Civ IV: 4x in space!!! but sooooo slow

[Ravenloff]

When I read the reviews that over and over again said that Final Frotier was THE reason to get BTS, I believed them.

Hell, I still do, to some extent, but I just have one little gripe...I spend more time watching the turn mouse icon turn round and round than I do actually playing the game.

It seems super slow and possibly not optimized. During turn calculations, it causes my Itunes to skip, which CivIV only did before the first patch.

[Nugog]

It is slow - but is still uber cool in my opinion.

What size map/number of civ's are you playing?

[Jon Shafer]

Yeah, it's not terribly fast, I have to admit. I had to code the entire mod in Python, which definitely slows things down (particularly since there's AI code - and thus pathfinding - in there). But look on the bright side... it was actually much slower until about a week before it was finished.

I do wonder what map size you're playing on, as well as your system specs. It shouldn't be TOO bad unless you're playing a Large or Huge map.

Jon

[Solver]

No Jon, it actually had endless loops at that point, not just being slower

Anyway, there's pretty much nothing you can do to speed FF up. Python is slower than compiled C++, so unless you want to disable the FF AI, you're stuck with a slower mod. For FF, I would recommend perhaps playing one map size lower than what you normally play and also I've found that the Normal game speed works well for FF. Should also give you more to do on most turns, after all.

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Solver
No Jon, it actually had endless loops at that point, not just being slower

Technically, it was stuck in an infinite loop and then broke out of it after 100 passes due to a hack that Soren put in, thank you very much.

Anyway, there's pretty much nothing you can do to speed FF up. Python is slower than compiled C++, so unless you want to disable the FF AI, you're stuck with a slower mod. For FF, I would recommend perhaps playing one map size lower than what you normally play and also I've found that the Normal game speed works well for FF. Should also give you more to do on most turns, after all.

Yes, unfortunately this is true. The cost of making a cool mod where the AI actually (sort of) understands how to play.

Jon

[Solver]

Hmm. I guess it would be possible to move the FF AI code into the DLL, overriding some of the default behaviour, no? Although it's probably somewhat more trouble than it's worth.

[Nugog]

It is still a very very cool mod!

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Solver
Hmm. I guess it would be possible to move the FF AI code into the DLL, overriding some of the default behaviour, no? Although it's probably somewhat more trouble than it's worth.

Yeah, I thought one of the selling points for Civ4 originally was that you could drop in alternative dll's in mods.

[Ravenloff]

First, let me say that the criticism offered was nothing negative. I'm a HUGE 4x space fan and often quite bummed at the lack of content.

Please do not mention MOO3 or I just might kill someone.

Anyway, FF is why I bought BTS. I've been playing on Large, but I'll try standard or smaller. I don't suppose there is any way to change the way fleet engage?

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Solver
Hmm. I guess it would be possible to move the FF AI code into the DLL, overriding some of the default behaviour, no? Although it's probably somewhat more trouble than it's worth.

Yes, it's possible. And that's how I would have preferred to do it, but maintaining multiple DLL source code branches during development is way more trouble than it would be worth.

Jon

[Solver]

Yeah, I know about how much of a pain it can be. But hey guys, it's a hint - someone move the FF code into the DLL and give us a faster mod

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Ravenloff
First, let me say that the criticism offered was nothing negative. I'm a HUGE 4x space fan and often quite bummed at the lack of content.

Please do not mention MOO3 or I just might kill someone.

Anyway, FF is why I bought BTS. I've been playing on Large, but I'll try standard or smaller. I don't suppose there is any way to change the way fleet engage?

Don't worry, the criticism is certainly valid, and I'm glad you enjoy the mod. Just wanted to provide some some info on stuff behind the scenes.

Jon

[Unspeakable Horror]

Originally posted by Jon Shafer

Yes, it's possible. And that's how I would have preferred to do it, but maintaining multiple DLL source code branches during development is way more trouble than it would be worth.

Jon

Since development is over... does that mean that now you are going to make a DLL?

[Jon Shafer]

Originally posted by Unspeakable Horror
Since development is over... does that mean that now you are going to make a DLL?

I'm afraid my boss might have other things in mind.

Jon

[Solver]

Real developers do things like that on their free time