Warsword Conquest - Installation, Crash and Performance Guide

Written by kevinflemming

Guide Sections

• Disclaimer
• General Advice
• Preparation
• Installation and Warband Script Enhancer
• WSE Issues
• Warband Issues
• Performance Hints and Tips
• Acknowledgements

I. Disclaimer

Warsword Conquest - Winds Of Magic Edition is currently a Beta release and not quite fully-functional, with issues and bugs (both large and small) scattered throughout. It has been released in this playable state, to allow players to test what is currently being worked on, and provide valuable feedback to the team for future patches and updates.

Expect issues, as this is in no way a finished product and should not be treated as such.

Every “fix” mentioned here is not guaranteed to make your game work or improve performance, as we all have different systems, with different components. Without knowing exactly your own specifications and limitations of your system, the only help we can provide is generic. Even then, two systems with exactly the same setup and game might produce different results, for various reasons. Sometimes it will outright refuse to work for some players.

Please do not just simply complain about something not working, but try to look into exactly why it might be happening in the first place. Do some testing, try to recreate the issue. This will save both yourself and others a lot of time. Research the issue yourself beforehand too. Both Google and the Warsword Conquest Discord have search functions that are often underutilised, and can provide numerous solutions to problems. Chances are that most have already been discussed and/or solved.

We have been dealing with mod issues for quite some time now, and have a fairly-decent grasp on why things might not work. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some which are either below the radar, or way above our own experience levels (mostly WSE-related, as it’s an external tool). So please try to be patient and conduct yourself in a mature and precise manner when seeking help.

It is other people’s time you are using, after all. 

II. General Advice

Before you send a report, make sure you have done everything correctly first, and try to be descriptive when talking about issues. But ask yourself these questions beforehand:

Is the mod installed properly? Check this. Then check it again.

Are you using the mod correctly? Make sure you have the correct versions of Warband Script Enhancer and mb_warband.exe, and are using WSE to launch the mod.

Does altering the game settings affect performance and stop crashes appearing so often? You'll be surprised how often just turning the shadows down, or lowering the graphics settings, takes some weight off the game's engine.

Have you altered the standard battle size? It's 150 for a good reason. The more troops there are, the more calculations and data has to be sent by the engine to each individual troop. Huge battle sizes are known to cause issues, especially during sieges, even in Vanilla.

Have you changed anything in the mod yourself, and should you have done so? Unless you know what you're doing, don't mess with things. Also, realistically we can’t provide support for an altered mod as it might only occur due to your own personal changes.

What were you doing at the time? In a battle, entering a city, looking at something in your inventory? Details, details, details.

How often does the crash occur and does it only happen during specific circumstances? Keep an eye on this, as it could potentially point out the problem.

Are there ways to avoid it, and if so, how? Can you circumvent the issue for now, to save constant reloading of the game? This could provide help for those with the same problems, until a fix is created if it is indeed a mod issue.

Information is key to finding a cause, and it will really help in the future. Simply saying "the game crashed" and such. That tells us (and you) nothing. We end up wasting time asking the same questions over and over. It helps everybody if you make a point of taking notes where and when these things happen. This is a Beta release, after all. You would be helping the team develop the mod faster, by providing potentially valuable information.

III. Preparation

First, make sure your system is adequate enough to run a modded Warband without performance issues. Bear in mind that Warsword Conquest is now somewhat heavier than it was before, with the addition of many new items, extra troops, improved textures, more-detailed scenes and models, and the new magic mechanic. You might experience a noticeable dip in performance or regular crashes. Don’t expect it to be exactly the same as last time, or run like “other” mods you might have played. This isn’t other mods.

Second, check all drivers on your system are up-to-date. I would highly-recommend using a program such as Driver Booster to do everything in one go. It’s completely-free, and has solved many crash issues over the previous weeks.

Third, depending on certain factors (such as your specifications), it might be worth restarting your system before playing. If your PC or laptop has been on for a few hours already, chances are it might be feeling a little slow and unresponsive. A restart should help this.

III. Installation and Warband Script Enhancer

Check to see you have installed the mod correctly, using the guide included in the “Documentation” folder provided in the zipped folder. Then check again, to be certain everything is in order.

Something to remember, that you might not have taken into consideration. The WOME version of Warsword Conquest needs to be put into a new empty folder, and not copy/pasted and overwritten into the old 2016 version. You will have issues, if you do not put the WOME into a separate folder. You will also need the latest version of Warband, as the mod was built with a more-recent version.

Installation

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to install the mod properly. You might already have the mod downloaded or installed, but use this section if you feel that you need to re-download and/or re-install.

For extracting the zipped files, I would recommend using 7-Zip as there have been reports of WinRAR struggling to extract properly, for some unknown reason.

Download the mod and latest patch from the ModDB page. Also, you will need the “scenes props fixes” patch from the Warsword Conquest Discord, in the #mini-patches channel.

Extract the zipped files into Warband’s “Modules” folder (located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MountBlade Warband\Modules) in this order and overwrite when prompted.

