The information in this thread is outdated, but may still be useful to some players. We now have a new dedicated bug reporting section in the CA Community, which you can find here.

Performance issues can be caused from a variety of factors: from programmatic problems in a game build to hardware or even software disrupting the ability of the game to run smoothly. In this post, we not only offer some useful steps you can take to troubleshoot and improve your performance, but a guide when you’ve tried those steps and need to report a persistent issue to our Quality Assurance team.

TROUBLESHOOTING CHECKLIST

Before you submit a report, it’s recommended that you run through this checklist of common solutions to game crashes and performance issues:

[TECH ISSUES] Basic Troubleshooting Steps for Common Game Issues

These are common steps you can take with most of your games—as checking for software updates and disabling background programs releases resources for the game to use.

REPORTING A PERFORMANCE ISSUE: INFO GATHERING

If none of the above steps work, it is recommended that you:

1. Contribute to a thread where someone has reported the same issue.
2. If one doesn't exist, start a new thread in the bug forum of the respective game.

Before you take either step, there are several important details you should be prepared to provide:

1. A CLEAR TITLE. That describes the problem you’re experiencing.
2. A DETAILED DESCRPITION. Of the problem, where it occurs, what you’re experiencing, etc.
3. CLEAR REPRODUCTION STEPS. A step-by-step list of how to reproduce the problem.
4. A DXDIAG FILE. This will highlight your system hardware and driver versions.
5. PERFORMANCE FILES. Either a save file, replay file, performance file, or other file that can help narrow down the issue.

When describing your problem, you should be able to distinguish the type of problem you’re having. Here’s a general list of performance problems from the lowest to highest severity:

“Slow, Sluggish, Chugging Gameplay”
These refer to the game running slower than intended—or playing at consistently fewer frames per second than expected.

“Stuttering, Hitching, Spiking”
All refer to sudden drops in performance, or “frame drops” below the expected frames per second. This will not usually stop you from playing, but can be visually disruptive.

“Lag, Delay, Latency”
All refer to the delay between your input and the time it takes the game to respond to that input. In an online environment, this could result in a delay between clicking and your unit receiving/acting on the order.

“Freezing, Hanging”
This refers to instances where the game is still running (as opposed to crashing), but pauses for long periods of time or cannot be interacted with. The game may recover or may hang indefinitely.

“Crashing”

Crashes involve the game shutting down entirely. If the game is hanging but hasn’t closed, it’s important to distinguish that it hasn’t actually crashed.

IMPORTANT FILES

Before you submit your report, there are a handful of important files and details you should consider attaching to your post:

• Creating a Dxdiag Report
• How to find a Campaign Save file
• How to find a Battle Replay file
• How to find your mini dump file

REPORTING A PERFORMANCE ISSUE: TEMPLATE

Once you have an idea of the problem and details to share, it’s time to submit a report. We recommend copying and pasting the following template, replacing the ((example text)) with your own, and attaching any relevant files.