Getting random freezes when looting, SERIOUSLY affecting MP gameplay

[Limdood]

I'm getting random freezes when opening containers, opening my inventory, or moving things in my inventory.

 

The freezes can last SEVERAL seconds....from 4-5 seconds on the low end, to 20 seconds on the higher end. During these freezes, I can move my mouse...i see the mouse moving, it's still the 7dtd mouse pointer (not the windows pointer). When the freeze stops, the game continues as normal...

 

The freeze hits when I open my inventory (i get the mouse pointer, but the game freezes before the inventory actually opens), when I open an "untouched" container...anything, and it appears completely random which time looting might trigger it, or what i'm looting (the "container opening" sound plays, the "open loot" timer starts, then freezes...again, i can move the mouse pointer, and when the freeze finally ends, looting carries on as normal), and it happens when i try to move things around manually in my inventory (though NOT when shift-clicking them instantly from my toolbelt to my backpack or vice versa).

 

It doesn't freeze all the time....Sometimes I'll go an hour between. Sometimes 30 minutes....sometimes 5-10 minutes between these freezes. They're incredibly noticeable, as 5 seconds of noticing that NOTHING in the game is moving is pretty noticeable, let alone 20 seconds of just not being able to do anything.

 

My graphics settings are way WAY down (like nearly every graphic option turned off or at medium/low), and other than slow logging in and somewhat reduced performance with weird weather effects or in the middle of cities or horde nights, my game otherwise runs perfectly smoothly. I'd been trying to fiddle with different settings to see if I could find any reason why these freezes were happening, but nothing seems to improve or worsen them.

 

In single player, they'd be tolerable, if annoying, but I started playing on a MP server with a friend, and EVERY time one of these freezes happens, I get booted out of the world to the title screen. I just missed most of a horde night, after finally finishing a really fun base, and was REALLY looking forward to testing it....Instead i sat back at the title screen after being booted (and the increased demands from horde night on my computer, along with the aftereffects of whatever this damned problem is kept me from even trying to get back in). I finally get in after horde night and I'm booted again 5 minutes later while opening one of my own containers to grab some repair materials.

 

I'm beyond frustrated with this. NO other game of mine does anything like this. I can run other FPS style games on higher graphics settings without anything like this happening. It is clearly a uniquely 7dtd issue, and almost certainly some SPECIFIC issue to always constantly affect looting and inventory ONLY, but I can't figure out what it is and I'm at the end of my tolerance for it.

 

Does anyone have any ideas, from what I've described, what the problem could be and/or some possible solutions to fix or mitigate it?

[Thundy]

Open your crafting menu and clear your crafting selection (delete anything you've typed in).

Or try click on something you do NOT have the materials for.

 

This is a bug in the way the game is looking at recipes in the XML. Basically it sees what you have in your inventory and looks at all the XML files for recipes, and it lags like a a bugger.

 

This was fixed in a patch recently, but it may be an experimental.

 

That should sort it out. If not, I dunno I had this for ages till I sussed it. Then they patched my experimental version a day later

[Beelzybub]

Just as a test: If you empty your inventory does it freeze?

Does an empty storage box freeze?

 

An output log might be helpful.

[Limdood]

It happens on ANY container....not EVERY container...

 

every once in a while, ONLY on actions that open the inventory (looting an "untouched" container, opening my own containers, opening my inventory at all, even trying to move something around in my already opened inventory) the game will occasionally freeze.

 

I don't know if will or won't happen if i have an empty inventory, or if i'm opening an empty container, BUT i can't very well play the game with only an empty inventory and never opening any container that contains anything.

 

How do i get an output log? At least in MP, i'm booted to the title screen when it happens and I'm not the host (I'm assuming it times me out and the server boots me). I stay in the game in SP though, but the freezes are all different lengths (I've actually "survived" a few of the very short freezes in MP as well, but any freeze up of significant length and i'm booted all the way out.

[Beelzybub]

Output log is here:

 

<gamefolder>/7DaysToDie_Data/output_log__<DATETIME>.txt

 

If it's only happening on MP, maybe it's a network issue.

What's your ping to the server? Anyone in the house streaming movies?

 

i can't very well play the game with only an empty inventory and never opening any container that contains anything

 

No one said to do that. I suggested it as a troubleshooting step. If you were able to see an improvement

with empty inventory, it could indicate an issue with one or more particular inventory items.

[Limdood]

Output log is here:

 

<gamefolder>/7DaysToDie_Data/output_log__<DATETIME>.txt

 

If it's only happening on MP, maybe it's a network issue.

