Unplayable mac freeze

[Karabas1543]

Hi,

I'm playing CK2 with Sword of Islam, Old Gods, Sons of Abraham, and Charlemagne DLCs, as well as a few cosmetic packs.

I'm running the game on a 2011 Macbook Pro, 2.4GhZ, 4GB Ram, and Intel HD3000. I run the game in windowed mode, 1280x1024 resolution.

I know this is under spec, but I can play EU4 with AoW tolerably well, so I figured CK2 would work even better. However, I get routine freezes where I can hear the music and can move the cursor, but the rest of the machine if frozen - I can't switch to other programs, etc. I end up having to reset the laptop. This happens every 10-30 minutes of play, regardless of I what I'm doing with the game (it can freeze while paused and I'm away from the computer). I get similar kind of freezes with EU4, but they come every 4 hours of gameplay or so, which I don't mind. However, 10 minutes of play is too often - sometimes I don't even make it to the next month's autosave!

I tried editing settings to remove trees, sky, and city sprawl, but it didn't help at all.

Would appreciate some tips.

 

[AndrewT]

In Steam right-click on CK2 and choose Properties. Hit the Beta tab and select 2.2.1.1 from the drop list there. Once the update has finished, please try that game again.

What OS X version do you have? I'd recommend at least 10.9.5 .

Have you checked into temperatures? iStat Pro is pretty good for this.

That aside, all I can suggest is reducing the graphics options as much as possible, and looking for a low-res mod in the Steam Workshop.

 

[Karabas1543]

In Steam right-click on CK2 and choose Properties. Hit the Beta tab and select 2.2.1.1 from the drop list there. Once the update has finished, please try that game again.

What OS X version do you have? I'd recommend at least 10.9.5 .

Have you checked into temperatures? iStat Pro is pretty good for this.

That aside, all I can suggest is reducing the graphics options as much as possible, and looking for a low-res mod in the Steam Workshop.

Tried the patch - didn't help.

OS X version 10.9.5

I don't think it's the temp - the freezes can happen when paused and barely using the cpu - the fans don't even ramp up. I did get iStat and the latest freeze happened at 83 - a totally manageable temp for a MBP. It did go up to 93 when loading and would hover around 80-85 on speed 5, down to 75 when paused.

I'm already on minimal graphics settings - no trees, no sky, no city sprawl. I got the flat water mod as well.

Like I said, I run EU4 on the same computer, without this problem, so I don't think it's the graphics. My EU4 doesn't freeze at unplayable intervals.

I also tried setting the autosave interval to monthly to protect my game, but for some reason it still only saves twice a year! What's up with that?

 

[AndrewT]

93c ?!? That is way too hot, IMO. Was that the CPU? Because I'd expect the GPU (video) to be the hottest component, what temps do you see there?

 

[Karabas1543]

93c ?!? That is way too hot, IMO. Was that the CPU? Because I'd expect the GPU (video) to be the hottest component, what temps do you see there?

1. From what I've read it's within Intel's operating temperature range. It is a laptop after all.

2. Integrated graphics: no GPU.

3. Freezes don't happen at high temps necessarily. I've had freezes before the fans start ramping (ie low temps)

4. It's freezing (music and cursor still running), not shutting off, which is what would happen with overheat.

5. Once again, much more intensive EU4 does not cause this problem. Overall CK2 runs faster for me than EU4.

 

[Karabas1543]

Ok I checked the intel website, max operating temp is 100 so 93 is pretty close.

I'll try running EU4 for a while and will let you know how it performs temp-wise.

 

[Karabas1543]

EU4 runs at 80-85 when paused, runs 85-98 while running at speed 5. Hot, yes, but no freezes.

 

[AndrewT]

... you said in your OP that EU4 did get freezes, just less often .. ?

 

[Karabas1543]

... you said in your OP that EU4 did get freezes, just less often .. ?

On occasion, yes. I think on average after 3-4 hours of gameplay, maybe less often. It's negligible to the point that it doesn't really affect me - I don't generally play 3 hours straight.

CK2, on the other hand, lasts 10-30 minutes, significantly affecting my experience with it.

Once again, I don't think it's heat-related since I've had CK2 freeze up before hitting 80C (and anything below 90 at full load for this cpu is totally fine).

 

[AndrewT]

Well, in all honesty I don't know what to suggest from here. I can't explain why CK2 and Eu4 have the same problem, but at such different intervals - now both of them have expanded maps I would have expected such issues to occur at roughly the same rate on under-spec equipment.

I still think temperatures over 80c are a concern, but you don't so I guess there's no point in pursuing that.

Do you happen to have Bootcamp installed? If so, does the problem occur there? I ask because under Windows your video probably meets the game spec, as it only says 512mb of Vram not 1gb.