Annoying shadow glitch on vanilla KSP

[Tom7896]

Hi guys, I'm new to these forums so please be nice. c:

Recently, I've been encountering a really annoying glitch that causes nasty lag issues on my computer, which never usually lags when playing KSP. I'm using a Mac (prepare for Mac hate).

I don't know how to upload an image from my computer onto the KSP forums (I have 2 screenshots saved onto my computer), but it causes a really large shadow inside the VAB/SPH that takes up about half of the screen, and when playing the actual game itself.

It doesn't make the game unplayable, but it's ruining my experience. The bug only goes away once I completely exit KSP and I don't know what causes it. I really hope it's fixed soon because it's really harming my (and no doubt other's) KSP experience.

Thanks.

[Tom7896]

Correction: I took 5 screenshots of the bug inside the VAB and in-game, and made an album on imgur. I hope someone knows what's going on here!

http://imgur.com/a/bmhZZ

[InterCity]

I've had it as well on my Ubuntu 14.04 vanilla installation.

I'd suggest verifying your cache (on steam) and/or reinstalling. For me, the verification was enough.

If that doesn't help, try fiddling a little with your graphics settings or reset to default.

[Tom7896]

I've had it as well on my Ubuntu 14.04 vanilla installation.

I'd suggest verifying your cache (on steam) and/or reinstalling. For me, the verification was enough.

If that doesn't help, try fiddling a little with your graphics settings or reset to default.

I have tried verifying the cache on Steam but that hasn't worked. Did you manage to fix it by changing the graphics settings?

[InterCity]

Well as I said, the cache solved it. You can try fiddling with the graphics yourself, for starters try to mess with with "Pixel light count" and "Shadow Cascades". It may be just a particular setting that does the problem.

If that doesn't help, try reinstalling. But before you do that, make sure it's not just one save that does it.

I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen too often, so the problem is likely in your particular install / setting.

[Jouni]

It's a bug caused by poor memory management in KSP, especially in OS X Yosemite. KSP is a 32-bit program, so it's limited to 4 GB of addressable memory. Out of that 4 GB, around 0.5 GB is reserved for shared libraries, leaving 3.5 GB for the actual game. Due to poor memory management, possible memory leaks, and possible bugs in some GPU drivers shipped with Yosemite, KSP keeps using more and more memory when you switch between VAB and flight scenes. Eventually the address space becomes too fragmented (another sign of poor memory management) and memory allocations begin to fail, even though there is still hundreds of megabytes of free memory out of that 3.5 GB. The first symptoms are often graphics glitches, such as giant shadows and disco lights.

There is no fix at the moment. Lowering the graphics settings will help, though. As the initial memory usage is lower, you can play longer sessions of KSP before the glitches start to happen.

[Tom7896]

Thanks guys. I'll try both suggestions next time I play KSP.

[Tom7896]

Is this a common glitch among OSX users, or is it 'suffered' by only a few people? Hopefully the brilliant dev team at Squad will release a fix shortly, because it's badly hurting the otherwise exceptional KSP experience.

[MrWalrus123]

I get this glitch too, my Mac has 8 Gigs of Ram