What's your ping to the server? Anyone in the house streaming movies?

 

 

 

No one said to do that. I suggested it as a troubleshooting step. If you were able to see an improvement

with empty inventory, it could indicate an issue with one or more particular inventory items.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to snap at anyone. The problem is that it's a consistent problem, but I can't consistently recreate it. It does tend to happen

more when the game demands are high (though not exclusively). I can open 100 containers no problem while climbing Higashi tower, then try and open a zombie bag after a rough fight and boom. the freeze hits. Alternatively, I could be riding around the wilderness, spot an isolated car, try to open it, and the freeze could happen then...or not.

 

Here is the output log of the session I played this morning...that ended up with me crashing out during blood moon when i tried to open my inventory to put the nailgun on the hotbar during the fight:

 

Direct3D:

Version: Direct3D 11.0 [level 11.1]

Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (ID=0x1c82)

Vendor:

VRAM: 4018 MB

Driver: 26.21.14.4108

Begin MonoManager ReloadAssembly

- Completed reload, in 0.329 seconds

<RI> Initializing input.

 

<RI> Input initialized.

 

<RI> Initialized touch support.

 

UnloadTime: 0.483600 ms

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.015 INF [steamworks.NET] SteamAPI_Init() ok

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.088 INF Texture quality is set to 1

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.089 INF Precaching...

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.094 INF Precaching file: 7DaysToDie_Data/resources.assets

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.170 INF [EAC] Initializing ...

2019-11-19T08:44:52 0.173 INF [EAC] Initialized :: Easy Anti-Cheat successfully initialized

2019-11-19T08:44:57 4.354 INF Precaching file: 7DaysToDie_Data/sharedassets1.assets

2019-11-19T08:44:57 4.356 INF Precaching file: Data/Bundles/blocktextureatlases

2019-11-19T08:44:59 7.223 INF Precaching file: Data/Bundles/terraintextures

2019-11-19T08:45:02 10.057 INF Precaching done

2019-11-19T08:45:02 10.058 INF Loading main scene

Unloading 6 Unused Serialized files (Serialized files now loaded: 0)

UnloadTime: 3.480400 ms

2019-11-19T08:45:02 10.214 INF Awake

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.273 WRN Localization: Duplicate key "xuiWater" found! Please check Localization file. Skipping entry...

Localization language: English

 

(Filename: C:\buildslave\unity\build\Runtime/Export/Debug/Debug.bindings.h Line: 48)

 

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.286 INF Version: Alpha 18.1 (b8) Compatibility Version: Alpha 18.1, Build: Windows 64 Bit

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.286 INF System information:

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.286 INF OS: Windows 10 (10.0.0) 64bit

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.286 INF CPU: Intel® Core i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz (cores: 4)

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.286 INF RAM: 8116 MB

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.287 INF GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4018 MB)

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.287 INF Graphics API: Direct3D 11.0 [level 11.1] (shader level 5.0)

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.287 INF Last played version: Alpha 18.1

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.288 INF Local UTC offset: -6 hours

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.296 INF Command line arguments: G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\7daystodie.exe -force-d3d11 -logfile G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\7DaysToDie_Data\output_log__2019-11-19__08-44-29.txt

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.297 INF Not running in Big Picture Mode, no on-screen keyboard available

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.297 INF Starting PlayerInputManager...

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.326 INF InControl (version 1.6.17 build 9143, native module = False, XInput = True)

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/XInputInterface32

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/XInputInterface32.dll

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/XInputInterface32

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libXInputInterface32

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libXInputInterface32.dll

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libXInputInterface32

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.447 INF Starting UserProfileManager...

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.568 INF Occlusion: Awake

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.579 INF ApplyAllOptions streaming False, budget 3616.2 MB

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.580 INF ApplyAllOptions current screen 1280 x 800, 60hz, window 1280 x 800, fullscreen True FullScreenWindow

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.580 INF Texture quality is set to 1

2019-11-19T08:45:03 10.580 INF ApplyTextureFilter 0, AF Disable

2019-11-19T08:45:04 11.460 INF [MODS] No mods folder found

2019-11-19T08:45:04 11.486 INF Loading permissions file at 'C:\Users\Limdood\AppData\Roaming/7DaysToDie/Saves/serveradmin.xml'

2019-11-19T08:45:04 11.564 INF Loading permissions file done.

