New installation hangs at Briefing

[Pdhsky1]

Can anyone suggest things to try? Newly installed system.; Normandy and Stalingrad. I can get to the point of the briefing in the quickstart but game stalls when I press start and doesn't respond after that. I have run launcher in administrator mode with same effect. Reinstalled program and got the same behavior. Same behavior with firewall on or off. System config file is attached. I have looked for log files that might help diagnose the problem but don't find any within the game files. Secondary issue is very slow mouse response in navigating menus to begin the game. joystick (Logitech ) is selected for game

I have opened a ticket but no response after two days.

System Config.txt

[AndyJWest]

If I'm reading the system config file correctly, I rather doubt that your PC meets the minimum system specs. Your GPU (AMD Radeon HD 6450) seems to only have 1 GB of VRAM, for a start.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2024 by AndyJWest

[Avimimus]

It is often possible to run the sim below the minimum system requirements though!

[Pdhsky1]

Thanks for responding. This is just a general-purpose office computer.  I realize that the graphics board is underpowered but I'm not even getting to the point of needing more horsepower.  I want to get it running to see if there is a reason to upgrade my graphics board. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 12/31/2024 at 1:46 AM, Pdhsky1 said:

I realize that the graphics board is underpowered but I'm not even getting to the point of needing more horsepower.  I want to get it running to see if there is a reason to upgrade my graphics board. 

You *are* getting to the point of needing more horsepower. What I think is causing your issues, is being out of VRAM. I just tested, and on the smallest map (Lapino) with one of the oldest planes (Yak-1s69) and nothing else, IL2 already used 1.2GB of VRAM. You likely have some VRAM in use for other stuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if you are 50% over your VRAM on a very simple mission. Which means that it needs to transfer memory between your RAM and VRAM for approximately 50% of all instructions. This is a very slow operation, so it means that your computer literally grinds to a halt. Which I think is happening when you say the game "doesn't respond" after pressing Start.

 

On 12/31/2024 at 1:46 AM, Pdhsky1 said:

This is just a general-purpose office computer.

And a *very* old one at that. Your model was introduced 13 years ago and seems to have disappeared from the stores 3 years after that. Even with the RAM upgrade you seem to have done, it's well past its time. Rather than upgrading your graphics board, I recommend to replace your PC altogether. Even with a better CPU, it's very likely going to be bottlenecked by other specs, which also means that you likely wouldn't get your money's worth out of your new GPU.

 

On 12/30/2024 at 11:47 PM, Avimimus said:

It is often possible to run the sim below the minimum system requirements though!

True... but four times below the minimum requirements isn't going to work

[Avimimus]

I was able to run the game engine for years on a 1.5GB video card... so I wonder if getting a more powerful video card might be enough to do it? It could be the cheapest upgrade route (as the CPU and RAM seem adequate).

 

If the computer case has enough room for the video card an the computer power supply can provide enough energy to support it - most videocards are backwards compatible with even fairly dated machines.  I'd recommend getting a 4 GB card (so as to actually meet the minimum system requirements) - but if you can borrow a weaker card to run tests you might get lucky and find one that works.

 

P.S. I'm saying this as a forum member. Obviously, the minimum system requirements are the official minimum system requirements. It is a testament to the programmers that this sim can occasionally run on machines which are below these requirements - but it definitely isn't guaranteed (and the experience may suffer).

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, Avimimus said:

I was able to run the game engine for years on a 1.5GB video card... so I wonder if getting a more powerful video card might be enough to do it? It could be the cheapest upgrade route (as the CPU and RAM seem adequate).

Yeah 1.5GB would be *just* enough to fit the 1.2GB VRAM I measured. Also IIRC IL2's VRAM requirements were updated a while ago to reflect the graphics upgrades of the past few years. So with 1.5GB VRAM you're likely not going to be able to play any of the newer maps/aircraft.

 

Yes, upgrading only the video card might be the cheapest route. But the PC would likely still be bottlenecked elsewhere, and you might run into compatibility issues that make things slow and/or hard to get to work. Also, having worked in ICT for ~6 years, my experience is that 10 years is about the age where desktop PCs start failing catastrophically. So even with a new video card, chances are you'd need to buy a new PSU/processor/motherboard/etc. within a year or 2. So in the long term, it might actually be cheaper to buy a brand new low-end gaming PC than to keep using a >10 year old PC.

[Aapje]

11 hours ago, Avimimus said:

I was able to run the game engine for years on a 1.5GB video card...

 

The game engine was updated along the way, so the current engine is not the engine of back then.

 

You can upgrade to a 6600 or 7600, which should be over 35 times faster than your current card. You will definitely notice a big improvement in the game, even with the old CPU.

 

But I agree with the advice to upgrade the entire system, if reasonably possible. Everything in this system is just old and tired.