OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Increasing game speed and or save speed(Killebrew)

Scott Vibert · 02-19-2003, 10:40 AM

Why is my game so slow? I can run many of the more intensive 3D games much quicker than the text sim.

A common misconception is that because the games have fancy 3D graphics that they are more computer intensive then text sims. Many text simulations will actually tax your system much more than most 3D games. The volume of numbers and calculations that must be performed by your system will chew up more resources then the graphically based games.

So how can you improve the processing speed of your text sims?

You can help your processing times with text sims considerably by deleting unnecessary startup programs. These programs unnecessarily chew up lots of system resources which will slow down the game speed considerably.

A trim system will typically have 90-95% of resources free when it boots up. If you are chewing up more system resources then this, then you have quite a few start up tasks running, or you may even have a virus. Disabling unnecessary start up tasks will free up lots of system resources.

To adjust your start up tasks you can go to the Start MenuàRun prompt and type msconfig. The msconfig program controls the applications that start up when you start you computer. By un-checking the box next to the start menu task you can stop the program from starting in the first place and free up the resources. You can typically get away with un-checking everything EXCEPT your needed Windows Files and Anti-Virus Software. An excellent resource, for checking if a listed start up task is really necessary, can be found at:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup...artup_full.htm

The above resource will give you a guide to follow about which programs need to be run at start up.

The amount of RAM you have will also have a large impact on processing speed for text sims. Given the relative inexpensiveness of RAM you may want to consider upgrading the amount of RAM in your machine, if it can handle more. Adding more RAM will frequently show a significant increase of processing speed.

Another important consideration is that some older Operating Systems, among the most notorious of which is Windows ME, are very poor with their memory management which can also result in slower processing times, despite decent processor speed and RAM.

02-19-2003, 10:40 AM	#2
Scott Vibert Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: My Computer Posts: 8,182	Why is my game so slow? I can run many of the more intensive 3D games much quicker than the text sim. A common misconception is that because the games have fancy 3D graphics that they are more computer intensive then text sims. Many text simulations will actually tax your system much more than most 3D games. The volume of numbers and calculations that must be performed by your system will chew up more resources then the graphically based games. So how can you improve the processing speed of your text sims? You can help your processing times with text sims considerably by deleting unnecessary startup programs. These programs unnecessarily chew up lots of system resources which will slow down the game speed considerably. A trim system will typically have 90-95% of resources free when it boots up. If you are chewing up more system resources then this, then you have quite a few start up tasks running, or you may even have a virus. Disabling unnecessary start up tasks will free up lots of system resources. To adjust your start up tasks you can go to the Start MenuàRun prompt and type msconfig. The msconfig program controls the applications that start up when you start you computer. By un-checking the box next to the start menu task you can stop the program from starting in the first place and free up the resources. You can typically get away with un-checking everything EXCEPT your needed Windows Files and Anti-Virus Software. An excellent resource, for checking if a listed start up task is really necessary, can be found at: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup...artup_full.htm The above resource will give you a guide to follow about which programs need to be run at start up. The amount of RAM you have will also have a large impact on processing speed for text sims. Given the relative inexpensiveness of RAM you may want to consider upgrading the amount of RAM in your machine, if it can handle more. Adding more RAM will frequently show a significant increase of processing speed. Another important consideration is that some older Operating Systems, among the most notorious of which is Windows ME, are very poor with their memory management which can also result in slower processing times, despite decent processor speed and RAM.