serious slowdowns on some maps

[francoisD]

hi

in the middle of ma long campain as a german player, i am now encountering some delay-type battles. the ai has roughly 450 units and i am playing on 140*140 hex maps.
so far i never encountered delays when playing, except from time to time a few minutes when the ai was playing, perhaps at key points during the battles.

but in the current one, i am waiting half an hour each turns. the only difference with the previous maps is that this one is almost entirely covered by trees.

is it normal? should i expect the same slowdowns in towns or in other maps?

thanks!

[Imp]

Yes buy a more powerful computer or dont run anything in the background but there will still be a delay.
The AI does not make as many decisions as you but lets assume 450 units is about right, woods its probably heavy on infantry so more?
If you were assaulting with 450 units how long would a turn take you?

[francoisD]

i was asking this question because with the same big maps and the same forces in points, in the deserts of north africa the ai took only a few seconds to get the results, except at some points.

but their is a difference with half an hour each turn.

i was asking if this was due to the forest and the short line of view and if i should expect the same long waitings in other maps with short lines of view too.

[Cross]

Originally Posted by francoisD

hi

is it normal? should i expect the same slowdowns in towns or in other maps?

I don't have any slowdowns whatever the map size.

Why don't you post your PC specs, like RAM, CPU, video card, OS, directX version etc.

You may want to read the 'Running WinSPWW2' and the 'Tuning Your Machine' sections of the Game Guide. If you have the PDF version of the Game Guide, they are on page 4 and 15.


Cross

[francoisD]

i do not speak of map size, but map type. in the desert of north africa i played one delay battle, and everything was the same, but the presence of trees!!!

the waiting time jumped from a few seconds (let say 1 minute when taking into account a few key points) to half an hour...

i do not think my pc is relevant here.

by the way it is modest, a one ghz whith many applications in the background

but, again, i was perfectly enjoying the game so far.

until i met a map covered by trees! so i asked if it was normal

or if i should check my computer for a virus

am i clear?

[Cross]

Originally Posted by francoisD

i do not think my pc is relevant here.

by the way it is modest, a one ghz whith many applications in the background

I think your PC is relevant, and this is probably your problem.

This from the game guide:

The default installation will place a shortcut for the GameOptions programmes on your desktop. We HIGHLY
recommend starting the game via the GameOptions programme at all times.

This game will use a lot of Windows memory, so it is best if you run it on its own, bar any use of your browser to read the
game manual. It wants "real RAM" and so it is best to start any other memory hogs after launching the game, should you
wish to try say some word-processing or spreadsheet programme - start these after the game is launched.


The game wants as much real memory as possible, so for optimum performance, especially on lower end machines, try
to run the game with as few other windows programmes running in the background as possible. Also, since many other
programmes will fragment the main Windows memory, it is often a good idea to reboot the box and start the game as the
first thing run. Do not run it in paralell with any other games! - only windows desktop type applications.

Screen Size is the first determinant of horsepower required. The larger the screen size you choose, the more pixels the
CPU and graphics card have to push about. Especially with a lower end machine, you will have to find the screen size
that suits your hardware's capability. The smaller the screen size you choose, the higher the performance you will get.

Full screen DirectX mode is the fastest graphics mode. There is no Windows desktop to worry about co-operating with.
It will therefore likely be of most use to those users with older machines and/or graphics cards.



Hope this helps,
Cross

[francoisD]

so to conclude, trees eat memory?

because so far i never noticed any problem...

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by francoisD

so to conclude, trees eat memory?

because so far i never noticed any problem...

PATHFINDING will eat memory as the AI decides which way to go. The more difficult terrain on the map, the larger the map, and the more enemy units to pathfind with - the more time it will take, naturally.

A map consisting largely of clear & open terrain - will not require much pathfinding.

So - you have a large AI force, on a large map stuffed with bad terrain - naturally more CPU will be required to process the AI force.

And your computer will make a difference in number crunching - a test game on my new (5 year old) Dell with single core P300 and 1 GB of RAM, takes a minute. On the 12 year old W98 box with a P120 and 256MB, it will take 10-15 or so minutes to process an AI turn of the same sort of size (map and force). My little netbook with a weedy Atom processor but a gigabyte of RAM takes 3 or 4. RAM is likely to be the main need since each unit is making a path list of its own. An AI helicopter unit will not require much CPU (all moves the same cost) - but will require more bytes to store its paths (and will test more potential target movement hexes = more bytes).

Also - AI formations a long way from contact will generate a formation march path to handle larger movements. each HQ may well need a lot of pathing of a large chunk of the map to find a way round a load of mud, trees, a river cross the map etc. So larger maps will generate much more AI pathfinding calculations - the more nasty terrain, the more it will need.

Andy

[francoisD]

thanks! andy

it is clearer now. so with maps including bad terrains i will stop the other applications

[DRG]

We've been saying for years there shouldn't be ANY other applications running

Don