Steins;Gate weird error

[Uni]

Are you running your computer with Non-Unicode Japanese? (link to instructions): Yes

Game: Steins;Gate

Description of Problem: I can open and play the game without any problem or bug, but the text always loads slow, no matter if I set message speed faster or slower it always runs slowly. In case I put the message speed faster the chat window freezes/lag for a few seconds before all the message is shown (it's the same time as it would be in lowest speed). If i try with double click or ctrl it freezes too. If I put the message speed at lowest it runs fine(but it's too painful that I can't run faster). Sound, images and all others things are fine, no errors that I have seen, it is just the text

Your Operating System: Windows 7

64 or 32 bit (link to how to find): 64 bit

What did you already try? (Uninstall/Reinstall, Redownload, Run as admin, etc): I have tried installing all the internet version i have been able to find, reinstalling them, setting graphical to low requirements (it's one of the visual novels that most requirements ask for but I think my pc should run it without problem (4gb ram, Amd athlon dual core 4800+, Ati radeon 5450). I have also tried applying patch 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3. Tried admin, compatibilities but nothing worked.

Did you download your game from Fuwanovel?: Yes, tried this version and others but the same error in all of them

I know it's weird but actually don't know what to do. Sorry if there is any grammar mistakes, English is not my native language if you don't understand any part tell me and i will try to explain it better. Thanks for the help,

[Mephisto]

Any engineers out there know any possible reasons for the lag?

I had steins;gate lag a few times too, but that was usually due to my computer reducing its available memory since it was a shitty laptop. The requirements for steins;gate are a bit higher than normal for VNs though.

[REtransInternational]

First figure out where the bottleneck is. It could be CPU, HDD/RAM, or GPU.

While it's lagging open Task Manager and see if the CPU usage is at 100%. If you have a multicore CPU, see if any single core is at 100%. If it's the game's process that's doing it, then you've found the issue and there might not be much you can do other than upgrade or check graphics settings (see below) to use GPU accel instead of software rendering.

Look at memory usage - you may be running out if it's near the top --- you can try closing other running applications to resolve this. A single VN usually doesn't require that much but if you have many other processes they'll also consume memory and the total might not leave enough left over.

Finally, if the HDD activity light is constantly on then the bottleneck is there; it must be said that you shouldn't expect great performance if you're also copying around large files, torrents, etc. and trying to run the game at the same time. (An SSD may help in that case, although still not a panacea.) If memory AND HDD are bottlenecking but the CPU isn't doing much then you're probably running out of memory and the system is swapping heavily. Try to stay below that load level.

The only other thing left to consider is the GPU, although highly unlikely; you could try switching to software rendering if the game has the option to do that and the CPU usage isn't high. If it has DirectX/OpenGL/etc. you can try the different graphics options.

[Uni]

First figure out where the bottleneck is. It could be CPU, HDD/RAM, or GPU.

While it's lagging open Task Manager and see if the CPU usage is at 100%. If you have a multicore CPU, see if any single core is at 100%. If it's the game's process that's doing it, then you've found the issue and there might not be much you can do other than upgrade or check graphics settings (see below) to use GPU accel instead of software rendering.

Look at memory usage - you may be running out if it's near the top --- you can try closing other running applications to resolve this. A single VN usually doesn't require that much but if you have many other processes they'll also consume memory and the total might not leave enough left over.

Finally, if the HDD activity light is constantly on then the bottleneck is there; it must be said that you shouldn't expect great performance if you're also copying around large files, torrents, etc. and trying to run the game at the same time. (An SSD may help in that case, although still not a panacea.) If memory AND HDD are bottlenecking but the CPU isn't doing much then you're probably running out of memory and the system is swapping heavily. Try to stay below that load level.

The only other thing left to consider is the GPU, although highly unlikely; you could try switching to software rendering if the game has the option to do that and the CPU usage isn't high. If it has DirectX/OpenGL/etc. you can try the different graphics options.

Thanks for answering, I have been looking at cpu and general problems but I don't think that's the cause, before chat lags, images and sound should crash before I think. Anyway looked at CPU and memory but cpu is about 50% and ram is fine ( the game don't pass 200mb ram and I have tried closing everything). About HDD issues actually I dont know much about but I don't think that's the problem (my hdd is fine/don't have any problem with it). Anyway thanks for replying I will try to make a new fresh install and see if there is anything wrong but I don't have any hope that I will see anything weird

Edit: Not found anything that may affect to the game, same error, run out of ideas.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Uni

[REtransInternational]

Thanks for answering, I have been looking at cpu and general problems but I don't think that's the cause, before chat lags, images and sound should crash before I think. Anyway looked at CPU and memory but cpu is about 50% and ram is fine ( the game don't pass 200mb ram and I have tried closing everything). About HDD issues actually I dont know much about but I don't think that's the problem (my hdd is fine/don't have any problem with it). Anyway thanks for replying I will try to make a new fresh install and see if there is anything wrong but I don't have any hope that I will see anything weird

Edit: Not found anything that may affect to the game, same error, run out of ideas.

50%? Is that the total CPU usage or just 50% of one core? On a dual-core system 50% total could mean a single core is at full load. A quad will only show 25% in that case. (Post a screenshot if you're not sure how to interpret the statistics.) Also notice that you'll have to look at the stats while it's lagging.

[Uni]

As far I know the two cores are been using, the cpu is about 40-60%, sometimes makes peaks at 80% but most of the time is fine. When text is loading it's the same nothing changes, it stays at 50%, also I set it to full priority but nothing. I have been asking since I saw that a video codec is needed in Chaos;Head post, maybe is needed in tis game too? or any pack I have is making the error? When the game is open there isn't any running I checked so I don't think that's the cause but I don't know what else try.

Thanks for replying.