Please make sure your graphics drivers are up to date by downloading your drivers directly from the graphics card manufacturer websites. Drivers from Windows laptop manufacturer websites are often outdated.
If your gaming laptop or desktop has multiple graphics cards, please make sure you have updated drivers for both GPUs and that you have configured both PA and CoherentUI to run on your high performance dedicated GPU.
MSI Afterburner / Rivatuner ASUS / ROG Sonic Radar
3D API / OpenGL Interceptors
May cause black screens and crashes.
Lucid Virtu MVP
Sound Enhancers
May cause no sound.
ASUS Sound Studio Nahimic for Gamers
Windows Crash Dumps
PA generated crash reports with logs (and dxdiag on windows) are usually automatically uploaded to our crash reporting system.
When reporting crashes it also helps if you include the crash ID from your logs (same as the filename of the generated minidump):
xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.dmp
The default location for crash dumps generated by PA is now the logs directory in your Planetary Annihilation data directory.
The environment variable MINIDUMP_DIRECTORY can be used to change the location where PA crash minidump files are saved and will also generate more detailed (and larger) minidump files similar to the new --enable-detailed-minidump command line option.
Windows Error Reporting (WER)
The default location for mini crash dumps created by Windows Error Reporting (WER) is:
Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables (or search for environment variables if using Windows 10).
HDR10
Experimental hardware HDR10 support can be enabled on latest Windows 10 for modern Nvidia 10 series or newer GPUs connected via DisplayPort 1.4+ or HDMI 2.0+ using:
Planetary Annihilation is a cross platform client / server networked OpenGL application.
Any software that interferes with network connections or OpenGL can cause issues.
When playing you are connecting to a local server or hosted server over the internet.
A cabled Ethernet connection to your router will perform better than Wi-Fi for most games. After your router your ISP, their backhaul and their transit to PAnet AWS servers will determine the quality of your network connection.
System level crashes or mouse / keyboard freezes during live games are almost always a hardware / driver issue with your system. PA can really push your hardware to the max.
To change your display name in-game, click on the social icon in the lower right-hand corner. A menu should appear with your name and a dropdown box to change your online status. Below that says, “Change Display Name.”
A box will appear where you can type in your New Display Name. If the name you’ve entered has already been taken, a message will appear to notify you.
Adding PA Friends
To add a PA friend send them a friend request using right click on their name in any of the following:
community chat
recent
search results
Friends need to be logged in and online to accept friend invites.
PA Accounts
Historical backers and anyone who wants to play outside of steam can create an optional PAnet account with a username and password that can be linked with a steam account for TITANS ownership.
Lost TITANS Ownership After Linking Steam with PA Account
The safe way to check stats is via control-p in-game to toggle between:
Client FPS
GPU memory usage
When connected to a local or public server:
Server (always max 1FPS)
Sim (max 10 FPS once game has started)
Close Other Applications / Browsers
PA is a CPU heavy game especially when running a local server.
Close unnecessary applications and browser tabs especially on older systems.
Client Stalls or Unit Jumps
This is usually a network issue such as packet loss or network lag in transit to PAnet AWS servers (or OVH US for the dedicated servers).
Some network issues may be temporary due to congestion or bad ISP transit / peering routes.
Software such as firewalls or network optimisers can also disrupt network connections. eg ASUS / Rog GameFirst on Windows.
Clean Testing
You can start a clean copy of PA without deleting your existing Planetary Annihilation Data Directory by using the --localstorageurl command line parameter.
Planetary Annihilation Data Directory
The data directory or folder is separate from your install directory and contains:
logs
local configuration localstore
file system mods client_mods and server_mods
downloads for community mods download
The data directory is shared by all installations of Planetary Annihilation:
steam
launcher
stable or PTE streams
Updating or reinstalling PA does not impact the data directory.
By default all installations use the same local configuration. You can override this using the --localstorageurl command line parameter.
--localstorageurl=localstore-testing
Windows Planetary Annihilation Data Directory
The default location is in your local app data directory:
Right click on Planetary Annihilation: TITANS or Planetary Annihilation in your list of games
Select Properties
Click the LOCAL FILES tab
Click BROWSE LOCAL FILES
Steam Command Line Parameters
Open your Steam library
Right click Planetary Annihilation: TITANS then select Properties
Click Set Launch Options…
PA Launcher Command Line Parameters
Open the PA launcher and sign in
Click on your username then select Build Options… from the list
Additional command-line options
Crash Dumps
PA generated crash reports with logs (and dxdiag on windows) are usually automatically uploaded to our crash reporting system.
When reporting crashes it also helps if you include the crash ID from your logs (same as the filename of the generated minidump):
xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.dmp
The default location for crash dumps generated by PA is now the logs directory in your Planetary Annihilation data directory.
The environment variable MINIDUMP_DIRECTORY can be used to change the location where PA crash minidump files are saved and will also generate more detailed (and larger) minidump files similar to the new --enable-detailed-minidump command line option.
Windows Error Reporting (WER) and macOS may also generate different crash reports:
When there is a repeatable crash after starting a game, clicking on preview PIPs, etc it’s often caused by local issues like:
out of date drivers
out of date BIOS
faulty / failing hardware
faulty or mismatched RAM
old or underrated power supply
PA can stress your hardware more than other games and we can normally spot local issues by:
uniqueness of crash
type of crash
location of crash
kernel events
Full Screen Desktop Resolution and 4K
Full screen uses a borderless window at your native desktop resolution to allow for quick alt-tabbing to desktop and other applications without disruption.
Subsampling
If you are playing on an older or lower spec GPU then try subsampling:
Experimental hardware HDR10 support can be enabled on latest Windows 10 for modern Nvidia 10 series or newer GPUs connected via DisplayPort 1.4+ or HDMI 2.0+ using:
Starting with build 114220 we have upgraded our Ubuntu based toolchain to gcc-9 with LTO which is available in the default repositories or backports of most distributions.
