The most reliable way to fix this—without needing to delete the faction entirely—is to use a modified startpos.esf file. This file dictates the starting conditions of the campaign. The community has created patches that give the Barbary States a proper government type, instantly curing the hang-up.
This is a bizarre but proven exploit. During your turn, open the Trade tab (the anchor icon). Click the "Ports" sub-tab. Minimize it. End turn. empire total war darthmod ottoman turn lag fix best
Empire: Total War is a 32-bit executable. It cannot use more than 2GB of RAM by default. DarthMod has high-resolution textures and more units. When the Ottoman turn hits, the game hits the 2GB ceiling and starts using your hard drive as virtual RAM. The most reliable way to fix this—without needing
Fix: Download Large Address Aware (LAA) from TechPowerUp. Run it, select Empire.exe, tick the box, save. Now the game can use 4GB of RAM. You will see turn times drop from 90 seconds to 25 seconds simply because the CPU isn't waiting for memory page files. Empire: Total War is a 32-bit executable
| Factor | Description | |--------|-------------| | Vanilla ETW Bug | The base game’s AI for the Ottomans frequently spawns multiple single-unit stacks that “dance” between settlements, recalculating endlessly. | | DarthMod’s Impact | Increases AI army sizes, unit variety, and campaign map aggressiveness. This multiplies the Ottoman AI’s indecision. | | Strait Crossing Logic | The Bosporus (Istanbul crossing) and Caucasus passes cause pathfinding failures. The AI repeatedly attempts to cross, cancels, and retries. | | Rebel/Protectorate Spam | Ottomans have many starting regions with low public order, leading to rebel armies that the AI tries and fails to engage efficiently. |