2019-11-19T08:45:04 11.635 INF Awake done in 1421 ms

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libc

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libc.dll

Fallback handler could not load library G:/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/7 Days To Die/7daystodie_Data/Mono/libc

 

Unloading 23 unused Assets to reduce memory usage. Loaded Objects now: 4022.

Total: 10.179700 ms (FindLiveObjects: 0.333200 ms CreateObjectMapping: 0.126700 ms MarkObjects: 9.637000 ms DeleteObjects: 0.082100 ms)

 

2019-11-19T08:45:04 11.887 INF User joined: Limdood

2019-11-19T08:45:04 12.226 INF Reloading serveradmin.xml

2019-11-19T08:45:04 12.226 INF Loading permissions file at 'C:\Users\Limdood\AppData\Roaming/7DaysToDie/Saves/serveradmin.xml'

2019-11-19T08:45:04 12.226 INF Loading permissions file done.

2019-11-19T08:45:07 14.791 INF UMA Overlay loading took 2271 ms

2019-11-19T08:45:07 14.793 INF UMA Slot loading took 2 ms

2019-11-19T08:45:09 16.492 INF LoadTextureArraysForQuality quality -1 to 1, reload False

2019-11-19T08:45:10 17.580 INF WorldStaticData.Init() needed 2.630s

2019-11-19T08:45:13 20.505 INF [steamworks.NET] Login ok.

2019-11-19T08:45:13 20.815 INF AchievementManager: Received stats and achievements from Steam

2019-11-19T08:45:54 61.396 INF Terminating threads

2019-11-19T08:45:54 61.396 INF OnApplicationQuit

2019-11-19T08:45:54 61.396 INF Terminating threads

2019-11-19T08:45:54 61.397 INF OnApplicationQuit

Setting up 2 worker threads for Enlighten.

Thread -> id: e7378 -> priority: 1

Thread -> id: e7370 -> priority: 1

 

 

[SylenThunder]

I do hope that you aren't the host with that hardware. You're skirting the minimum requirements for a single-player game.

 

Should post the log from one of the crashes on Pastebin so we can see the whole thing.

[Limdood]

uhhh, lets try this one:

https://pastebin.com/vN6Z0KUL

And no, I'm not the host.

[Beelzybub]

I think it's your 8 GB of ram that's causing the freezes. If I connect to a server my system uses between 8 and 12 GB of ram

with nothing else running.

 

When a computer requires more ram than it has, it swaps used memory from ram to the hard disk.

This process is slow and would explain the random pauses you are experiencing.

 

You can see how much ram your computer is using with the built in Task Manager, or a 3rd party app

like HWInfo.

 

You're getting a pretty good frame rate, so I think your GPU & CPU are usable, but upgrading your

RAM to 16 GB would improve your life.

[Limdood]

I think it's your 8 GB of ram that's causing the freezes. If I connect to a server my system uses between 8 and 12 GB of ram

with nothing else running.

 

When a computer requires more ram than it has, it swaps used memory from ram to the hard disk.

This process is slow and would explain the random pauses you are experiencing.

 

You can see how much ram your computer is using with the built in Task Manager, or a 3rd party app

like HWInfo.

 

You're getting a pretty good frame rate, so I think your GPU & CPU are usable, but upgrading your

RAM to 16 GB would improve your life.

 

I appreciate the diagnosis. Do you think there is anything I can do on a software level to help? settings to disable, ways to run the game to give it more priority or anything? purchasing upgrades for my toaster is a bit out of reach atm.

[shelter]

The system required to run 7dtd both client and server has gone quite a bit, it's quite a big change if you ask me, considering it wasn't like this with A16 at all.

I understand they have to make changes to how the game looks and how maps are loaded/generated but still...

[DMPlayin]

While I agree that the memory could be a cause for concern and adding more would help (there's definite mention in the log about removing things from memory), I don't think it's the issue. My wife plays on a machine with only 4GB and a 1050Ti and she can play no problem.

 

We did have the same issue with that machine though (the 1050Ti is the 3rd graphics card, two were NVidia, one Radeon) and the only way to fix it was in the serverconfig.xml, replace the part in the file about disabling SteamNetworking with LiteNetLib

 

Basically, you're timing out from LiteNetLib. Whether this is a true timeout or the default timeout time is set too low (so a lag makes LiteNetLib think you've timed out), I don't know but that's how we fixed the problem.

[Limdood]

While I agree that the memory could be a cause for concern and adding more would help (there's definite mention in the log about removing things from memory), I don't think it's the issue. My wife plays on a machine with only 4GB and a 1050Ti and she can play no problem.

