Laptop overheating when playing...

[Sasuga]

I'm sorry, but I didn't track the version for you. I assumed you folks would figure it out and fix it without me saying anything.

 

My mother is old. She was afraid of using her own laptop. Inspired by Microsoft's Solitaire and Mine Sweeper, I introduced my mother to different PC Games that I thought she'd enjoy playing to help her become more comfortable with using a laptop.

She fell in love with Don't Starve Together, it became the only PC Game she's played for more than a few minutes, and at that she played everyday for hours and hours a day for over five years.

Then, sometime BETWEEN Aug 12, 2024 and now, she thinks sometime around October or September, it started overheating her laptop when she loaded the game up. It seems to be using an extreme amount of resources compared to before. The laptop seems fine, except when she loads Don't Starve Together to play.

I've tried to get her interested in other PC Games, including Don't Starve, but she's only interested in playing Don't Starve Together.

She socializes on there.

I'm concerned now, because her dog is about to be put down tomorrow, and she's about to be living alone.

You folks are some awesome folks,\ over there at Klei, I know you care about your games and community. Don't Starve Together used to be able to run on toaster, but somewhere along the lines, something crept in that causes her laptop to overheat while using it. Admittedly she doesn't have very powerful hardware, and most people do, but its lower requirements is one of the reasons I recommended it to her.

I hope you can track this bug down,. the memory leak, the CPU leak, whatever it is, and squash it.

[ShadowDuelist]

I'd try to rule out the possibility that the notebook's cooling system is either dirty or malfunctioning. Even if it's not working well, it might still be sufficient for regular tasks, but when the computer is under higher demand (like, to play DST) it could overheat.

Try doing a full cleanup or having someone check the cooling system first. It's free or very cheap compared to other potential solutions.

Also, I'm very sorry about your mom's dog.

[_mylilsunshine_]

Yah as said above, you can take it out to a technician for it to be cleaned up. You can also ask if thermal paste can be applied, the cooling fan can be turned up to max (can be loud and annoying though), or if any part is upgradable (attach an SSD drive, more RAM/dual channel, etc.). Also is there any other application that is running other than DST? If you want more performance/less overheating, having only DST opened might be a start, you sacrifice having a web browser up though.

Another way to help with cooling is to get her a laptop stand like below, and plug in a separate keyboard + mouse combo. Be careful of metal/aluminum stands though because they might conduct electricity and give you a light shock (not an expert on this). Some laptop models have outtake fans on the bottom so sometimes the laptop doesn't get proper airflow, that means you can also find out where the fan on her laptop is blowing and free up the space. And you can lower the surrounding temperature if you're in a hotter climate, I often have a big fan pointing directly at my laptop for that purpose.

Spoiler

It would be useful if you could track the name of the laptop model, even better are its specs. Which Window version is your mom using? Has it been updated recently (might be automatic)?

You can always open up the Graphics section in Settings and look for things that can improve performance i.e Small Texture mode

[Frosty_Mentos]

Sorry to hear about the dog, and I'm happy your mother is finding enjoyment in DST!

Have you tried doing Memory Diagnostics? I had done it a while ago and it cleared up a lot of overheating. Could also do some cleaning up of cache if she browses much and in general getting an app like some kinda PC cleaner is a decent solution along with memory diag.

Otherwise I'd suggest to perhaps you should consider upgrading her computer into something slightly higher. Depending on where you are, in Europe there's quite decent pc's or even desktops to play on that would cost about 1k or less.

DST still isn't as resource intense but eventually it might become that considering the growth in content continues and if there will be more engine upgrades to continue this franchise with something more complex.

I hope you and your mother are well. This is as much as I could suggest.