Has anyone noticed how slower the game launcher has become?

[N3UTR0N]

I'm not the one who detects that? Lately the Game launcher has been becoming more slower to load up sometimes. There is not much to say that except that it wasn't used to be that slow, especialy with the old launcher where it loaded instantly easily back then.

 

[Fanstar1]

I have also noticed it. The launcher is much slower and more laggy than it used to be.

 

[gazisdaman]

Yes! I thought it was just a local issue on my end but if others are experiencing it as well then maybe not.

 

[Harin]

I started noticing it over a month ago when I wanted to modify one of my mod groups. I loaded up the launcher and it was the first time I noticed that my mod groups would not show up on the opening window until over 30 seconds or more waiting. The first time it happened I thought a bug had occurred and all my mod groups were gone. While I looked at my screen thinking of how I was going to have to rebuild them, they finally showed up. I know they used to show up instantly, so something did change for me.

Edit: When I say mod groups, I believe it is called Playsets on the launcher.

 

[Praetori]

Actually no. I feel the launcher is behaving normally. But then I don't have very many mods in the normal mod-list (3-4 smaller ones).

 

[Fulmen]

It's the same with all the newer PDX games where they "updated" the launchers: they're all much slower than the old launchers.

 

[jpd]

It's the same with all the newer PDX games where they "updated" the launchers: they're all much slower than the old launchers.

That's because they all use the same launcher. The launcher is no longer specific to a particular game, but instead a separate project. All newer paradox titles make use of this one, single instance of the launcher app.

 

[Mousetick]

The Launcher is just a fancy (and bloated*) front-end for writing a small JSON file: Documents > Paradox Interactive > Hearts of Iron IV > dlc_load.json, that is then read by HOI 4 when it starts.

Tip: You can use the Launcher whenever you need to create/delete playsets, add/remove mods, enable/disable mods in playsets, or enable/disable DLCs, that is not very often, and bypass it otherwise, that is most of the time. To bypass it, don't click the 'Play' button in Steam, instead open the hoi4.exe program file directly in Steam > steamapps > common > Hearts of Iron IV. You can make a shortcut to hoi4.exe in Windows Explorer and put it on your desktop, for example, for more convenient access. If the Steam client is already running in the background, all Steam features will work.

If you're feeling 'hard-core' you could even change the set of mods used by directly editing the dlc_load.json file with a text editor, before opening hoi4.exe. But I wouldn't recommend it.

The same trick can be used with EU 4 and Stellaris, and probably with CK 3 too.

(*) It's basically a whole embedded Chrome web browser + some more stuff.

 

[Maxwell Tornado]

It's basically a whole embedded Chrome web browser + some more stuff.

I dream of the day this stops being standard industry practice.

 

[Mousetick]

I dream of the day this stops being standard industry practice.

Aye! That day will not come anytime soon I'm afraid.

Put yourself in the shoes of a manager who doesn't use the launcher and doesn't play games, looking to invest as little as possible:
- Cross-platform support right out of the box with no additional effort
- Ability to create applications by employing less expensive web developers
- Ease of oursourcing development by utilizing non-proprietary open-source frameworks (Node.js)
And it's free, as in free beer. What's not to like?

It will get worse before it gets better. Google's dream is to replace your OS user experience with their web browser. The Chromium web browser is already capable of accessing your MIDI devices, your USB devices, your HID devices, your serial ports, your files and folders, your AR and VR devices, your motion sensors, your camera and your microphone. It's used as the desktop UI for Chrome OS. All this stuff ends up being included in the embedded versions, such as Paradox Launcher, whether it's used or not.

Sorry for getting carried away

 

[Louella]

i've noticed the HOI4 launcher is slow to load up the mod lists etc. the first time I run it.

Much slower than the launcher for either Stellaris or Imperator.

When I've been working on modding things though, every time after the first that I run the HOI4 launcher, it is much faster.