Relics : The game loads endlessly to the start screen

[samlenaik]

Bug report since the new patch : The game loads endlessly to the start screen...

[ZeDaimaoh]

Same...

[Erico]

Many people (including me) are having problems loading rendezvous systems for the latest Relics expedition. The fix I found was going to off line mode in steam and then starting the game. Turning off multiplayer did not help the problem. (I play on PC via steam).

They must be getting overloaded so going off line will force it to load from disk without internet updates to the system you are loading. Hope this helps.

[smurfy]

Originally posted by smurfy:

This is a common issue in Expeditions for the last 18-24 months.

The issue appears to be the loading of all the other player data in busy (start/rendezvous) star systems. Why it affects some players and not others is still a bit of a mystery.

Saving in a non-rendezvous system usually avoids the issue, but once it does happen, the only known fix is either wait for the game to eventually load (I remember someone reporting it took over half an hour) or load it with the game offline (easiest way is to set Steam Offline).

Multiplayer on or off does not make any difference to this particular issue.

[Myth]

Loads of people are experiencing this bug. It seems to be a temporary server-side issue which will hopefully be fixed soon. Erico mentioned a workaround he'd read about at https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/601900047372763352/

It amounts more or less to the following:-

Before starting NMS switch Steam to offline mode. Start NMS. You should find loading times are pretty much normal at this point. Do stuff in NMS - warp around etc should all be fine. Save you game (hop out of your starship etc).

Now for the experimental bit: If you're feeling brave, alt+tab back to steam and re-enable Steam's online mode. Alt+tab back to NMS and continue playing. So far load times have remained good for me, but it's entirely possible that loading might start taking ages again (e.g. when warping, teleporting etc).

Regardless, remember to re-enable Steam's online mode if/when you want your save to sync back up to the steam cloud. Definitely do it before completing any expedition.

Note: Steam achievements probably won't count if they are done in offline mode.

Edit: Smurfy beat me to it