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Why So Slow? What's the Bottleneck?

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  • #1

    Why So Slow? What's the Bottleneck?

    Now that I have the units the way I want them, a good earthmap, corruption and science under control, lethal bombardment, there is one major issue left...

    Slow!! Slow, slowwwwww, slow... Even with a mere six civs, by the time I have 30 + cities the turns craaaawl....

    None of my other games are so slow. I can run graphics intensive games like Half-Life Dod 1.2 mod and Unreal, I can run massive RPGs like BG and Wizardry 8, I can run titanic number-crunching fests like TOAW Elite edition custom barbarossa scenario, with its thousands of units and calculations....

    And civ II? I can reach the max limit of allowable cities, with hundreds and hundreds of units, and the load times are only a few seconds between turns.


    So what can I do to make Civ III run more quickly (I've turned off animations etc already)?

    Is it a question of RAM? I have 128.

    Maybe CPU? I only have PII 400 mHz (always the last thing to be upgraded)

    Help!
    "Wait a minute..this isn''t FAUX dive, it's just a DIVE!"
    "...Mangy dog staggering about, looking vainly for a place to die."
    "sauna stories? There are no 'sauna stories'.. I mean.. sauna is sauna. You do by the laws of sauna." -P.
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  • #2
    Depends on which part is slow.

    If it's the AI pathfinding, in the previous chat, Soren said lots of RAM would help.

    If it's between turns, turn off Auto-save, as the compression is the killer. If it's this, a more powerful CPU would also probably help.
    The greatest delight for man is to inflict defeat on his enemies, to drive them before him, to see those dear to them with their faces bathed in tears, to bestride their horses, to crush in his arms their daughters and wives.

    Duas uncias in puncta mortalis est.

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    • #3
      I too have noticed that the late game runs way to slow with more than 4 AI civilizations - and my computer is an 866MHz, 526K ram.

      I only play with 4 AI civs now...and the late game does slow down, but nothing like it was doing with 6+ AI civs in play.
      ____________________________
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      • #4
        Isn't Firaxis wonderful?

        We complain for months about the game being too slow. So what does Firaxis do for us?? THEY MAKE IT SLOWER!!!

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        • #5
          i have a gig of ram (well, 1024 MB to be exact) and it still takes a solid 3-5 minutes on marla's late game... but then again god forbid i enjoy large games...
          "I've lived too long with pain. I won't know who I am without it. We have to leave this place, I am almost happy here."
          - Ender, from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

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          • #6
            well, i don't really have a problem with slowdown, but then i don't play anymore because after i got my nice new video card it started to lock up constantly.

            sometimes i really miss that voodoo 3.
            By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.

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            • #7
              I never have problems, usually playing with about 7 civs on a medium map... of course, I have a new computer, but I don't remember my system attributes since I'm not posting from home. Anyway, try the other suggestions here... they might get you somewhere.
              Lime roots and treachery!
              "Eventually you're left with a bunch of unmemorable posters like Cyclotron, pretending that they actually know anything about who they're debating pointless crap with." - Drake Tungsten

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Coracle
                Isn't Firaxis wonderful?

                We complain for months about the game being too slow. So what does Firaxis do for us?? THEY MAKE IT SLOWER!!!
                Do you know that you are repeating yourself?
                (same message on several threads)


                Anyway many people LIKE compressed saves.
                And game is NOT slower if you trun off auto-save.

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                • #9
                  Poor design or poor coding. One or the other or both. Unacceptable. If I were running Firaxis and they brought me something like this to release I would see that they learn to respect people of moderate means by long stints in the unemployment line.

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                  • #10
                    The only time I experience a slow down is when my system resources are being used up. Everthing you run in the background takes up resources. Quit all the programs you feel comfortable with and take as much off your desktop as possible. (Everything on your desktop uses system resources)


                    Also defrag often and if you can afford it get more ram.
                    Sorry....nothing to say!

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by jimmytrick
                      Poor design or poor coding. One or the other or both. Unacceptable. If I were running Firaxis and they brought me something like this to release I would see that they learn to respect people of moderate means by long stints in the unemployment line.

                      jt you obviously know nothing of design, coding or computers. The reason the game runs slow is because of the computers, not the game. If people would properly maintain and work their computers they would find that the game runs just fine. (Or they could pay my standard $135 / hr fee and I'll do it for them. )
                      Sorry....nothing to say!

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                      • #12
                        ACooper, I've been a software engineer for twenty years and I can tell you that that Civ3 is slow because of inefficient coding. And if Firaxis were to devote time to tuning the code, those annoying "please wait..." intervals would be much shorter.
                        ACOL owner/administrator

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                        • #13
                          Well, this is interesting. I as a system engineer am saying it's the system, you as a software engineer are saying it's the software.
                          This doesn't happen often.

                          Ok. Where and how is it "inefficient coded"? What evidence do you have?
                          Sorry....nothing to say!

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                          • #14
                            @ AnnC and Coop. That is too funny. No sir, it's my fault... Not at all ma'am, the offence is all mine... That's almost as funny as the broken coffee cup holder...

                            Seeker. I assume you are using Marla's or some other huge world map? OK. They are known to be pigs for performance. Firaxis has admitted numerous times that people with 'older' computers will have problems with the big maps, especially in the late game. According to someone who actually coded the game (in a good position to know) it is the path-finding routines. PII 400 with 128M is not that far above the minimum spec.

                            Now the good news. Soren has repeatedly mentioned that RAM is the single most important aspect of performance (this is also true for many other programs). Good thing RAM is very cheap, and for most computers, the easiest thing to add. Go to 512M if your computer can handle it. You should notice a big difference.

                            Coop also has good points about system maintenance (defrag) and back ground programs. It's funny when someone says 'this computer doesn't work' and they have 30 TSRs loading on start up... Actually, it's usually not funny, but that's another topic.
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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by notyoueither


                              Now the good news. Soren has repeatedly mentioned that RAM is the single most important aspect of performance (this is also true for many other programs). Good thing RAM is very cheap, and for most computers, the easiest thing to add. Go to 512M if your computer can handle it. You should notice a big difference.
                              I agree that it is probably a ram issue. to illustrate this, if you are using windows xp, before you end a turn, open the taskmanager. when you end the turn, look at the taskmanager. the game will just suck up all the available memory. I have 512 mg ram, the game will take up all the free, even have to wait before opening a internet explorer (though I can use if already open)

                              also you should use cacheman, or a similar program to help out. works wonders.

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