• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

FangirlCrazily

Corporal
Community Ambassador
Feb 7, 2023
40
998

Age of Wonders 4 - PC Hotfix #2 - 11/05/2023​




To my fellow Godir,

Today we offer you a Patch once more. Amongst these offerings are stability fixes in several of the Rendering & Animation systems, fixes for AI hangs and a variety of Gameplay crashes. We’ve also tackled some minor exploits that were discovered and resolved a few modding related issues.

Short and Sweet, if I say so myself. May your Pantheons thrive.


Game Version: 1.002.004.78464



Header_Fixes.gif


Graphics

  • Added a setting for Monitor & GPU switching
  • Added a setting to Limit Framerate when the game window is not active
  • Added mitigation for GPU related issues

General
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when a player was defeated and they had a Routed Hero as governor of a city
  • Fixed a crash that could occur on Realms with Regenerating Infestations
  • Fixed a crash that would occur when a unit was trying to find a path into an inaccessible area (like Lava tiles)
  • Fixed multiple issues that would occur when a city was razed or lost while a Whispering Stone was assigned to it
  • Fixed that embarked units would be killed if the water hex they were on was terraformed
  • Fixed a crash that could occur on Faction Saving
  • Fixed a Session Limit bypass when using Quick Start
  • Fixed an issue where reaching 4+ Cities over Cap would remove the Income Penalties

AI
  • Fixed a hang that could occur in the AI when they initiate a attack with a Human player in the reinforcement range
  • Fixed a hang that could occur where a Vassal would attack a Player and both would be Attacker and Defender
  • Fixed AI hangs that could occur due to AI being unable to move units between stacks
  • Fixed an AI hang that could occur when a Mission Target was no longer valid
  • Fixed an issue where AI would be unable to raze Outposts

Animations
  • Fixed a series of crashes that could randomly occur in the animation system
  • Fixed a crash that could occur in the Animation System when a reference was already removed
  • Fixed a crash that could occur in Hex Behaviors

Interface
  • Fixed a crash that would occur when you rename a city while the city screen is closed
  • Fixed a crash that could occur in the Hero Panel
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when hovering over a ruler portrait when a new round starts
  • Reduced likelihood of driver crashes occurring during story events and the victory scene
  • Fixed Broken Unit Icon after casting Inquisitors Zeal
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when constructing Hyperlinks

Combat
  • Fixed a crash that would occur when a unit takes an opportunity attack from a unit that applies slow with its attacks while moving

Events
  • Fixed an issue where Story Realm Quests would not resolve if a objective was completed before the Quest was received
  • Fixed an issue where Story Events wouldn't trigger if they reached specific Alignment brackets

Multiplayer
  • Fixed a crash that could occur in Multiplayer when Observe Combat was set to never
  • Disabled Quick Save in Multiplayer
  • Cleaned up NetSession better after a disconnect
  • Disabled generation of a MultiplayerTicks File

Modding
  • Fixed that modded-in armor colors would cause a memory leak
  • Fixed an issue caused by unexpected Symbols in a folder name resulting in mods not being able to be loaded/recognized.
  • Fixed an issue where Cloud Locations would result in mods not being loaded/recognized.

Epic
  • Re-enabled Cloud Saving
    • This will automatically sync the \Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4\Storage Folder. This backs up the sessions you’ve started since the previous patch.

Header_KnownIssues.gif


  • Non-Functional Safe Area Ratio Slider
  • AI Behaviour causing “Opponents are Moving” hangs or End Turn crashes
  • Custom Titles reset in the finalize screen when editing a Custom Faction
  • Province with Underground Water cannot construct Special Province Improvements
  • Frequent Multiplayer Out of Sync, especially during Combat


Thank you for your patience and support!
 
  • 25Like
  • 3Love
  • 2
Reactions:

David12596

Second Lieutenant
72 Badges
Apr 1, 2012
174
272
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Europa Universalis IV: Pre-order
  • Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn
  • Warlock 2: Wrath of the Nagas
  • Warlock 2: The Exiled
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Gettysburg
  • Europa Universalis IV: Call to arms event
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Divine Wind
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Dungeonland
  • Europa Universalis III
  • Europa Universalis III: Chronicles
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cradle of Civilization
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Stellaris: Digital Anniversary Edition
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Stellaris Sign-up
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Magicka: Wizard Wars Founder Wizard
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Stellaris: Nemesis
  • 500k Club
  • Warlock: Master of the Arcane
Can we please get a option soon to remove city ruins? Yes I know there is a mod for it, but honestly something like that should be in the base game. Also maybe im crazy, but I have noticed the AI when building a outpost takes 1 turn to turn that outpost into a city instead of 3 turns like it takes for the player. Is it suppose to be like that?
 
