Game Slowing to unplayable

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Tech Support >> Game Slowing to unplayable

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Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/19/2013 3:26:45 PM

jpinks

Posts: 6
Joined: 8/26/2012
Status: offline

Ok I have noticed on my Sager laptop that the late game gets unplayable. The whole game just crawls. Forget trying to to pull out and take a look at a large area. I know its not my laptop its got I7 3740 and dual 7970's with 16GB of ram. Why is it that the game just starts crawling. I am on Win 7 64bit. Love the game but cant ever finish a game because I get so frustrated with the slow down!!!!!!

Post #: 1

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/19/2013 5:31:45 PM

Kayoz

Posts: 1516
Joined: 12/20/2010
From: Timbuktu
Status: offline

What version do you have? AFAIK, DW:L 1.7.0.20 has some improvements.

Code efficiency and graphics optimization has been a long standing issue with DW. Granted it's not as bad as it used to be. Erik has noted further improvements in Shadows, but has stated that there's not much more they can do, given the architecture (and I suspect the language of choice - C#) of the game - any dramatic improvements will only come with DW2 (read: rewrite).

Sorry. Not much of a help, but rest assured that others feel your pain.

_____________________________

�That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.� ― Christopher Hitchens

(in reply to jpinks)

Post #: 2

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/19/2013 6:40:48 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

In Shadows Beta I have automated nightly games in default galaxies, hunting for crashes, and observing AI behavior once in a while.

I have recently upgraded my computer, so that it is fairly up to date. The longest game ran for over 340 years, with "my" empire controlling about half the galaxy. I could feel the weight of the galaxy when zooming while running at 4X, but nothing that I could not live with. My main worry was the time it took to save (10 minutes).

If the game is stable, long load and save times are not that bad, as you can reduce autosave. And since it ran 340 years, it was rather stable. I never had the rig to run that large games of legends, and never would run a manual game that long anyways, but I figure this could be an improvement. Another game on the same version was not as stable, but those crashes are fixed now.

I fear the main issue on giant, mature, galaxies is the pure number of ships, and I can understand that giving some headaches. And the above was on 700 stars.

I really miss the twin of "loaded games are paused", which is "pause after saving". When save is slow, being able to leave the computer safely would be very nice. If in addition the autosave timer did not run until unpaused after save...

(in reply to Kayoz)

Post #: 3

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/19/2013 9:19:13 PM

Kayoz

Posts: 1516
Joined: 12/20/2010
From: Timbuktu
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bingeling
I really miss the twin of "loaded games are paused", which is "pause after saving". When save is slow, being able to leave the computer safely would be very nice. If in addition the autosave timer did not run until unpaused after save...

A reasonable request, imo - I think it's been brought up before. Please bring it up on the Shadows beta forum.

_____________________________

�That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.� ― Christopher Hitchens

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Post #: 4

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/19/2013 11:00:00 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

I have.

Not in the loudest possible way, but I have :)

Having to be alert for saving to end, when saving takes more than 30 seconds is a pain. And spending all autosave slots if leaving the game paused seems unnecessary.

(in reply to Kayoz)

Post #: 5

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/20/2013 1:59:04 AM

feelotraveller

Posts: 1040
Joined: 9/12/2011
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

[snip]
My main worry was the time it took to save (10 minutes).

[snip]
I really miss the twin of "loaded games are paused", which is "pause after saving". When save is slow, being able to leave the computer safely would be very nice. If in addition the autosave timer did not run until unpaused after save...

Oh no.

Please cause a minor ruckus over the two pausing toggles in the beta forum, if it's not too late. You are more than welcome to blame it on me... Seriously if your rig takes ten minutes to save I'll be spending huge periods of time sitting in front of my screen waiting for the save to finish.

Seems silly that missing such simple toggles (which were already coded...) could detract from the game experience so much.

< Message edited by feelotraveller -- 5/20/2013 3:26:31 AM >

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 6

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/20/2013 8:39:41 AM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

How often do you play a 700 star game for 340 years, though? :) It could be a bad mix including "too large" empire.

(in reply to feelotraveller)

Post #: 7

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/20/2013 12:47:33 PM

KAHUNA

Posts: 68
Joined: 4/17/2010
Status: offline

So there is no fix for the slowdown in late gameplay[as in the original OP's request] and none in the immediate future[because of it's programming code] but that aspect will be addressed and corrected in the DW2 series? Hmmm...ok... I guess I'l have to wait for that to happen then..

Edit:this is in reply to the general topic.

< Message edited by KAHUNA -- 5/20/2013 12:55:16 PM >

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 8

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/20/2013 1:39:09 PM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

Immediate future? Thursday? :)

Shadows is of course to be released, and I would not be surprise if some issues are found by a wider audience. So don't expect perfect stability and performance from day 1. But running 340 years with no crash was not a bad sign at all, even if it may have b been a bit lucky.

Docking bays on colonies have been upped to 20 for a reason, I figure it may be some tweaks to ship counts incoming...

(in reply to KAHUNA)

Post #: 9

RE: Game Slowing to unplayable - 5/20/2013 1:52:03 PM

KAHUNA

Posts: 68
Joined: 4/17/2010
Status: offline

I can have later gameplay now as long as I don't want to zoom in and watch any battles which sort of takes away some of the fun. The people who already have the previous installments of this game[pre-Shadows] are just going to have to suck it up as is or wait til the developers make the next rendition[DW2] in order to alleviate the problems expressed in the OP's topic. Looks like I'l have to wait til DW 2 happens and then see if things are smoothed out enough for late gameplay without the expressed problems.This is what I'm seeing when I read this whole topic.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 10