Warsword Conquest Wind Of Magic Beta WSC WOME PATCH 1 “scenes props fixes” file from Discord

Navigate to Warband’s main folder, where mb_warband.exe is located, and rename that file to something else. Perhaps to “mb_warband_original” as an example.

Navigate to Warsword’s “1.170exe” folder and copy the mb_warband.exe provided into Warband’s main folder (where you renamed the .exe file).

Move the TexturesHD folder away from Warband’s main folder, or simply rename it. Leaving this untouched can cause graphical issues.

That is all you need to do. Painless, I know.

Warband Script Enhancer

To play the mod correctly, you will need to use the Warband Script Enhancer.

The WSE is absolutely required (with no exceptions) to make magic work, for the mod function as intended, and to stop the feed being flooded with script errors.

Navigate to the Warsword Conquest folder, open the WSE folder and run the file called WSELoader.exe every single time you wish to play. It’s worth creating a shortcut for it (by right-clicking on the .exe and selecting “Create shortcut” near the bottom of the menu), and naming it “Warsword Conquest” or some such thing, for quicker access to the mod. This saves having to navigate to the WSE folder constantly.

As a note, WSE is not created by the Warsword team and they can’t provide any direct support for the enhancer itself. If you have WSE-related questions, perhaps regarding functionality or operations, it’s worth heading over to the WSE forum.

IV. WSE Issues

You may come across random issues with WSE. Whether or not these possible solutions work, is entirely up to the will of the Dark Gods.

Some things you can do:

Run WSELoader.exe in Windows 8 Compatibility Mode.

To do this, right-click on the WSELoader.exe and select “Properties” at the bottom. Then click the “Compatibility” tab at the top, and in the section “Compatibility mode” you want to check the box so it has a tick. Like so: ☑

Windows 8 should already be selected, but if not, click in the drop-down menu and select it.

Click “Apply” to apply the changes, and then “OK” to close the Properties. Start the WSELoader.exe as normal.

Try putting the contents of the WSE folder (the files inside, not the folder itself) into Warband’s main folder, and run WSELoader.exe from there instead.

Download the latest WSE v4.7.0 and the mb_warband.exe they provide. Remove the old ones, and replace with these. The Warband .exe you want is the top one (5.31MB), not the smaller “dedicated” version.

Run Warband from Steam, select Warsword in the launcher, close the launcher, re-copy the version of WSE you are using (depends if you’ve updated to the latest or not) and try to run Warsword once more via the WSELoader.exe file.

Add WSELoader.exe to the Steam Library, and run from there. To do this, click on “Add a game” in the bottom-left corner of the Steam UI. Then select “Add a non-Steam game” and search for WSELoader.exe. You will probably have to click “Browse” at the bottom and navigate to where the .exe is located.

Generally, most issues with WSE are easily-solved using one or more of these.

V. Warband Issues

Now, Warband itself can be a fickle beast on the best of days and occasionally has a right temper. Do not assume straight away that your issues are caused by the mod, because in quite a few cases, it probably isn’t. You will be surprised at how often a “mod issue” is in fact just a standard Warband one.

Game asking for a serial key:

If you have one of the Steam 5x5 keys, head over to the Steam Key Converter on the Taleworlds forum, insert your 5x5 key and this will give you a new 4x4 key to insert when prompted.

RGL Error on creating shaders:

This is typically caused by the game running out of video memory, which is fairly easy to do considering Warband is a 32-bit game, that is limited to 2GB. Your high-end specifications mean very little.

Possible fixes:

Start Warband as normal, then click “Configure” on the left-hand side of the launcher. This will open a new window. On this window, click the “Video” tab at the top. Make sure the box marked “Load Textures On Demand” is checked, like so: ☑ then click “OK” and try to launch the mod once more.

Open the same “Video” tab, and lower the Texture Detail and Shadow Quality settings.

Navigate to C:\user\NAME\Documents\Mount&Blade Warband and delete rgl_config.txt, then restart the game. This forces the game to re-create the config file.

There is a method to increase the amount of Virtual Memory your system has access to, which could help with memory issues. Personally, I’m not a fan of dabbling with such things, and will not provide information on how to do this. You’ll have to look it up yourself, I’m afraid.

I will say that you should research this properly before even thinking about changing it. Once you’re comfortable in the knowledge of what Virtual Memory is, what it does, and what the consequences for altering it are, only then would I recommend that you change it.

VI. Performance Hints and Tips

In this section, you’ll find some helpful performance-related information. Things you can do to improve your system and the game’s performance, which in turn could help with stability and crashes. If you are unsure of something that is added here, please take some time to research it beforehand. You don’t want to make changes unless you know exactly what you are doing!

The majority of our systems are different, so these are some generic (and a few somewhat specialised) methods that you can try out.

Update your drivers, using a program such as Driver Booster. This has been proven to sort out a fair amount of player crashes. I would recommend doing this first and foremost.

Make sure your PC or laptop has sufficient ventilation, fans are working properly, and everything is not overheating. Laptops will generally become quite hot as you play games, due to the components being close together, enclosed in a much smaller area than a PC tower. Keep an eye on this. You can download software to monitor temperatures. Give ol’ Google a whirl.