 

We did have the same issue with that machine though (the 1050Ti is the 3rd graphics card, two were NVidia, one Radeon) and the only way to fix it was in the serverconfig.xml, replace the part in the file about disabling SteamNetworking with LiteNetLib

 

Basically, you're timing out from LiteNetLib. Whether this is a true timeout or the default timeout time is set too low (so a lag makes LiteNetLib think you've timed out), I don't know but that's how we fixed the problem.

 

This is one of the possible solutions I was looking for. Can you be specific what you changed? my friend who was hosting the server was talking about making the server more lenient to timeouts so I wouldn't get booted (I'd still freeze, and I'd lose the 5-20 seconds, but that's ALL I'd lose, and I wouldn't have to try to re-enter the game after), but he didn't really know what to alter.

[DMPlayin]

This is one of the possible solutions I was looking for. Can you be specific what you changed? my friend who was hosting the server was talking about making the server more lenient to timeouts so I wouldn't get booted (I'd still freeze, and I'd lose the 5-20 seconds, but that's ALL I'd lose, and I wouldn't have to try to re-enter the game after), but he didn't really know what to alter.

 

In the serverconfig.xml file which is in the same folder as startdedicated.bat there is a line that starts:

<property name="ServerDisabledNetworkProtocols"

 

By default, the item in the value box is "SteamNetworking" but if your host friend closes the server, changes this to "LiteNetLib" then starts up the server again it should alleviate the problem.

[Limdood]

In the serverconfig.xml file which is in the same folder as startdedicated.bat there is a line that starts:

<property name="ServerDisabledNetworkProtocols"

 

By default, the item in the value box is "SteamNetworking" but if your host friend closes the server, changes this to "LiteNetLib" then starts up the server again it should alleviate the problem.

 

Thanks! I'll see if I can have my friend make the change and comment back in a few days (If I remember) whether it worked or not.

[Limdood]

Thanks! I'll see if I can have my friend make the change and comment back in a few days (If I remember) whether it worked or not.

 

The server change worked. I still get the freezes on single player, where they completely freeze time. I still get them on MP, where they freeze time for me, but the server continues forwards (dangerous, but tolerable, as I don't know of any other solution). BUT, I no longer get completely kicked. The game freezes for 15 seconds, then carries on, with me still playing. I appreciate the help DMPlayin.

 

Maybe when I can swing the cost and time, I'll see about upgrading the memory on this.

[Beelzybub]

That's weird that it freezes for that long both in SP and MP. Maybe it's not a memory problem.

 

Is it possibly an Anti-virus program, or some other system type program in the background?

 

I don't know if it is still the official recommendation, but we used to exclude the game folder

and the save game folder from the Anti-virus software.

 

One thing you could try is run Task Manager while you're playing and then when it freezes,

alt-tab over to Task Manager and see if another process is taking over the cpu.

[Limdood]

my computer has enough trouble alt tabbing over that it would almost certainly take long enough to actually tab out the game that I'd miss anything that was happening...as it is, the game can take a good 45 seconds to close when I'm done playing. There are also vastly different lengths of freezes...sometimes it's a split second hiccup trying to move an item in my inventory. Sometimes a full second (commonly with manually moving items on and off the toolbar in the inventory), and sometimes, inexplicably, 5-20 second freezes as I open a container, or the map, or my inventory, or interact with my inventory.

 

It seems unlikely that it would be other programs interfering, considering it ONLY happens when looting or opening a menu...NEVER when moving around or interacting with the world, in combat, mining, driving, etc. Only something that would open a menu screen, such as looting or opening a container, opening my inventory, opening the map, etc. As I said earlier, the mouse moves, but the game becomes temporarily unresponsive.

 

I'd never run into anything like it in any other games...until tonight actually, while playing "Sims Medieval," the game froze twice in about an hour...the first time for about 15 seconds, the second time for about 5. The idle animations continued to play, and I could move the mouse, but I couldn't interact in any way with the game. after the freeze ended, it registered the key presses I'd done (in this case, pausing the game) and the game continued as normal.

 

Makes me believe the memory could be the issue (especially if it's that PLUS what you say....some other program decides to fire off in the background and use up resources, so the next time in 7dtd that the game has to seek information in a certain location, like the menus, as opposed to interacting with the world, the game gets shunted to the backburner until the resources become available).

 

*shrug* I'd love to figure it out...but I don't have the money to throw into any upgrades atm, so if it seems like it'll be a hardware thing, and I can find some workaround, that'll satisfy me for now.