100% CPU Usage?!

[EvilCreature]

Title pretty much says it all... I'm getting exactly 100% CPU usage when I play StarMade singleplayer. This doesn't happen on multiplayer though, just singleplayer. I also basically can't do anything else while playing singleplayer because of the obvious.

I don't understand why this is happening. I've already tried adjusting the settings on the client server (singleplayer) and nothing is helping. Lowering the values causes the game to have extreme block delay whilest still using 100% CPU. Raising the values decreases the amount of frames I get, resulting in a stuttering lag whilest still using 100% CPU.

This is very confusing because I have a fairly decent computer and I can run games like Skyrim on high settings without any lag. Here is the basic information for my DxDiag:

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System Information
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Time of this report: 8/29/2013, 18:36:31
Machine name: SARAH-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130708-1532)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 570
BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/20/10 17:36:20 Ver: 08.00.15
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 250 Processor (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 6142MB RAM
Page File: 3450MB used, 8833MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

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DxDiag Notes
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Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.



My graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650.

In terms of graphics, StarMade is a lot like Minecraft with low-end graphics. This has lead me to believe that it's possibly a rendering issue/block loading issue that's messing with my CPU. Minecraft hardly uses any of my CPU when I play it, even when I record it (and I don't lag when I record it).

I'm the type of person who likes to build big projects by myself in singleplayer because I work terribly with others when it comes to big projects and such. I prefer to just do it all my way, even if it takes longer. This means that I have chosen StarMade singleplayer over multiplayer, and I'd really like to get singleplayer working correctly.

Any ideas? I don't see why my PC should have any problems running this game and there is no reason for a game like this to take up all my CPU. I believe the creator of StarMade even said he designed the game to work on both high end and low end computers. So what's going on?

Extra Notes:

• Planets and just terrain or structures in general (including pirates, abandoned space stations, astroids, and pirate stations) take an incredibly long time to load even when I'm right next to it.
• I have terrible block delay, sometimes lasting over 10 seconds before the block is finally destroyed or placed.
• I get stutter (FPS) lag when I enter a new star system or when something big (like a planet) is trying to load.

 

[DracoNB]

Run the dedicated server bat file and then startup the game and connect to your local server.

 

[Zaflis]

I have computer with roughly same specs as you, running dedicated server from bat file. Server itself is not most of the time using much CPU, but the client is. When i want to load my full faction planet, one that\'s been seen tens of times before, it takes propably 2-3 minutes of flying around the planet loading chunks. I\'m using rendering distance 11, and chunk count 2000 in options.

Also Starmade is using higher shader technology than Minecraft, although understandably still in alpha it\'s not nearly as optimized.

 

[Warpkiller]

I don\'t know why but from what I\'ve read and from experience trying to play the game, it appears Starmade has some odd techincal issue where it can cause big problems for your CPU. The game runs great, no lag, very high FPS, and it should given the retro-graphics. However, the fans on my system go ape, they ramp up the speed and power, I\'m waiting for my computer to become self-aware and declare \"lift off!\".

I don\'t know why. Why does Starmade rape your CPU like that? I\'m not the only one based on what I\'ve heard in the forums. Never have this issue with any other game. I\'d rather not play this game much further until they fix the problem.

 

[Rottenflieger]

I have the same problem. My PC is not a high end one but it is fairly decent.In Singleplayer the game becomes laggy once I start working with more than a few blocks and the fans start sounding so bad I have to close the game. I\'ve also played a few LAN games of Starmade (hosting and playing with one computer, whilst my friend with an almost identical pc joins my server). Whilst my friend running just the game will suffer very little lag, I on the other hand am watching a slideshow with the added bonus of using my computer as a heater! I can only guess this is due to the game still being in alpha.

 

[Megacrafter127]

The graphics aren\'t the issue, since the GPU handles them. So having retro graphics or high-end graphics won\'t change much(Except RAM usage, but that isn\'t a problem here).

Also, the physics of SM take up a lot more calculation, than in MC, since in SM the blocks(of ships) can collide too. and due to the current system, ship\'s are stored in the game, it just takes time to do the physics. I\'d recommend to manually change the .cfg files, since they contain options, that cannot be changed using the UI.

 

[MossyStone48]

The pre-2010 processors using 45nms manufacturing process have higher clock rates and large l2 caches but they do not perform well on physics calculations. A cheap APU only 2 years newer mops the floor with the Athlon II x2 series. The integrated video cards on those older comps are also really dicey even offerings from nVidia and ATI were underwhelming. You buck that with a very nice 2012 built GTX 650. While the game is running flank speed on your GPU your CPU has become the performance bottle neck. This seems to mostly affect initial loads of new chunks. I have an AMD c50 with the same issue. The game runs great... once everything is loaded. If I have to load -anything- new memory throughput spikes, FPS drops and the touch pad on the laptop starts warming up. That\'s the motherboard getting hot under the collar as the chipset tries to pick up the slack between the c50 and the dedicated Radeon 6250 GPUs memory consumpton. In your case it\'s also memory consumption but you can actually do something about it. More memory is not the issue. You need to get that sleek new GPU away from that outdated CPU. My humble little c50 can run starmade but to help with the memory accesses I\'ve knocked all gfx setting to nearly nothing and I even run the game on that laptop at 800x600. I NEVER run that laptop in single player mode and I NEVER host a server from it. The CPU simply can\'t handle it. However in multiplayer servers it can usully pull 20-25 fps and the lag during loads is reduced considerably using my lower setting. You could do something similar but it\'d be a waste of that GTX.


TL:DR
Outside of putting that GPU on to a new board with a beefier CPU there\'s not much you can do. I\'d avoid single player and host a multiplayer LAN server off a machine with a better CPU.

 

[AndyP]

We need more information about this bug.


What version of star-made are you using? (The number stated in the launcher)

Did you reset the universe, and its using still 100% or did it happen after spawning a ship, station or something else?

Post or private message me your log-files. It should be in there why this is happening.

- Andy

 

[ObiShawnKenobi]

It warms my heart to see people reply on a dead thread.