Steam Client Lag & Crash
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Bug: The Steam client is almost unplayable for me because of the amount of U/I lag and crashes i'm getting.
Setup: Two monitors on a Windows 10 box with Steam installed Shard 1
Repro: Start the Screeps Steam client and place the window on the primary monitor full screen. Open a large room with lots of action going on. Creeps moving around etc... Open a new window via the "New Window" button on the right bottom corner. Move the new window to my second monitor. Set the new window to the "console" tab. Have some logging happening. It does not need to be a lot, just things being logged now and then. Now work on the room a bit, setting walls, roads, etc... Go in and out of the room a couple of times via the world map. Enter other rooms and come back to the original room.
Problem: Creeps and other objects in the room will start to slow down to a crawl within minutes. I get really bad cursor lag at this point. The cursor will not follow the mouse and it takes seconds for it to move to it. After a while, if I continue on, the client will crash to desktop. The client becomes unstable and is unplayable until I close and restart it. At times the Steam app will fail to recognize that the client has closed and I will need to restart Steam to fix it. Sometimes I need to reboot to fix it.
Note that this happens within minutes EVERY time I run the steam client and not on my browser (chrome)
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It's probably has something to do with Chromium 50 (which is used by Steam client) and your setup. Could you please download this Chromium release and test whether it has the same issues?
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I'm confused, it's the Steam client that is giving me issues, not Chrome. I run the Steam Screeps app and it has the problem.
Chrome running Screeps works great.
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@zpike the steam client is build with a program called electron, which includes bundled versions of chromium, v8, and other things. When you use the steam client you are actually using chromium.
By downloading the chromium release the mentioned and loading the website there you'll help them narrow down where the issue might be.
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This post is deleted!
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@zpike I had the same issue as you. Two monitors, W10. Steam client grinds slower and slower to the point where it needs to be relaunched or crashes. The problem is exacerbated if I put Steam-Screeps on the non-primary monitor, but ultimately the same result if remaining on the main screen.
As artch pointed out, trying a particular version of Chromium (not Chrome) will isolate if it's your computer, or indeed the verison 50 that's plugged into the Steam Screeps client that is to blame.
My results here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/464350/discussions/0/1470840994964782503/
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OK, I understand now.
Installing now. I will let you know shortly the results.
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Preliminary results indicate that you guys absolutely ROCK!
I want to thank you guys for the excellent support.
Your response time was fantastic. Your response was on point and informative. You understood the issue and responded with a solution.
I did the following:
I downloaded and installed the above listed version of Chromium. A version of the browser opened and a link arrived on my desktop. I ran the link and what I assume to be a new version of Chrome opened and ran.
I rebooted. I ran the Steam client and played the game for a while doing everything I could to force the slowdown.
Everything seems to be working fine and the game does not seem to be slowing down.
At this point, it looks like you have solved my problem.
Thank you!
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Thanks Mashee, check my response above. It does look like the Chromium version was my problem.
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@zpike Steam client always uses the built-in Chromium version regardless of what you have installed on our PC. The downloaded package didn't affect your Steam client in any way. You should have opened Screeps web site in the downloaded Chromium rather than trying the Steam client again.
After all, it looks like your issue has resolved on its own for some reason. Or probably you simply needed a reboot
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It was not a reboot as the issue has been happening for the last couple of days and I have rebooted multiple times.
I will be messing around with the client all day today so I will report back with additional results as the day goes on.
Note that my Chrome client has always run the game correctly. I have never had a problem with Screeps running in Chrome. The problem I was trying to solve was running in the Steam client.
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Well, you have been proven correct.
The Steam client just died, so the issue has not been resolved.OK, how do I fix my Steam client? That's where my problem exists. Not with running under Chrome. Running the game under Chrome works fine.
I'm using Webstorm and need to figure out how to commit code with it then If i'm going to be forced to use the Chrome browser to play. The steam client auto commits but when I use the Chrome browser that mechanic does not exist. I have not yet figured out how to commit my code with Webstorm.
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Please open screeps.com web site in your downloaded version of Chromium (not Chrome) and test the game there. You cannot fix the Steam client yourself, but you can help us to find the issue so that we can fix it.
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I can do that. I did not realize I could provided needed feedback to you. I'm testing now via the Chromium browser.
Is there anything you would like me to look for or just report back with basic performance impressions?
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OK, I've been running the Chromium client as asked for about an hour now.
My thoughts:
I'm not sure, but I think the performance is actually better than vanilla Chrome. I never had it slow down and movement between rooms seems to be very fast. My cursor never slowed down and busy rooms are not slow.
I did have one "Oh snap!" page crash where the console window on the second monitor and the primary display page both crashed at the same time. I hit "reload" on the primary page and it came right back up to where I was. I had to close and then reopen the console on the second monitor.
I will continue to use Chromium for the game over the next couple of days in case you all have metering on it or something you are looking at.
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Update,
I ran the Chromium client all day since my last post. I've been doing everything. In and out of rooms, building, selecting troops, ect... with no issues except ---
Every once in a while the page will get an "Oh Snap" error and both the main page and the console page I have on the second monitor. If I refresh the main page it will come back up just fine. The console page on the second monitor must be closed and reopened from the main page to fix.
That's it. I will continue to run the Chromium client for the next couple of days, but it looks to be mostly stable and working fine.
Note that I solved my problem with the Steam client and committing code via a work around. I keep the Steam client open on an empty highway page and minimized in the background. It will do the auto commit for me. I then run the game on the Chromium client which works correctly. I edit my code in Webstorm and the Steam client commits it. The game runs just fine through it all on the Chromium browser.
I will stop posting on this thread now unless you need something more from me. I will only post back if something different happens on the Chromium client.
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Ooops! Just started getting a "Memory Error". "To many tabs are open" error in the Chromium browser.
The only way to fix it was to close and reopen the browser.
The same Chromium browser had been running all afternoon and just started getting the error.
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@zpike I believe the "too many tabs open" is unrelated to specific performance issues. If you have >1 chrome/chromium tabs or windows viewing the same room, you will get this error...regardless of your use of the Steam client or Chrome/Chromium. (Interestingly world-view doesn't currently generate this conflict) I have to assume they've tried to limit irrational requests to the same client from the server, particularly as the error is game-generated with a nice large centralised font rather than a generic browser error.
This can be "teased" out by viewing the same room from each browser in quick succession. After you've done it once, all subsequent conditions that would generate the "too many tabs" error don't appear. I flirt with this error all the time...
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I'll give that a try. TY
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We've just updated our Steam client to a newer Chromium version 59. Could you please check it and tell us if you see any difference?
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Not sure if it is related, however I started getting serious lag when going into the "Construct" menu starting yesterday after steam updated Screeps.
I get the same results when using the Steam client and Screeps.com on Chrome. I tried the Chromium download from above (Version 50) and am not getting this behavior.