  • 4Like
  • 1
  • 1
Reactions:

Dreepa

Captain
65 Badges
Jan 27, 2011
307
97
  • Naval War: Arctic Circle
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris
  • Magicka 2
  • Knights of Honor
  • Warlock 2: The Exiled
  • Victoria 2
  • Starvoid
  • Sword of the Stars II
  • Sword of the Stars
  • Majesty 2 Collection
  • Majesty 2
  • Magicka
  • Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Europa Universalis III
  • Europa Universalis III: Chronicles
  • Divine Wind
  • Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
  • Age of Wonders II
  • Age of Wonders
  • Surviving Mars
  • BATTLETECH
  • Cities: Skylines - Mass Transit
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters
  • Tyranny: Archon Edition
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Cities: Skylines - Snowfall
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Cities: Skylines - After Dark
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Warlock: Master of the Arcane
  • The Showdown Effect
While obviously this is great work and I hope noone needs to crunch for that, I feel like many of these crashes must have been known before release and Paradox should have pushed the release. The nerves I lost while playing this in multiplayer cannot be counted.

Anyway, keep up the good work!
Thanks for working on it.
 
  • 4
  • 1
Reactions:

Mourioche

Sergeant
Aug 27, 2019
84
20
Thanks for the job (in panic mode)... but game still crash at start for me.
Did you reseted all configuration files ?
I ask this because it seems to me i received this update while i tested some parameters in PlatformSettings0.cfg
What can i do to be sure to reset this file as it should be according to this patch ?

Also, it is the only file i have in "\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4\Config",
I see in log files that the game try to load other files from this dir,
And it seems to me that yerterday i saw others files in this dir.

Is it possible that multiple crash make my config file goes away ?
Several time, i could not stop the game from the launcher, and had to kill the steam task or reboot the PC.

I'm surprised that if a config file is missing, program do not create one by default.

If i make a file verification integrity from steam, these config files are not verified, rigth ?
 
Last edited:

stigmund77

Second Lieutenant
25 Badges
Mar 1, 2011
165
364
  • Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
  • Stellaris: Nemesis
  • Stellaris: Necroids
  • Stellaris: Federations
  • Stellaris: Lithoids
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall
  • Stellaris: Ancient Relics
  • Prison Architect
  • Imperator: Rome
  • Stellaris: Megacorp
  • Shadowrun: Hong Kong
  • Stellaris: Distant Stars
  • Stellaris: Apocalypse
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Stellaris: Digital Anniversary Edition
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris
  • Warlock: Master of the Arcane
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn
  • Majesty 2 Collection
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
I'm disappointed the broken gameplay issues can't be addressed due to all the crashes.

I imagine we have a few weeks / months before released vassals are fixed and are given their military AI and ability to defend themselves?

After wars right now I'm left with vassals that can't even defend themselves. Destroying the cities just leave ruins that can be rebuilt after I leave the area. Holding down parts of the realm becomes incredibly frustrating due to the city cap and the broken vassals.

Right now we have a city limit in place that pushes you to use these broken gameplay mechanics.

On smaller realms it's not really an issue but on realms with more than 4 players, taking enemy cities just isn't fun. You either have to turn them into broken vassals that have no AI and can't defend themselfs in order to not go over your city cap. Or you can destroy the city, creating a ruin that other players can rebuild.

If you create vassals, other players just use a single stack to jump from vassal to vassal taking them. There isn't any resistance and they can move through your vassals territory without risk of being attacked due to their AI being switched off currently.

Cities that start as free cities at the start of the realms don't have these problems, they have their military AI enabled and can generally put up anough of a defence to deter alot of raids.

The game is an absolutely brilliant 4x game, I've rated it positively, and I recommended it to all my friends, it's just frustrating playing around broken mechanics for 2 weeks with no fixes.
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:

Triumph Jordi

Quality Assurance Specialist
Paradox Staff
QA
Feb 18, 2019
3.818
2.752
While obviously this is great work and I hope noone needs to crunch for that, I feel like many of these crashes must have been known before release and Paradox should have pushed the release. The nerves I lost while playing this in multiplayer cannot be counted.

