Frequent Desync in Multiplayer on M1 Macbook Pro

[nashiyama]

I know technically M1 is not supported so this is an experience report.

I got recommended Stellaris by my friends and I have got stellaris mainly to play with them together. The game runs smoothly but after 20 minutes or so I would desync and fall behind. We would then have to exit and restart the game which becomes cumbersome quickly. This is not a problem among my other friends who all use Windows.

I would appreciate help on understanding what the synchronization mechanism is and potential mitigations to this problem.

OS: macOS Monterey
Vendor: Steam
DLC: All
Mods: None
Cross-store: No

 

[AndrewT]

When the desync happens do you get OOS errors? If so is it the same 1 or 2 error codes each time? Or lots of different errors, or changing ones?

If you all opt into the Cross-store MP option in our launcher, is it any better then?

 

[nashiyama]

The first time I got an out of sync error pop up with Random_Count or something similar mentioned. That was with autosave at “Quarterannually”. I changed it back to the default “Semiannually“ and it seemed to have improved, but still slowly falling behind until my friends find out that my time is 3 to 4 days behind theirs and my name in orange, and the game not progressing despite not paused and no pop up.

The deterioration speed varies, in relation to what I don’t know yet. Network latency is my first guess, but my internet is fast. In one session I had downloads in the background and it seemed to fall behind faster, but stopping the downloads didn’t help much.

My second guess is computation speed difference, as on M1 the game runs through translation. The desync seems to happen faster in Fastest than in Normal. But why does it happen in Normal at all if the machine can handle it? Also that difference doesn’t seem to affect Windows machines.

We haven’t tested the cross-store option because creating new accounts is a bit of a hassle and it only happens while I am in and I don’t play all that much. I created this paradox account to discuss here. I will discuss a bit with them. Is there any reason that would be different? My understanding is that the server only provides authentication, lobby, and maybe relay. What is sent over the network in multiplayer?

 

[AndrewT]

The cross-store option does not require any new accounts. It is simply a different game version with different MP code in it.

All MP traffic goes via the MP servers.

 

[nashiyama]

The cross-store option does not require any new accounts.

Sorry, let me clarify. We all have got the game on Steam. Only two of us have Paradox accounts. Cross-store MP requires a Paradox account, as far as I know. So my friends have to create new Paradox accounts to use the cross-store MP. If that's not the case, could you tell me how to set it up?

 

[AndrewT]

So far as I know, all they have to do is pick the Cross Store option in the game's launcher and play? I just tried it while logged out of our launcher and it appeared to work fine.