Extreme lag even in main menu

:arrow_forward: GAME INFORMATION

:point_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: 101.101.63581.0 9025584
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:arrow_forward: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:point_down: DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.

I haven’t played in a couple years. Just reinstalled DE and the game lags horribly with the screen freezing for a half second or so every couple seconds, even when just in the main menu and continuing when in games. This never happened before on this same PC.

I don’t have antivirus software running. Neither CPU, GPU, nor RAM are anywhere close to 100% utilization. The game is installed on an SSD. Same machine runs other games without any trouble. Setting all graphics settings to minimum has no effect. I have reinstalled the game, uninstalled all mods, closed all background programs, updated (and also downgraded) graphics drivers, all to no avail. I am aware that this bug can sometimes be caused by a third-party program called Citrix, but I do not have it installed, nor have I ever.

Specs:
i7-9700K
GTX 1060 6GB
16GB RAM

EDIT to update: GPU usage drops to 0% during stutters; however, other games can be run smoothly at the same time that AoE2 is struggling. I can get a smooth 70 FPS in God of War (2018) with AoE2 in another tab unable to keep up a smooth 15 FPS in the menu. The system is running fine; something specifically about AoE2 is proventing it from using the GPU.

:arrow_forward: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:point_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!

  • 100% of the time (ALWAYS)

:arrow_forward: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:point_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!

The only step to reproduce this issue is to launch the game on my computer. It happens immediately 100% of the time.

:arrow_forward: EXPECTED RESULT

:point_down: What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?

Game should run smoothly, not freeze or stutter to such an extreme degree.

:arrow_forward: IMAGE

:point_down: ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem.

You can see an example of the stuttering in this gif:

(imgur.com / w5MP7hT)
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Hey @StarClaw4534136

A few more things you could consider trying:

  1. Can you check if checking or unchecking the V-Sync checkbox in the Options improves your performance? Modifying the FPS Limit and making it closer to your monitor could help too.

  2. Can you disable Enhanced Graphics?

  3. Can you try to add the whole game folder to your antivirus’ exception list? C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\AoE2DE is the default, AoE2DE_s.exe is there.
    I know you mentioned not having an anti-virus but Windows has one built in.

  4. Could you see if your Windows version is up to date?

If the problem is not solved, please contact support:

https://support.ageofempires.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Good luck!