Battery Power Drain?

Ross333 · 05-31-2016, 11:08 PM

I am using a Macbook Air, as I have with the prior versions of OOTP over the years. Is my computer suddenly losing battery holding power, or is it this software? I used to be able to leave OOTP open and minimized in the background for days while using other programs and in sleep mode with no problem or recharge necessary. I've noticed with OOTP 17 open, and even minimized, the battery is draining fast. Anyone else experiencing this?

ShaneCarson · 06-01-2016, 11:24 PM

Feel like OOTP17 kills my battery on my Macbook Pro. Haven't run any tests but it does seem to drain rather quickly while the game is running.

hillm2ca · 06-02-2016, 11:15 AM

I have an HP Pavilion laptop that is about two years old and, for some reason, when I play OOTP 17 in 3D mode, my cooling fan kicks into overdrive and, if I do not revert back to broadcast mode, my computer will eventually overheat, shutdown, and restart.
This seems to be related to your battery issue if only that the game seems to be using much of the CPU. I have no issues with OOTP 17 and have enjoyed this version more than previous editions, but I do miss out on playing games in 3D mode because of the overheating issue.
In response to your post, yes I have also experienced a quickly draining battery when the game is either open or minimized (which it always is when I am not playing it). I just assumed that my battery was old and needed to be replaced so it is nice to hear that this might not be the case.

NoOne · 06-02-2016, 01:12 PM

turn off multi-threading. this will definitely lower power consumption and in most cases won't slow down the game noticeably. (i see virtually no differnce when simming a full year, let alone 1 day.... some may have different experiences)

running in 3d vs 2d definitely will have an impact. if you are having heat issues, you may want to buy some thermal gel and re-apply to gpu and cpu. if you only have the intel graphics, it's using your cpu. you wont have to apply thermal gel to a gpu chip that doesn't exist, no worries.

your FPS may be skyrocketting, too. use "VSync" to limit FPS to refresh rate of your screen... anything over that is really just an extenda-p&nis. this will lower power consumption as well as help with overheating. get a program called Dxtory - i think it's free, or find something similar. it can run in the background and limit fps of your 3d applications to a value you define - say "30" FPS. this will help if VSync doesn't help enough.

load up your graphics card softwar - amd will be called "catalyst" etc. lower the 3d application settings or, better yet, create a profile specifically for OotP17.exe, if possible. turn off anti-aliasing, reduce whatever you can.... set things to "performance" as opposed to "quality." use a google search for things you don't understand the vocabulary.

start low as possible, load game... if everythign is good to go, slowly increase one thing at a time and things you value more first. raise the settings until you get heat problems again.....

Batteries:

3-5 years of mishandling them will significantly increase the likelihood of them going bad in just a few years. you only get so many hours of charging before the battery starts to physically breakdown (a new way of doing things will fix this problem.. complete accident they figured it out too, kinda cool story). never leave it on the charger, even if it supposedly "trickles" or maybe has some additional features that help prevent damaging the battery... simply avoiding the situation is better.

bottom line: don't leave it charging! e.g. if your cellphone battery starts going bad within 2 years, it's user error.

plinko83 · 06-04-2016, 09:58 PM

I have a Macbook Air and have noticed the exact same thing. I usually get a good 6-8 hours out of a full charge (sometimes more depending on what I'm doing), and when playing OOTP I find myself well below 50% after 90 minutes or so of play.

It's really disappointing because OOTP is one of my favorite ways to pass the time when traveling and I often don't have access to AC power at all times on the road and it really makes me feel like I need to ration my computer power.

ttaka808 · 06-06-2016, 05:59 AM

I run a Macbook Air and OOTP 17 does kill the battery pretty quickly

NoOne · 06-06-2016, 09:52 AM

well, you guys have macs, but it's the same things just in different places - what i said above. look for an FPS limiter for mac, if the easy stuff doesn't improve battery usage enough... assuming it's so short it's a porblem.

3d is a ton more process-intensive than broadcast mode. it will use alot more power while running in 3d-mode.

the turning off the multi-threading option is in the ootp settings.

Hotwheelz · 06-07-2016, 06:55 PM

Running OOTP in 3D absolutely destroys the battery on my MacBook. But I honestly think that would be the case on any laptop. Anything other than 3D has been perfectly normally for me though. Haven't noticed a drastic decrease in battery life once I stopped using 3D.

