ugh... savegame load time

[Cordelayne]

I always pay attention when people report unexpected facts. I know I have a very high end machine. I don't doubt that others are having better results with the save/load procedures on Civ4. I'm sure it's not my hardware.

Maybe it's something about the way I have pruned my Windows XP install to remove almost all of the automatic services? Maybe there's some Windows crap that Civ4 just expects to be present?? Since systematic testing of over 80 cancelled service would take about 100 years, I'd appreciate official guidance if it's something like this.

[Urban Ranger]

You have to remember loading a game is not just merely reading in a file from the HDD -- it amounts to restarting the game with a different set of conditions.

[CrapFactory]

I can load an 18 player huge world in about 10 seconds. Get a better computer.

[Zan]

Originally posted by Cordelayne
I had Civ3 games on huge maps that needed to load 50 times the data of my average Civ4 loads, and did so crisply.

The point, in my opinion, is all the parsing that the load procedure uses. It is amateurish for a high-end game like this. There are, for example, recursive techniques combined with various kinds of preloading strategies that can make saves MUCH faster. Like, what is done on almost all other high-end games.

That's precisely what I meant.
1- We don't know what files CIV is reading to load a game.
2- We know it should not need to read everything again as for a clean start.
3- If we discover that a faster HD loads games (much) faster, while the save file itself is <1Gb, we could start thinking that the game is really loading more than it should need.

[baboon]

I think the load time is pretty absurd for that computer, and I don't think it's Firaxis fault, because I have the same system and it only takes something like 20 seconds to load.

Maybe you need to clean it up a bit, in software terms.

[tai4ji2x]

i've gone through task manager and tried to cut out as many unnecessary processes as i thought were safe to close (googling each of them to make sure). also tried to disable some services in windows.

i've tried swap files of 1 GB - 1.5 GB so far. still no luck

[tai4ji2x]

Originally posted by mattcj
Don't know guys... sure you don't have something else on your machine that's bogging things down? I play standard sized maps, 2.8 gigs with 512 megs ram and radeon 9800 with 256 megs, and save games don't take longer than about 30 seconds to load.

but what about huge maps and 10+ civs?

[Azuarc]

I don't think the game is *loading* that long. I think it's simply processing. The game doesn't just record the current state, it records everything that has happened, and I suspect it actually internally resimulates everything from turn 1 so it has an accurate end-game replay and power chart, etc. Not that those couldn't be saved along with the state. *boggle*

[mattcj]

Originally posted by tai4ji2x


but what about huge maps and 10+ civs?

Honestly, can't say for sure... never played huge maps... as the standard sized maps take me long enough to get through a game. But I can't believe it's gonna be exponentially longer to load one.

[tai4ji2x]

btw, a note to moderators, should we move this thread to the Civ4 tech/help forum?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Azuarc
I don't think the game is *loading* that long. I think it's simply processing. The game doesn't just record the current state, it records everything that has happened, and I suspect it actually internally resimulates everything from turn 1 so it has an accurate end-game replay and power chart, etc. Not that those couldn't be saved along with the state. *boggle*

It most certainly does not do that.

[Aro]

Originally posted by CrapFactory
I can load an 18 player huge world in about 10 seconds. Get a better computer.

Nice name. It's really you..

[rjwoer]

Get a better computer.

This kind of response is completely asinine. If a computer cannot run the game despite meeting the recommended specs (let alone the minimum reqs) there is something else going on. Maybe it's the fault of the game, or maybe a file or setting on the computer--but certainly the fix isn't a new system altogether ... nor is that acceptable IMO.

Taking into account all the various problems people are having with all kinds of systems, I'd be inclined to think there's a booger in a game file or setting which is causing the glitch. This game is full of idiosyncrasies which are creating all kinds of oddities. Stable this game is NOT.

[Cordelayne]

what rjwoer said!

[Urban Ranger]

The problem with any such complaints is Windows is the most uncontrolled computer environment. It's complicated, it is mostly a blackbox, and there can be all kinds of things running on it, including malware and spyware. As a result, it is very hard to pinpoint the cause.

That being said, Civ 4 is hardly a paragon of good programming. I haven't seen any computer frozen solid like that for a very, very long time.