📢 [Announcement] Our Crash Reduction Test Branch is Ready! 💻🧰

📢 Our Crash Reduction Test Branch is Ready!

Hello, dear Pixelians! 👋

For months, one of my highest priorities has been addressing the crashes reported by some players, particularly those using Intel integrated graphics.

Many affected players reported the same pattern: the game would run normally for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour before crashing. This suggested that memory usage was building up during longer sessions.

After a major optimization pass, we are now releasing a separate test version to determine whether these changes resolve or significantly reduce those crashes.

Note: This is only for Windows, and recommended only for those that experience crashes during their gameplay. You do not need to do it for Steam Deck.

Another Important Note

Please make sure the branch shows an update date of July 29 in the branch selection menu. After launching the game, confirm that v1.1.27 is displayed on the Main Menu.

If either of these details is incorrect, you may still be using the previous version of the branch, which was last updated approximately one year ago. It is therefore important to verify that the updated branch is visible and selected before launching the game.

❔How to Join the Test

If you have experienced crashes:

• Right-click To Pixelia in your Steam Library.

• Select Properties.

• Open Game Versions & Betas.

• Select crash_solution_test.

• Allow Steam to update the game.

Once activated, crash_solution_test should appear next to the game’s name or Play button.

This version contains the same game and save content as the regular version.

‼️ However, please remember to switch back to the Default Game Version from the same menu when you are done with the testing, or if you experience any further problem.

➡️ This branch is for testing only, and returning to the default version ensures you continue receiving future updates.

⭐ Also please let me know under this post whether you still experience crashes or whether your crash problems are completely fixed now, especially during longer sessions or scene transitions.

The test branch will remain available for approximately one week in order for us to receive as much feedback as possible. During that time, I will continue working on bug fixes and further improvements. If the results are positive, these optimizations will be included in the next public update for the main game version. For now, it's only exclusive to this test branch version.

So, what changed?

A large number of character, animation, clothing, portrait, and environment textures have been converted to a more memory-efficient GPU compression format.

Under equivalent gameplay conditions, our internal profiling measured:

• Texture memory: approximately 1.53 GB → 0.68 GB

• Graphics driver memory: approximately 1.40 GB → 0.55 GB

• Total used memory: approximately 2.80 GB → 1.93 GB

• Overall runtime memory savings: approximately 850–870 MB

This represents approximately:

• 56% lower texture memory usage

• 61% lower graphics driver memory usage

• 31% lower total memory usage

These improvements should be especially helpful on laptops using Intel integrated graphics, where the GPU shares system memory with Windows and other applications.

And given the substantial reduction in memory usage, we expect this update to significantly reduce or potentially eliminate the crashes affecting these devices.

Note: Your system must support minimum of at least DirectX 11 to benefit from these optimizations.

NPC and Pathfinding Optimization

We also reduced:

• Unnecessary NPC path recalculations

• CPU spikes caused by many NPCs requesting paths simultaneously

• Pathfinding workload during busy simulation periods

• Issues caused by event lifecycle and cleanup handling

Expected Improvements

Depending on your system, you may notice:

• Fewer or none memory-related crashes

• Better stability during longer sessions

• More reliable scene transitions

• Reduced stuttering caused by memory pressure or garbage collection

• Lower RAM and graphics memory usage

• Better performance on Intel integrated graphics and lower-memory laptops

Average FPS may not change significantly on high-end systems. The main goal of this test is to improve memory efficiency, frame-time consistency, scene stability, and long-session reliability.

Thank you to everyone who has reported crashes and helped us investigate this problem. Your feedback on this test version will be extremely valuable! And hopefully this problem will be a history with this. 🙌

And again, please feel free to let me know and share your experience here about this test. 😊

Thank you again, everyone! See you soon in the next update! 💖

• Kaan ːtabbycatː