Windows

A great way to troubleshoot Windows issues is by starting with a clean boot: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/

Generic troubleshooting: https://planetaryannihilation.com/support/troubleshooting/

Windows System Requirements

MinimumRecommended
Windows 7 Service Pack 1Windows 10 latest

Update Your Windows GPU Drivers

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 Drivers from Windows laptop manufacturer websites are often outdated.

Alternatively use the graphic card manufacturer auto detection and update tools:

Multiple GPUs or Switchable Graphics

If your gaming laptop or desktop has multiple graphics cards, please make sure you have updated drivers for both cards and that you have configured both PA and CoherentUI to run on your high performance dedicated GPU.

Windows Planetary Annihilation Data Directory

The default location is in your local app data directory:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\local\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation

Your user AppData directory is hidden by default so you have a couple of options:

Windows Incompatible Software

ASUS / ROG GameFirstMay cause network lag resulting in unit stutter / jumps with both online and offline servers.
Firewall / Security Suites
May cause connection failures and crashes.

Disable or add exceptions for SSL / protocol scanning / filtering for PA.exe, server.exe and CoherentUI_Host.exe

ESET: https://support.eset.com/en/kb5833-manage-protocolssltls-filtering-in-eset-windows-home-products
Kaspersky: https://support.kaspersky.com/12684#block2
On Screen Displays (OSD)May cause black screens and crashes.

MSI Afterburner / Rivatuner
ASUS / ROG Sonic Radar
3D API / OpenGL InterceptorsMay cause black screens and crashes.

Lucid Virtu MVP
Sound EnhancersMay 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:

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps\

WER crash dump files are named like:

  • PA.exe.NNNNN.dmp

Windows Environment Variables

To set environment variables on Windows use:

  • Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables (or search for environment variables if using Windows 10).

Troubleshooting

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.

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.

System Requirements

MinimumRecommended
CPUMODERN Quad CoreMODERN Quad Core+
Memory8GB RAM for dedicated GPU
12GB RAM for integrated GPU
4GB free for local server		16GB RAM
GPUOpenGL 3.2+ / 1GB VRAMDedicated GPU
Storage5GB available space7 GB available space
InternetBroadbandBroadband via Ethernet

Older CPUs

  • AMD Phenom
  • Intel Core 2

Try the legacy build.: https://planetaryannihilation.com/guides/planetary-annihilation-public-test-environments-pte/

Verify Your Game Files

Clear Your Download Cache

Delete the contents of the download directory in your Planetary Annihilation Data Directory.

Remove Special Characters from your Display Name

Special characters in display names can cause issues like:

  • hanging on the login accepted screen
  • game over not appearing

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.

Disable FPS Counters / Overlays / Memory Optimisers

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.

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:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\local\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation

Your user AppData directory is hidden by default so you have a couple of options:

macOS Planetary Annihilation Data Directory

The default location is in your local library folder:

/Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Application Support/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation
~/Library/Application Support/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation

Your user library folder is hidden by default and can be accessed via:

Linux Planetary Annihilation Data Directory

The default location is in your home directory:

  • ~/.local/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation/

Steam Installation Directory

  • Open your Steam library
  • 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

  1. Open your Steam library
  2. Right click Planetary Annihilation: TITANS then select Properties
  3. Click Set Launch Options…

PA Launcher Command Line Parameters

  1. Open the PA launcher and sign in
  2. Click on your username then select Build Options… from the list
  3. Additional command-line options

Crash Reports

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: https://support.planetaryannihilation.com/kb/faq.php?id=200

Streaming

Use game capture with a specific window to avoid jitter when scrolling.

macOS

macOS is our primary development environment.

Generic troubleshooting: https://planetaryannihilation.com/support/troubleshooting/

macOS System Requirements

MinimumRecommended
macOS10.9 64 bit10.15
CPUMODERN Quad Core i5MODERN Quad Core i7+
Memory8GB RAM for dedicated GPU
12GB RAM for integrated GPU
4GB free for local server		16GB RAM
GPUOpenGL 3.2+Dedicated GPU
Storage5GB available space7 GB available space
InternetBroadbandEthernet Broadband

macOS Planetary Annihilation Data Directory

The default location is in your local library folder:

/Users/YOURUSERNAME/Library/Application Support/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation
~/Library/Application Support/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation

Your user library folder is hidden by default and can be accessed via:

Linux

Linux is our labour of love.

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.

gcc-9 is available for all Ubuntu releases back to Ubuntu 12 Precise and derivatives via https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ToolChain

gcc-9 for Debian 10 buster can be pulled from Debian 11 Bullseye.

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/manual/abi.html

Local servers will see performance improvements from the move to gcc-9 with LTO and c++17.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GCC-9.1-Compiler-Released

Generic troubleshooting: https://planetaryannihilation.com/support/troubleshooting/

Linux Dependencies

  • libstdc++6 >= gcc-9 GLIBCXX_3.4.26 (native)
  • libcurl4-gnutls or libcurl-compat (native on non Ubuntu / Debian)
  • libsdl2 (provided by steam)
  • libgl1 (provided by steam)
  • libudev0 (provided by steam)
  • libuuid (provided by steam)

There are some known issues for Linux distributions not based on Ubuntu / Debian.

As a last resort if packages are not available for libudev0 or libcurl4-gnutls you might be able to use a hacky symlink (not recommended).

Stops on launch splash

Downloads are stalled due to missing certs on some non Debian / Ubuntu distributions like Fedora or NixOS.

Use the OpenSSL SSL_CERT_FILE environment variable when launching PA from a shell script:

SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

For steam command line arguments use:

SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt %command%

Black screen or fails to start

Check your logs for missing dependencies:

  • libcurl4-gnutls
  • libstdc++6 from gcc-9 or newer

Some non Ubuntu / Debian distributions provide a libcurl-compat package for compatibility with libcurl-gnutls from Ubuntu based builds.

Mesa Coherent UI Panel Corruption

The following added to /etc/drirc or ~/.drirc in the <device driver="radeonsi"> section may help:

<application name="CoherentUI_Host"executable="CoherentUI_Host">
    <option name="radeonsi_zerovram" value="true" />
</application>

Linux Planetary Annihilation Data Directory

The default location is in your home directory:

  • ~/.local/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation/
THE GALAXY WON'T CONQUER ITSELF Get it now on Steam!
Get It on Steam

90% off for classic PA owners