[2023] Older Games microstuttering after every single ingame day

This is not a problem with the forums, so moved to the Tech Suport forum of one of the affected games.  

Please do a full **clean** re-install:

- move any valued save games elsewhere
- "uninstall" in Steam-EU4
- manually delete both the Steam/SteamApps/common/Europa Universalis IV AND Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV folders
- re-install game in Steam, run a Steam Verify when done.
- add EU4.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.
- start the game with no mods active and test

In particular make sure there are no files or folders left under either the Steam EU4 or Documents EU4 locations, before installing again.


IF that doesn't help, Right click on eu4.exe , properties, compatibility. Tick "disable fullScreen optimisations" untick every other box in that dialog, Apply and exit.

Edit that settings.txt to say:

refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
borderless=no

vsync=no

Then in the launcher Game Settings menu, select fullScreen display mode.


IF that doesn't help:
DXDIAG is a program you run from the Windows search box on the task bar. After running it will open a window and start collecting info with a progress bar in the lower-left corner. When it completes click the 'save all information' button and save it to a file then attach that file here.

Please attach here your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV/settings.txt and pdx_settings.txt .
From your Documents/Paradox Interactive/Europa Universalis IV/logs/ folder, attach here system.log , error.log .  

From those files, you haven't made the settings changes I posted above:

refreshRate=280
fullScreen=no
borderless=yes

vsync=yes

Edit that settings.txt to say:

refreshRate=60
fullScreen=yes
borderless=no

vsync=no

Then in the launcher Game Settings menu, select fullScreen display mode.  

It's hard to see how a lower refresh rate could possibly make the games stutter more. Did you try the same thing with the other affected games? What actual fps are you getting in the games when my suggested settings are in use?

Then, make a new Windows user on this machine and log into that. Disable everything you can in the Windows Startup settings and reboot. Is it any better?

If not, install and run the free utility Speccy. Send its output to a text file and attach that here please.

Speccy - Free Download

Download Speccy - the System Information tool www.ccleaner.com  

It is hard to see how this has anything to do with your new monitor. But if you swap the old one in again does it come good for you?

You have 2 Windows updates stuck "In Progress" for over a month. If you run the Windows Update app manually does it find anything to do? If so apply that and reboot.

I see OneDrive is running. Your Windows user Documents folder is not on OneDrive, I hope - it's local?  

A-Dash said: Really? I just did a windows update today and my computers everything is updated, thats odd.

If you search that output for Not Installed you'll see it.

A-Dash said: Also I dont know if my windows user documents folder is on OneDrive or not, how do I check?

Right click on Documents in the left column of File Explorer, just under This PC there. Go to properties, location. What do you see in there?  

That is normal, yes. So your problem is elsewhere.

You only mentioned CK2, EU4, and HOI4 above. Does this affect any non-PDS game such as PA, Surviving Mars, that i se you have?

Or newer PDs games like I:R and CK3?  

I think that reset, or the problem that caused it, is more likely to be a cause of this problem than your monitor. If you swap the old monitor in again does it come good for you?

Please let me know how the tests with other games pans out, thanks.  

There's only what you see in that thread. At least two unrelated workarounds/fixes mentioned in it, and as you see we haven't had a continuous stream of such reports across all those games since then (some on particular games, of course). Most likely those reports were unrelated causes to each other.

I'll be here when you get back.