Anyway, keep up the good work!
Thanks for working on it.
Many of these crashes and issues aren't actually things we were aware of. You do need to keep in mind that we're going from roughly 80 active users to, well 250k users in a matter of weeks. Those find things much faster than we ever could. So while we keep on top of things, no crunching is involved. (Though I wouldn't consider myself well rested either :p)
Thanks for the job (in panic mode)... but game still crash at start for me.
Did you reseted all configuration files ?
Nope, we do not modify or change any files in the Documents folder during an update. So nothing should have changed there. If you make a Bug Report (or link me if you already have one) I can look more detailed at your issue.
 
  • 6Like
  • 1
Reactions:

Mourioche

Sergeant
Aug 27, 2019
84
20
Nope, we do not modify or change any files in the Documents folder during an update. So nothing should have changed there. If you make a Bug Report (or link me if you already have one) I can look more detailed at your issue.
ok.
I just sent this bug report : AOW4_Crash_2023-05-11-15-19-31_FEFE111D.tcd

I think I already sent hundred of bug report, as it seems not to be exactly the same at each crash and as i try to change some setting each time,
I also try to launch the game several time because since the releasse (by chance), sometime i could start the game and play (4 or 5 time over hundreds lauch)
 
Last edited:

Triumph Jordi

Quality Assurance Specialist
Paradox Staff
QA
Feb 18, 2019
3.818
2.752
ok.
I just sent this bug report : AOW4_Crash_2023-05-11-15-19-31_FEFE111D.tcd

I think I already sent hundred of bug report, as it seems not to be exactly the same at each crash and as i try to change some setting each time,
I also try to launch the game several time because since the releasse (by chance), sometime i could start the game and play (4 or 5 time over hundreds lauch)
This crash occurs due to software outside of the game, something called Nahimic. If you recognize that name it might be worth disabling or removing the device.
 
  • 1
Reactions:

Mourioche

Sergeant
Aug 27, 2019
84
20
This crash occurs due to software outside of the game, something called Nahimic. If you recognize that name it might be worth disabling or removing the device.
Ho... it is something for the sound... (so i tested parameters for video... useless tests...)
i can see 2 task running, one for 32 bits and one for 64 bits...
I did not know this device was one my laptop... never had problem with it...
I'll see that.
If i can stop them or not... do not know what it is exactly yet...

Thanks ! :)

I just find a "Nahimic service" and stopped it,
The game just start (with the sound)
(but each time i already do something and when the game start, the day after crash occurs again... perhaps it is fixed, i'll see)
 
Last edited:

PeterPan

Recruit
63 Badges
Sep 28, 2017
1
0
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Surviving Mars
  • Tyranny - Tales from the Tiers
  • Tyranny - Bastards Wound
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
  • Stellaris: Apocalypse
  • Surviving Mars: Digital Deluxe Edition
  • Stellaris: Distant Stars
  • Stellaris: Megacorp
  • Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
  • Imperator: Rome Sign Up
  • Stellaris: Ancient Relics
  • Stellaris: Lithoids
  • Stellaris
  • Victoria 2
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Stellaris: Digital Anniversary Edition
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
  • Tyranny: Archon Edition
  • Tyranny: Archon Edition
  • Tyranny: Gold Edition
I got super frequent crashes after this patch, 2, 3 or more times each turn.
Sent a lot of crash reports.
One of them:
AOW4_Crash_2023-05-11-16-55-08_FCE7AB1D.tcd

Could you please help me take a look?

Edit: Seems not happending any more after I disabled v-sync. If this is actually the case, hope this bug can be properly fixed. o_O
 
Last edited:

Leyrann

Colonel
37 Badges
Jun 10, 2017
958
1.491
  • Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
  • Surviving Mars
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
  • Age of Wonders
  • Cities: Skylines - Green Cities
  • Crusader Kings II: Jade Dragon
  • Cities: Skylines - Parklife
  • Cities: Skylines Industries
  • Cities: Skylines - Mass Transit
  • Cities: Skylines - Campus
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall Deluxe edition
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall Premium edition
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall Season pass
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall Sign Up
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall - Revelations
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Cities: Skylines - After Dark
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Cities: Skylines - Snowfall
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Cities: Skylines - Natural Disasters
  • Age of Wonders II
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
While obviously this is great work and I hope noone needs to crunch for that, I feel like many of these crashes must have been known before release and Paradox should have pushed the release. The nerves I lost while playing this in multiplayer cannot be counted.