05-31-2016, 11:08 PM	#1
Ross333 Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 67	Battery Power Drain? I am using a Macbook Air, as I have with the prior versions of OOTP over the years. Is my computer suddenly losing battery holding power, or is it this software? I used to be able to leave OOTP open and minimized in the background for days while using other programs and in sleep mode with no problem or recharge necessary. I've noticed with OOTP 17 open, and even minimized, the battery is draining fast. Anyone else experiencing this?

06-02-2016, 11:15 AM	#3
hillm2ca Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 286	I have an HP Pavilion laptop that is about two years old and, for some reason, when I play OOTP 17 in 3D mode, my cooling fan kicks into overdrive and, if I do not revert back to broadcast mode, my computer will eventually overheat, shutdown, and restart. This seems to be related to your battery issue if only that the game seems to be using much of the CPU. I have no issues with OOTP 17 and have enjoyed this version more than previous editions, but I do miss out on playing games in 3D mode because of the overheating issue. In response to your post, yes I have also experienced a quickly draining battery when the game is either open or minimized (which it always is when I am not playing it). I just assumed that my battery was old and needed to be replaced so it is nice to hear that this might not be the case. Last edited by hillm2ca; 06-02-2016 at 11:17 AM.

06-02-2016, 01:12 PM	#4
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,167	turn off multi-threading. this will definitely lower power consumption and in most cases won't slow down the game noticeably. (i see virtually no differnce when simming a full year, let alone 1 day.... some may have different experiences) running in 3d vs 2d definitely will have an impact. if you are having heat issues, you may want to buy some thermal gel and re-apply to gpu and cpu. if you only have the intel graphics, it's using your cpu. you wont have to apply thermal gel to a gpu chip that doesn't exist, no worries. your FPS may be skyrocketting, too. use "VSync" to limit FPS to refresh rate of your screen... anything over that is really just an extenda-p&nis. this will lower power consumption as well as help with overheating. get a program called Dxtory - i think it's free, or find something similar. it can run in the background and limit fps of your 3d applications to a value you define - say "30" FPS. this will help if VSync doesn't help enough. load up your graphics card softwar - amd will be called "catalyst" etc. lower the 3d application settings or, better yet, create a profile specifically for OotP17.exe, if possible. turn off anti-aliasing, reduce whatever you can.... set things to "performance" as opposed to "quality." use a google search for things you don't understand the vocabulary. start low as possible, load game... if everythign is good to go, slowly increase one thing at a time and things you value more first. raise the settings until you get heat problems again..... Batteries: 3-5 years of mishandling them will significantly increase the likelihood of them going bad in just a few years. you only get so many hours of charging before the battery starts to physically breakdown (a new way of doing things will fix this problem.. complete accident they figured it out too, kinda cool story). never leave it on the charger, even if it supposedly "trickles" or maybe has some additional features that help prevent damaging the battery... simply avoiding the situation is better. bottom line: don't leave it charging! e.g. if your cellphone battery starts going bad within 2 years, it's user error. Last edited by NoOne; 06-02-2016 at 01:19 PM.

06-01-2016, 11:24 PM	#2
ShaneCarson All Star Reserve Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 728	Feel like OOTP17 kills my battery on my Macbook Pro. Haven't run any tests but it does seem to drain rather quickly while the game is running.

06-04-2016, 09:58 PM	#5
plinko83 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 43	I have a Macbook Air and have noticed the exact same thing. I usually get a good 6-8 hours out of a full charge (sometimes more depending on what I'm doing), and when playing OOTP I find myself well below 50% after 90 minutes or so of play. It's really disappointing because OOTP is one of my favorite ways to pass the time when traveling and I often don't have access to AC power at all times on the road and it really makes me feel like I need to ration my computer power.

06-06-2016, 05:59 AM	#6
ttaka808 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 277	I run a Macbook Air and OOTP 17 does kill the battery pretty quickly

06-06-2016, 09:52 AM	#7
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,167	well, you guys have macs, but it's the same things just in different places - what i said above. look for an FPS limiter for mac, if the easy stuff doesn't improve battery usage enough... assuming it's so short it's a porblem. 3d is a ton more process-intensive than broadcast mode. it will use alot more power while running in 3d-mode. the turning off the multi-threading option is in the ootp settings.

06-07-2016, 06:55 PM	#8
Hotwheelz All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,617	Running OOTP in 3D absolutely destroys the battery on my MacBook. But I honestly think that would be the case on any laptop. Anything other than 3D has been perfectly normally for me though. Haven't noticed a drastic decrease in battery life once I stopped using 3D.