about 1.1patch: do you have any problems when rising up the graphics of the game? For me I still have to play with a let’s say, medium but still ok level of graphic ; the patch did not changed anything about this crashes...