Help: Crystal Project is frequently crashing!

[River Running Games]

Some people have reported that Crystal Project frequently crashes for them during gameplay, usually when changing zones or teleporting around, and sometimes when adjusting graphics options.

It seems like this might be related to running integrated graphics (eg, Intel HD Graphics). Crystal Project runs in 32 bit mode to maximize compatibility, but 32 bit apps have a limit on how much RAM they are allowed to use. Usually this isn't a problem because Crystal Project has an upper limit to how much RAM it needs and this amount is much lower than the 32 bit cap. The problem is when using integrated graphics, VRAM is shared with system RAM, and this amount counts towards how much RAM Crystal Project is allowed to use in 32 bit mode. When the cap is exceeded, the game will crash.

I have created a 64 bit build of Crystal Project which should solve this problem. When running integrated graphics, Crystal Project will no longer hit the memory cap. When running dedicated graphics, there should be no difference. The only downside is the requirement for a 64 bit CPU. However, 32 bit CPUs aren't really used anymore, so I don't believe this is actually a problem these days.

Currently, the 64 bit build is in beta. To opt in, open the Crystal Project Properties in Steam, select Betas on the left, and then select "beta - For testing the x64 build" from the dropdown menu on the right.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could try opting in and letting me know whether it works OK, even if you're not having any problems right now. I'm likely going to be making this the default version soon, so I would love to hear if there are any problems with it. Thank you!

[Daze]

Maybe not the feedback you're looking for, but before this, the Steam Deck couldn't open the game, even with running it through proton. Opting in to this fixed that and now I can actually play. Thanks!

[Xaelon]

I installed the beta this morning. I'll come back after playing it for a few hours and let you know if I run into any issues.

[River Running Games]

Originally posted by Daze:

Maybe not the feedback you're looking for, but before this, the Steam Deck couldn't open the game, even with running it through proton. Opting in to this fixed that and now I can actually play. Thanks!

Thanks for letting me know! I did have a problem where Valve changed the default launch settings on steam deck, but I believe it was fixed very recently. Crystal Project runs natively on linux/steam deck so it actually won't work with proton. It sounds like switching to the beta build might have caused it to pick up the correct launch settings.

Originally posted by Xaelon:

I installed the beta this morning. I'll come back after playing it for a few hours and let you know if I run into any issues.

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[Xaelon]

I played on the beta for around 5 hours yesterday while doing endgame cleanup and I didn't run into any problems.

I did experience some very minor 'hitching' while going from one side of the the Capital Pipeline to the other on a normal Quintar .

By "hitching" I mean that the game would freeze for a fraction of a second every 10 seconds or so. It stuck out to me be because the game is normally perfectly smooth. It only happened in the location I mentioned and was barely even noticeable.

[River Running Games]

Thanks for letting me know. I think some places have this kind of hitching sometimes due to how the game streams in content when moving quickly. I think this code could be made to run more efficiently one day.

Did you by any chance try running that same stretch on the x86 version? (ie, non-64 bit beta). I don't think the hitching would be caused by the 64 bit upgrade, but I just thought I would ask to make sure.

[Xaelon]

Originally posted by River Running Games:

Did you by any chance try running that same stretch on the x86 version? (ie, non-64 bit beta). I don't think the hitching would be caused by the 64 bit upgrade, but I just thought I would ask to make sure.

I have not gone through that area on the x86 version of the game no. I'm still running the beta version for the time being.

I do however mean to go back to the normal version of the game and attempt to reproduce the hitching there.

I'll let you know if it persists.

[Xaelon]

Originally posted by Xaelon:

Originally posted by River Running Games:

Did you by any chance try running that same stretch on the x86 version? (ie, non-64 bit beta). I don't think the hitching would be caused by the 64 bit upgrade, but I just thought I would ask to make sure.

I have not gone through that area on the x86 version of the game no. I'm still running the beta version for the time being.

I do however mean to go back to the normal version of the game and attempt to reproduce the hitching there.

I'll let you know if it persists.

Swapped back to the base version of the game and went to the area, and yes the minor hitching is present there as well.

I'll keep playing through the areas I have left on the beta and let you know if I run into anything.

[River Running Games]

Thank you very much for letting me know! While it would have been nice if the x64 version ran better, having them perform the same is actually quite OK. The latest official version (1.2.0) is now 64 bit. The previous 32 bit version can be opted into just in case some people have problems.

If there are problems, I'll have to look into setting up a launcher or something for the next version so that it would become possible to choose between 32 or 64 bit.