Shockingly High RAM Usage Causing FGU To Lock Up

[Beokuhn]

I've recently started DMing from my laptop, and I've noticed that FGU will frequently lock up while I'm doing absolutely nothing. I did some quick checks and noticed that FGU idles at more than 8 GB of RAM usage (see attached screen shot). Doing pretty much anything (like opening an image or character sheet) can make it spike as high as 15 GB. It's borderline unusable on my laptop, as a result. I don't recall having this issue with earlier iterations (as recently as 6 months ago).

Laptop Specs:
CPU = AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS with Radeon Graphics 3.00 GHz
RAM = 16 GB
GPU = GeForce 2060 Max-Q

[LordEntrails]

This is often because of the number of tokens or modules loaded, occasionally because of extensions. Please upload your log files and we can take a look at possible causes. Please see the link in my signature on reporting issues if you need info on obtaining your logs.

[Beokuhn]

Thanks @LordEntrails. I do have quite a few mods, so that might explain it. All but 2 are from Fantasy Grounds.

I have attached a zip file with a compilation of the logs right after I launch the FGU application. Please let me know if you need anything else. I appreciate your help!

[Zacchaeus]

From a brief look at your log files you appear to have every module that you own open in the campaign. This includes tons of adventures. Generally you only need to have one adventure open and that would be whatever one you are running. You also don't need to have the players versions of modules open (such as Mordenkainen, Fizban etc) unless you are creating characters for your players. I'd suggest therefore that you close off any modules that you don't need to run your campaign (Which really amounts to all of them except whet you actually need to run it; the adventure and maybe one or two reference books such as the PHB).

When you are prepping then open whatever modules you need for that and then close them once you have copied out whatever you need from them.

[LordEntrails]

For a bit of an idea of what I do, is I use a development campaign to prep for my play campaign (see link in sig). In the development campaign I will have open all my NPC/monster modules (of which I have a lot of!), plus all my magic item modules. Then I create the story entries and maps I'm going to use in my play campaign. Even when I'm using a purchased adventure, I still usually have additions or extra stuff (enhanced encounters, different magic, extra encounter maps, etc).

I prep all that in my development campaign, export it to a module, then in the play campaign I only have the adventure and my prep modules open. The player will often have more, but that doesn't really affect the host.

Besides performance, this allows several other benefits;
- My object lists in my play campaign don't have extra entries
- I'm not making changes to the adventure entries, so at any time I can revert changes if the adventure module is updated or has bug fixes applied to it
- Re-use! Im big on re-use! Say that extra encounter of devils I've prepped because I though my players might go off the rails but they didn't? Well I can re-use it when they do. So if I was going to use it for a cultist hideout, now I can use it as a warlock's stronghold.

[Beokuhn]

Thanks to both of you!

I unloaded everything that wasn't a sourcebook, and that cut my RAM usage in half. I don't love having to disable content to get FGU to run smoothly, but I also understand that I can't have my cake and eat it too.

@LordEntrails, the idea of saving off pre-prepped game elements in a custom mod is a really good one. I'll explore that.

Thanks again!

[JohnD]

I (mostly) solved this problem by throwing money at a new RoG laptop. Not everyone will be able to do a significant system upgrade just for FG though.

[Zacchaeus]

Thanks to both of you!

I unloaded everything that wasn't a sourcebook, and that cut my RAM usage in half. I don't love having to disable content to get FGU to run smoothly, but I also understand that I can't have my cake and eat it too.

@LordEntrails, the idea of saving off pre-prepped game elements in a custom mod is a really good one. I'll explore that.

Thanks again!

You aren't disabling content. You are just shutting down content that you don't need to have open during your gameplay. If you are running Lost Mine of Phandelver you don't need any other adventure module open. In fact having all that content open will severely clutter your NPC lists, items list, encounters lists, story entry lists. and so on. If you want to include an NPC in Lost Mine from another module - say Curse of Strahd - then you would do that in preparation before the game session by making a copy of that NPC and then close down the Curse of Strahd module.

When running your session you really only need the adventure module open. You might want the PHB or DMG open for reference purposes, but typically you won't really need anything.

[LordEntrails]

Or another way to think of it, when you are playing around the table, do you have every RPG book you own on the table? Or just the adventure and one or two others? All the others you have on the floor next to you or on the shelf. Just like in FG, the ones you don't have on the table (i.e. loaded) are on the shelf and can be grabbed (loaded) anytime if you actually need them.

[Nylanfs]

You mean I'm the only one with an organ like arrangement of all my books around me on different levels?

[Doswelk]

...
I unloaded everything that wasn't a sourcebook, and that cut my RAM usage in half. I don't love having to disable content to get FGU to run smoothly, but I also understand that I can't have my cake and eat it too....


It's all relative I'm afraid, FGU running at 8GB is not a problem on my 32GB desktop but running it on an 8GB system would be, you have to work within the limitations of memory, just be glad you are using FGU, back in 2005-201x the FGC was capped (as a 32bit app) at 3.5 GB!

It nice to have everything loaded but at the same time if I were running a face-to-face game I would not have EVERY book I own open on the table in front of me, I'd have them closed in a stack or on a book shelf to get at if needed, think of your modules the same way :D

<Drat! did not notice Lord Entails had made the same point two posts higher :( >

[Littlerogue]

I also encounter some perf issues with my 8GB RAM computer, with a decent connection.

Strangely it happen only after a certain length of play time.

I will do some test with and without modules loaded. Maybe there is some work to do on the way module are loaded ? Should'nt FGU load dynamicaly the activated module only when needed insteaf on replying ont the user to unload them manually ?

[Zacchaeus]

I also encounter some perf issues with my 8GB RAM computer, with a decent connection.

Strangely it happen only after a certain length of play time.

I will do some test with and without modules loaded. Maybe there is some work to do on the way module are loaded ? Should'nt FGU load dynamicaly the activated module only when needed insteaf on replying ont the user to unload them manually ?

FGU does do that. But if you have 10 modules all with a list of NPCs, items, encounters, quests, story entries etc then all of that gets added to the list of items, encounters etc and that uses up memory. So whilst it only loads into memory an image that you open from one of your modules some parts of the module are loaded in when you open your campaign. So overall it's best not to open things that you don't need in your active campaign whilst playing.