Clean the inside of your PC or laptop, using an electric air duster. You’ll be surprised at how badly dust can affect the performance of your graphics card and increase core temperatures. You should always make sure the interior of your system is clean, at least once per year. I would recommend doing this every three months.

Close all other programs, especially those you aren’t immediately using. Such as Discord, media players, browsers.

Regarding closing programs, one thing to try would be to close Steam (if you have it open), then launch WSELoader.exe by itself. WSE doesn’t need Steam to be open, to play the mod. Plus, Steam doesn’t recognise WSE as Warband anyhow. So it won’t track hours played or achievements. Rather pointless to have both running at the same time.

There are some background processes which you can close, but as with anything like this, you will need to spend some time and research exactly what you are shutting down.

XBox Game Bar is one of them. Personally, I would turn it off permanently.

Right-click the Windows Start, in the bottom-left corner, and select “Settings” from the menu. Then click on “Gaming” and click the top button to turn it off. Close the window, and you’re done.

Lower the graphics settings in the options. Often the easiest and most-effective method. Spend some time tweaking the options, and see if there are any that vastly-improve performance. Shadows and textures, corpses and blood, are generally the ones to alter.

Run Warband in Windowed Mode. Open the launcher, “Video” tab and check the box marked “Start Windowed” then click “OK”.

As an additional method; while using Windowed Mode, try lowering the game’s resolution. Once again, open the launcher, “Video” tab and at the bottom is “Screen Resolution”. Change it to something slightly smaller than your own resolution.

Try running the game in DX7 Mode. Open the launcher, “Video” tab and there is a little drop-down menu in the top-right. Click that and select “DirectX 7” then click “OK”.

Bear in mind, that you will have shader issues using DX7. So expect some graphical weirdness.

Enable the Memory Optimiser, for WSE.

Navigate to where wse_settings.txt is located (either in Warband’s main folder or Warsword’s WSE folder, depending on if you’ve moved the contents of WSE), and open it with a text editor.

Under the third section [memory optimizer], change this setting to match:

enabled = 1

I’m unsure if changing the threshold will help or not. Perhaps do some experimenting yourself. But as a rule, I probably wouldn’t set it higher than your own memory.

Use an external program to manage your graphics card settings, such as Nvidia Inspector.

Before changing anything in the program itself, start the mod. Head to the "Video" tab in Configure on the launcher, and uncheck the box marked "Force Vertical Sync" as you want this to be managed by your card, not the game.

Start Nvidia Inspector, and click on the little button marked with a red square (pictured).

When the new window opens, there is a drop-down menu at the top. In the text field, begin to type "Mount & Blade..." and select Warband when the option appears in the list.

Scroll down to and change the settings below:

Section 2 - Sync and Refresh Frame Rate Limiter = 60fps (Frame Rate Limiter v2) Vertical Sync = Force on

Section 5 - Common Multi-display/mixed GPU acceleration = Single display performance mode Power management mode = Prefer maximum performance

Then click "Apply changes" button in the top-right corner, and you're good to go. Also, you can use it to monitor the temperature of your graphics card, if you think you might be overheating. If you have a multi-core processor, check the box marked “Force Single Threading” in the “Advanced” tab on the launcher and click “OK”. Only do this is you have performance issues.

If you have, and are already using, the Steam version of the game, download a fresh install of the game, from the Taleworlds site.

Install the non-Steam version of Warband in a different location (such as C:\Games\Warband). Then copy over your existing Warsword folder into the new Modules folder. Or alternatively, re-install Warsword again, to ensure a completely-fresh and untainted installation.

Use the Large Address Aware (LAA) patch, to alter Warband’s exe to allow it to access more memory.

Before you attempt this, do not use the LAA patch if you have less than 3GB of RAM. Also if you are running a 32-bit OS, you will need to do the extra steps, as the patch won’t work.

Read the instructions properly first. Anything you do is solely your own responsibility. Don’t complain to anybody in the team because you broke something. Read twice, execute once. Do it right the first time.

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/large-address-aware.112556/

Defragment your HDD (Hard Drive Disk), using the “Defragment and Optimise Drives” tool available with Windows 10. If you are using an SSD (Solid State Drive), you don’t need to defrag.

Temporarily disable your AntiVirus software.

If you have an older system and don’t have much RAM, you could use an external program to help keep your memory free, such as CleanMem. You will need to purchase the full version, to be able to use the cleaning automatically, though.

Use an external program to clean your PC from ad/malware, such as AdwCleaner, to remove any junk from your PC that websites might have installed on the sly. You’ll be surprised at how often this happens.

Consider upgrading your system, or purchase a new one if it’s massively out-of-date. This could well be the reason your performance is so bad. 

VII. Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to the Warsword Conquest team, for taking time out of their own lives to create and manage a wonderful mod, and provide a great place for the Warsword and Warhammer community to gather.

Many thanks to all of the players and testers, who help with reports and for trying to find issues and bugs. Too many names to mention, but you know who you are. Your time spent is greatly appreciated!