Audio stuttering making gameplay difficult

[Finnius]

I recently purchased the game ( USA release - PC disk - not direct play/steam) and noticed right from the start that I was having issues with the audio during cutscenes, gameplay audio, and battle sequences. The issues range from stuttering to cycling of sounds. During fight sequences the talking and music hiccupping sometime interferes with the timing of the 'button mashing'...occasionally having NO indications or sparkles or whatnot come up because of the issues of audio 'hiccupping'

 

I have read online that many people reported this same issue. I did try the recommended options, such as checking to make sure my control panel/sounds was using STERO and not 5.1, updating the drivers for directx and framework, and I even tried installing Realtek drivers just to test Microsoft's default drivers as the cause.

 

So far it appears that it is the game itself that is causing the issue. I watch vids online...run DVD's and play many many PC games with NO issues whatsoever....this is the first time I have ever had this sort of issue. I even tried running my speakers thru my SoundBlaster Card instead of the onboard audio plug...but again...the same issue occurs constantly. I love the game and have learned to live with these glitches...but during fight sequences it really can be challenging.

 

I know you have released a patch on steam, but no mention of audio fixes was in the changelog...when you do a PC patch for us disk-owners, can you please look into and fix...or at least ACKNOWLEDGE the fact that there are issues present in the release? Its frustrating when a good company will not even give us purchasers the curtesy of telling us "yes, there are a few glitches but we are dedicated to addressing them and resolving them as quickly as we can"

 

...we paid good money for the product...and yes...gremlins happen...we get that...but please don't be like some companies and pretend nothing is wrong.

[Bazgrim]

Have you tried lowering your audio format?

 

Right click the speaker in the bottom left hand of your corner.

Click playback devices, right click the device you are trying to use to play the stick of truth.

Click Advanced, try using the setting "24 bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality)", if it's not already the selected option.

Click Apply and ok. Try playing again.

[J.Burke]

The game is not playable without steam. The PC retail disc forces steam to be installed and then installs the game to your steam library and checks for updates.

 

As far as I am aware, the game will not run without steam. Patches should automatically be downloaded through steam. 

[Finnius]

Burke: What I meant was that I had not bought the direct play download version. I bought the game from Gamestop.

 

As for the sound issue...I think I finally solved it....tried many different qualities 16bit / 24bit with different Hz...but finally I went back to MY original default setting (16bit 44100 Hz CD Quality) and in "Exclusive Mode" I unchecked "allow applications to take exclusive control of this device"...lo and behold IT WORKS!

 

I get no hiccups whatsoever now...either in background music/ambient noises, npc speech or during fightscenes....Dunno what the program is doing, but this did the trick for me....devs might want to check this out and confirm my findings/setting adjustment...also this is a possible fix so if anyone else has my problem  and gets the same results from this post...post it so that others/devs/etc. can get the info out to others...

[incerto]

Similar issues here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/213670/discussions/0/558749824681605974/
and here: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65390-stuttering-sound-and-gameplay/

[Finnius]

_{Update....well after 2 perfect sessions, I got offwork and went to play the game....and the glitches started up again. I never turned off the computer, so I'm stuck as to what is going on.}

[incerto]

_{Update....well after 2 perfect sessions, I got offwork and went to play the game....and the glitches started up again. I never turned off the computer, so I'm stuck as to what is going on.}

What's your CPU usage percentage when playing the game?

[Finnius]

About 90% on my dual-core Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti.....1.34g ram being used...have 6 total...I'm assuming my system should be more than enough to deal with this game...lol

[Finnius]

Is anymore info needed about my system? I have tried all the normal/expected things to fix this issue.

[incerto]

Man, I feel you, I have tried absolutely every single thing, I even formated my machine. There is two or three topics here about the subject, and one on steamforums, and no one solved it. I guess it have to do with CPU usage and AMD DUAL CORE compatibilty, because this game shouldn't use 90% of CPU. In my friends machines, the game only uses about 30% 20% of the CPU with similar specs. I hope we find a solution, but I already gave up ou South Park. 

Similar topic: http://steamcommunity.com/app/213670/discussions/0/558749824681605974/

 

Can you guys who are having stutterings/skippings post your configs and CPU percentage usage?

Mine is Athlon x2 II 3.0GHZ, ATI Radeon 4650 HD, 4GB ram, with inexplicable 90% CPU usage when playing the game.

Edited March 11, 2014 by incerto

[Finnius]

wow...all this time waiting for some sort of communication from a dev...or somebody in the know...and STILL no word about this problem. I also have tried everything to try to eliminate the stuttering...to no avail....hoping that if I bump this thread there might be some new info....

 

please?

[Finnius]

Decided to put my specs up for the devs...hope this helps. I am having the same problem many are....CPU is running at 90% or more while game is running...this is causing all the audio skipping, freezing of some aspects of combat (during the captain chaos animation of butters, captain chaos strides out to meet the enemies, and then the WHEEL of actions does not always show up...game hangs for about 15 seconds and then resumes with both my characters missing. Enemies still attack me, and I can attack them, but no visual cues are available to tell when to block...what my status is...health and mana bars are also missing. Funny thing is....Captain Chaos is still on the screen..but frozen until fight has finished.)

 

running Windows 7 64bit

CPU: Intel Core 2 6600 @ 2.4 GHz

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti

Ram: 6 gigs

 

Seems strange that my dual core isn't enough to run this game, should I REALLY need a quad or octa just to play south park...

if you need a dxdiag attached, let me know...

[Finnius]

...another 27 days and still nothing from the devs telling us they are aware of the cpu problem...?

 

ARE you guys aware of it?

Is it being worked on?

 

I am certainly not the only one with this problem. Search the web...search the reviewers for various game websites, and you will see many people remarking about this issue...We want to support you...buy your products...but a little interaction between your CUSTOMERS would be greatly appreciated....

[Star Wars Knights of the O]

Hey everybody, I was having this issue too but I've been having some luck hopping over to Task Manager after starting the game and setting Priority for the process to BelowNormal. I'm no scientician but after doing some reading I guess that the high CPU utilization was borking some audio processing so I made it back off enough for things to function. The game is not without occasional hitches now (usually when walking around) but combat and audio works okay for me. Let everyone know if it works for you.