Insane Memory leak

[hetake2]

System info:
OS: Arch Linux x86_64 (latest updates)
Kernel: 5.14.7-arch1-1 (latest)
DE: GNOME 40.4
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Driver Version: 470.74)
CPU: Intel i5-8500 (6) @ 4.100GHz
RAM: 16G + 8G Swap

31-the-graphics-ini-file: Can’t provide, your link doesn’t work. https://i.gyazo.com/5a69de9f5d4ddd00ce3f23b8e3e4d838.png
79-collecting-system-information: Can’t provide, your link doesn’t work. https://i.gyazo.com/ef5524288671a64cfe5cf128b1c602e9.png

Problem:
After the game starts I’m experiencing rapid memory leak, the game uses all my RAM within 1 minute (before I can log in). After that the game uses 9G of RAM.
If I will continue playing the game (teleport to locations, farm mobs, do quests, level up and so on), the game starts to use my swap (up to 8G) and then my system freezes, so I need to reboot my PC. Yes, I know that supported Linux by this game is Ubuntu 20.04, but if you look Steam discussions, you can see, that Ubuntu users also experience memory leak and even Windows 10 users. Source: Bug: Memmory leak & character loss :: Last Epoch Steam-related Discussion

My steps:
Open Steam (beta version), launch Last Epoch, log in, select character, play the game.
Htop screenshot: https://i.gyazo.com/0f3bec06ab52845ea0572567419d37c2.png

Workaround:
We can use cgroups to limit system’s RAM for the game’s process, but it is not comfortable for casual users.

[vapourfire]

Hey… Welcome to the forums…

The support site was updated so direct links are foobar…
https://support.lastepoch.com/hc/en-us/sections/1260801697209-Useful-Files

LE is obviously in Beta & has performance related issues… It is also running in debug mode so memory usage is higher than it probably will be when the devs get around to optimising the code & performance for launch. With LE in this state, if you do not put on limits (like fps limits or conservative settings), then the game WILL attempt to eat up and use any and all system resources it can… and then obviously the game starts to crash or do odd things. Any additional setups that include things like overclocking tend to be more likely to experience very odd things with LE being in beta…

While there are other Linux users mentioning memory issues and even WIndows users with 1660 gpus worried about memory issues, I have not heard of anyone (even linux users) mention such a rapid memory usage as you describe - i.e. within minutes… so I would guess that your issue is something more specific.

System memory usage is very much linked to in-game settings - for example, If you run the game on Medium/High quality settings (on any OS) you will find that the game can rapidly use up 10-12GB ram on a 16GB system… This figure is from Windows 10 and obviously each OS has its memory ranges but its fairly common…

However, the memory issues on Windows 10 are more related to bugs than to something like a general memory leak… e.g. Ultra settings, Windowed vs fullscreen issues, directx driver issues and even specific skill bugs… I would expect similar situation on LInux rather than a general memory leak.

While I dont play on Linux (its for more important things ) I have personally tested Windows 10 memory issues for hours of play and leaving the game running with macros executing skills for 10h+ and I have been unable to see or cause memory leaks in Windows… Memory does fluctuate - sometimes gbs at a time (especially on higher settings in complicated maps) but it always seems to return to a baseline with no leak over time that I can test… Very low settings @ 1080p averages between 6-8Gb system ram usage on a 16gb Windows system and from feedback from others using Ubuntu or ubuntu related distributions like Pop! have confirmed similar. This usage will rapidly settle within a few minutes of launching a character but it tends to remain there…

I do not know enough about Arch linux to offer any specific ideas but I do know that even on Ubuntu distributions there are LOTS of issues around specific Mesa/GPU drivers, vulkan, proton etc that usually need a lot of under the hood tweaking to get to work properly… (the only out of the box installation that I know works perfectly was on Pop!OS with Nvidia GPUs…) The different issues could all be attributing to the experience you are having in some way - you could search the forums for more information that might spark an idea for you to try…

The player.log file might have something to explain what is happening and hopefully direct the devs (or anyone else) to a possible cause and solution.

The le_graphicsmanager.ini file will help see what settings are used and help see if the known performance related issues are causing the problems… (i.e. settings vs hardware vs beta state of the game).

[hetake2]

I have done some research on my problem and thats what I got:

0. I checked other steam games, they work fine without memory leak. So, only Last Epoch has this problem.

1. Yes, on start up the game requires something around 10G RAM, but after that it doesn’t leak.

2. The memory leak source was teleporting to locations. I mean, every time I need to go to another location, it takes from 200Mb to 4G (Risen Lake in Ruined Era is so heavy) to load new location in memory. When I leave that location, the memory doesn’t clear itself.
   And the more locations I visit - the more SWAP I have to use until freeze.

Player.log (118.8 KB)
le_graphicsmanager.ini (461 Bytes)
system_information.txt (138.1 KB)

[vapourfire]

0. Comparing other games doesnt really provide any insight into the issue other than confirming your hardware is working… Something that I would have assumed anyway… LE is in beta so there really isnt any point in comparing it directly to any other app at this stage…

1. Based on your settings information 10GB is about right from what I have tested myself and feedback from other players… In fact, its probably on the lower side of the memory usage range.

2. Ok… now this is very useful information and is exactly what I have experienced in my own testing and from experience helping out here on the forums… I can confirm the exact same happens on Windows 10 when loading maps… Whenever anyone has hassles with the game - especially resource/performance related - transitioning from one map to another is the #1 time when they experiencing crashes, freezes or any other issue… I expect this is primarily related to the unoptimised beta game rather than a specific bug. I am not a unity developer but I expect that the issue here is the transition of resources from the existing loaded map and the new map being loaded - i.e. for a short period of time the game uses up much more resources than it does when just fully loaded into a map and playing and this stresses out the system - and unless you are running a “sell your soul level system” things start to crash… From my own testing, there are certain times (when using higher settings) that the game doesnt release the memory immediately - i.e. you can load two or three maps with the memory rising each time, then you load the forth and its back down to the stable baseline again… This is FAR mor noticeable at higher in-game quality settings/resolutions.

Looking at the player.log I am not seeing anything abnormal so the game is not showing a specific trappable error… The memory assets are being loaded and unloaded in the normal way (1 million assets in one map, then down to 900k in the next, then down to 800k, then back up to 880k)… so its not like the game is not doing what it is supposed to…

You are running the game on High settings - and my gut feeling is that this is too high for your hardware and the state of the game right now… I run a i5-7500 with a 1060gpu and I use 1080p all very low settings with special features disabled at a fps limit of 60fps… not because my system is incapable of running at higher, but I have found after 1k+ hours of play/testing, that this is the most stable configuration… If I up my settings to High, then I get freezes, crashes or fps spikes regularly… Your GPU is only about 40% faster and your CPU about 15% than mine - yet you are trying to run the game with settings that players with hardware 30-40% faster than yours tend to use… Expecting the game to run on your hardware at high settings would be an appropriate assumption if it was launched and optimised, but its not…

My recommendation would be to:

1. Reduce your in-game settings to very low with all special features disabled (AA, shadows, grass etc). Test the game for a decent period of time and see if it proves to be more stable at the reduced settings…

2. Consider not using Windowed mode - there are a few people who experience better performance on Windows by using Fullscreen instead. I am not sure how this will affect Linux, but its worth a try.

3. Enable a foreground FPS limit - vsync obviously limits it to your monitor Hz (your system info says 60hz) but limiting the game itself seems to make it more stable - especially if you monitor has a variable frequency option… It is also important to set the FPS limit to make sure that your GPU is not flatlining at 100% usage all the time… On windows a good way to gauge this is to set the fps limit to something that keeps GPU usage at roughly 60-70% usage while standing in town doing nothing… this leaves enough headroom for the game to spike in busy moments but not let the game run away with the GPU.

With 1+3 in mind, if the stability improves, you can consider increasing the quality settings one at a time to find a stable and acceptable visual experience to play at…

Remember this is a beta unoptimised game - no one expects it to perform perfectly with no issues at max quality and 100fps+ … and the only way around this right now is to be conservative…