Anyway, keep up the good work!
Thanks for working on it.

Many of these crashes and issues aren't actually things we were aware of. You do need to keep in mind that we're going from roughly 80 active users to, well 250k users in a matter of weeks. Those find things much faster than we ever could. So while we keep on top of things, no crunching is involved. (Though I wouldn't consider myself well rested either :p)

Let's do some math based on the numbers provided by Jordi here.

Assume we've got all 80 of those active users playing the game as a full-time job. Incredibly unrealistic, as this count probably includes the entire Triumph team and content creators, but overestimating just drives the point home more. Let's say they spend about a month - four weeks - on finding crashes. That's 40 hours per week, 160 hours total. Together, that's 80 times 160 equals 12 800 hours of testing.

Now, the game gets pushed to live. Steam is being an absolute female dog, so I can't find the actual data, but I think I remember someone saying it peaked at like 40k players on release.

Let's say they all play one hour. That gets us 40 000 hours of playtime. Triple the total playtime we calculated above from our 80 playtesters full-time bug-hunting.

When developers say that one hour of live gives more data than all internal testing could ever provide them, that's not an exaggeration.

Even just one day later, there will be several hundred thousand hours of playtime by customers. It is no wonder that they encounter many bugs that QA didn't have the opportunity to find, simply because there are so many more people.
 
  • 3Like
  • 1
Reactions:

stigmund77

Second Lieutenant
25 Badges
Mar 1, 2011
165
364
  • Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack
  • Stellaris: Nemesis
  • Stellaris: Necroids
  • Stellaris: Federations
  • Stellaris: Lithoids
  • Age of Wonders: Planetfall
  • Stellaris: Ancient Relics
  • Prison Architect
  • Imperator: Rome
  • Stellaris: Megacorp
  • Shadowrun: Hong Kong
  • Stellaris: Distant Stars
  • Stellaris: Apocalypse
  • Age of Wonders III
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Stellaris: Digital Anniversary Edition
  • Stellaris: Galaxy Edition
  • Stellaris
  • Warlock: Master of the Arcane
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn
  • Majesty 2 Collection
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
I understand there are a lot of crash bugs at the moment and the developers time is limited in what they can fix at the moment. I have no anger for the devs, I feel like I posted more out of disappointment just to get the feelings off my chest.

I'm very passionate about the game and the developers have done an amazing job, it just feels like a big section of empire management is currently broken. It doesn't feel fun to see all these cities with their military AI turned off, easy pickings for other human players. And if I destroy them, it just leaves ruins which again is something other players will grab if I leave that area.

On smaller maps the game feels fantastic, you don't need to release cities as vassals for most playstyles, and free cities function perfectly. But in larger maps and in muitplayer it feels terrible. It feels like the game is a fix away from having the fun of smaller maps expanded to the larger ones.

Free cities feel really good in their implementation, and as of right now their the only cities that have their military AI activated. I feel pressured to keep them as vassals as I can't release conquered cities due to the bug with their AI not activating, I'd rather keep the cities that have working AI then release conquered ones later. Every city I absorb counts towards my limited city cap.
 

Triumph Jordi

Quality Assurance Specialist
Paradox Staff
QA
Feb 18, 2019
3.818
2.752
This simply is not true. Zero saves or any progress is back.
That is correct, as stated in the Patch Notes this starts syncing any sessions you've started since the pervious patch i.e. the one where we disabled Epic's save system. It does not bring back any saves from before version 78192.
What about the broken ai vassal issue? Surely that should be on the list of known issues now as it is a game breaking bug. I really think it should be the number one priority following the crash fixes.
As far as we can tell currently the behaviour is actually correct and running. Whatever is causing the AI to lock up after being released as Vassal is something that requires a more thorough look.
I got super frequent crashes after this patch, 2, 3 or more times each turn.
Sent a lot of crash reports.
One of them:
AOW4_Crash_2023-05-11-16-55-08_FCE7AB1D.tcd

Could you please help me take a look?

Edit: Seems not happending any more after I disabled v-sync. If this is actually the case, hope this bug can be properly fixed. o_O
I'll have a proper look at it tomorrow, at least it's good to know that V-Sync addresses it for now.
 
  • 1
  • 1Like
Reactions: