Graphics Driver Crashes - Updated 16/01- Open Beta

[TriumphJordi]

Hello!

Update 22/05

We've received word from NVidia that they released NVidia Driver 555.85. This Driver Update/Version tackles further Graphics Driver Crashes that you might have experienced during gameplay. We recommend that eligible users that still experience Graphics Driver Crashes update their NVidia Drivers to this version.

This is also a reminder for those that used the Driver Workaround in the past or lowered your Shadow Quality as per the instructions here. If you have not done so already you can disable the Driver Workaround and return your Shadow Quality to your preference, as fixes for these have previously been released.

Update 16/01

Over the past few months we've been working on ways to reduce the amount of Driver Crashes and players impacted by them. Players that in the past experienced crashes due to their Shadow Quality Setting as well as players that experienced seemingly random Graphics Driver Crashes are invited to switch over to the Open Beta Branchh.

If you're using any of the previously provided work arounds then please disable them. Start new games and please let us known if you still experience Graphics Driver Crashes. When reporting those issues make sure to provide the Crash Report Name so we can retrieve it from our Backend and take a look.

You can access the Open Beta branch by going to Properties > Beta and selecting Open Beta.

Update 22/06

After the Wyvern Update we've observed that the Nvidia 3050's and 1650's are experiencing a high amount of crashes. While we've expanded the Driver Workaround to include the 3050's this might not be sufficient. For users experiencing Driver Crashes on game version 1.003.003.80377 with a 3050 or 1650, we recommend them to set the Shadow Quality to Off in the in-game Graphics Settings.

Update 30/05

Last week NVidia released a Game Ready Driver that specifically mentioned stability issues within Age of Wonders 4. If you are using a 3000 series GPU we recommend that you do the following:

• Update your Graphics Driver to Version 532.03 or newer
  
• Disable the Driver Workaround in the Game Settings

We've done some internal checks on our own hardware and the results are looking good.

Original Post

For the past two weeks we've been working hard on addressing the Graphics Crashes that have been occuring. With Hotfix #2 out we've disabled the Hotfix branch for the time being. While these patches have had postive results for the majority of our users, there's still lingering issues.

o Graphics Driver Crashes
- If you are experiencing graphics driver crashes or seemingly random crashes; please make sure you have the Graphics>Driver Workaround setting ENABLED.
- If you did not experience Graphics Driver crashes before Hotfix 1 and did after, then we recommend turning this off.

o Black Screen and Audio
- We are aware of certain LTS versions of Windows causing launch issues. While we've done our best to resolve the crashes, this is not something we're likely to be able to fix. If you are on Windows Enterprise Version 10.0.14393 please update to Windows 10 21H2.

o Launch Crash with Nahimic
- Several reports we've received find their origin in a piece of software called Nahimic. If you have this installed on your PC it might be worth disabling it for Age of Wonders 4.

o Crashes/PC reboot with XMP profile enabled for DDR5 RAM
- When experiencing these issues, it is best to disable the XMP profile for now.

o Crashes on startup before being able to get to the Settings
- If you experience a launch crash through the Paradox Launcher, please try to launch the game directly from the .exe in the installation. The error message there will be a lot more usefull to figure out your issue.

- For any crashes on startup it would be worth trying to change the settings file directly at Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4\Config\PlatformSettings0.cfg using a text editor.

- Make sure the correct GPU is selected; if not and the game does not adhere to your PC settings, then in the settings file:
Remove Video.DisplayAdapterID
Set Video.DisplayAdapterName to your GPU name, which be found in your Device Manager under Display Adapters (example: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060)

- If you suspect the crash is a driver crash, also set:
Video.DriverWorkaround=true

- If it still crashes, lower the above mentioned settings directly like this:

• Set Video.VSyncRate to 0
  
• Set GraphicsOptions.ShadowQuality to 0
  
• Set GraphicsOptions.TextureQuality 0
  
• Set GraphicsOptions.QualityMode to 0

o Performance/GPU heating/crashes on rendering heavy scenes
- In case of these issues, we recommend trying to toggle/lower specific settings:

• Settings > Graphics > Vsync
  
• Settings > Graphics > Shadow Quality
  
• Settings > Graphics > Texture Quality
  
• Settings > Graphics > Quality Mode

(Above settings are examples of the most common offenders, other settings might need to be lowered)

- If you experience performance issues specifically after Hotfix #2 you can try disabling the following setting in Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4\Config\PlatformSettings0.cfg

• Video.ResourceAliasingWorkaround=false

o No Age of Wonders 4 files in Documents
- If you do not have Logs or Config Folder in your Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4 and you do not use OneDrive or a Cloud solution you might find your files in:

• %AppData%\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4
  
• %LocalAppData%\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4

If these above suggestions are ineffective we'll need to take a closer look at your issue. To do so please make a Bug Report on our Paradox Forum page with your information. To share your crash data with us:

• Read the information in the crash reporter that pops up
  
• If you agree, click the send button
  
• Copy the crash name at the bottom of the screen
  
• Use the crash report name in the bug report you can make on the AoW4 bugs forum

Thank you all for your support and your patience while we work to resolve these issues for everybody.

[Suculento]

Hey, TriumphJordi, thanks for your input.

In my case the game is using the integrated GPU (CPU 5 7600X) instead of the dedicated one (5700 XT).

[Mr void Dragon]

the beta hotfix seems to have gotten me past the original crash point (on a RTX 3080 and Ryzen 7 2800)

[Kiki]

probably a good time to remind people to update their damn drivers. comes with both stability and a performance boost in some cases

[BiggieTheDog]

Originally posted by Not a Doctor™:

probably a good time to remind people to update their damn drivers. comes with both stability and a performance boost in some cases :os_niko:

Didn't work.

[Hakkon]

Drivers don't do eveyrthing.
Anyway, my friend have turn off his MB graphic cards, and by what he said, the game auto' switched to his 30xx GTX and now it's working. At least, he didn't crashed yet.

That's a risky manipulation, so ain't sure to do it myself, but here it is.

[TriumphJordi]

Hey Guys, don't forget that there is a branch available called Hotfix as mentioned in the OP. This has a potential fix for the frequent driver crashes.

You can easily switch branches through the Game Properties > Beta and selecting Hotfix from the Dropdown Menu.

[Mr void Dragon]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Hey Guys, don't forget that there is a branch available called Hotfix as mentioned in the OP. This has a potential fix for the frequent driver crashes.

You can easily switch branches through the Game Properties > Beta and selecting Hotfix from the Dropdown Menu.

indeed. the beta hotfix seems to have worked for me

[bepis]

i swapped to the beta and lowered some settings and it runs perfectly now

[Hakkon]

Originally posted by Moffatt:

i swapped to the beta and lowered some settings and it runs perfectly now

Can you lower it before bein in the game ?

[^azreal^]

Combination of opt to beta and updating graphic drivers seems to work for me (RTX3080 i9-9900k).

[Prometheuz]

System: 13900KS + rtx 4090(driver 531.79). Game freezing and drop fps(165>>>30), changing settings does not affect performance, after a while crashes with an error. It's impossible to play. Hotfix dont work

[AFishwithAHat]

chrashes instantly on launch Intel UHD 620. Updated my drivers and opt in to the hotfix. Didnt work

[Tallahassee]

had that error and just updated my drivers and everything runs perfect now! I have an NVIDIA RTX2070 Super and everything runs smooth so far (on 4K and everything on high). beautiful game btw!

[McKillaboy]

Hello, I was able to get it to work by going to:
\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Age of Wonders 4\Config
Open the 'PlatformSettings0.cfg' file with notepad.
Change the settings to these, save the file and then open the game again.

GraphicsOptions.AmbientOcclusionQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.AntiAliasMode=1
GraphicsOptions.BloomEnabled=false
GraphicsOptions.DepthOfFieldEnabled=false
GraphicsOptions.EdgeBlurEnabled=false
GraphicsOptions.EditorQualityMode=1
GraphicsOptions.IBLQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.LightingQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.QualityMode=1
GraphicsOptions.ReflectionsEnabled=false
GraphicsOptions.RenderScale=1.000000
GraphicsOptions.ShadowQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.SoftParticlesEnabled=false
GraphicsOptions.SoilCoverQuality=31
GraphicsOptions.TerrainQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.TextureQuality=1
GraphicsOptions.VolumetricsEnabled=false

After that, you can change the settings in game and see which one makes your game crash.

[Sh4nK]

Geforce GTX 1650

- Hotpatch done
- Fully updated drives
- Lowest Graphic Settings

I think my Acer Nitro 5 will be ruined from overheat if I play for more than a few minutes at a time TBH.

GPU: 95% never seen it that high.