Air Superiority Calculation taking too long

[Vaevictis_386]

It's late 1944 and my campaign game is no longer playable because it takes a very long time to calculate air superiority each turn.

Anyone know anything that can help with this?

[Alfred]

Explain what you mean.
 
If you mean the combat animations are taking too long for your attention span, they can be turned off.  Means that you will miss out on considerable relevant information.
 
Alfred

[Vaevictis_386]

I mean that when I end the orders phase and the game reaches the 'Calculate Air Superiority' during its execution of the turn, the calculation of air superiority now takes so long that I find the game unplayable. It does eventually complete that phase, but at 4-8 minutes it makes the game unplayable for me.

[jwolf]

ORIGINAL: Vaevictis_386
4-8 minutes

With respect, this really does not sound so bad to me. Sure we would like it to be faster but this hardly seems like a game breaking delay for one turn.

[crsutton]

I suggest posting it in the tech support forum. That was not the case in my late campaign. It only took a few seconds.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

I suggest posting it in the tech support forum. That was not the case in my late campaign. It only took a few seconds.

Now what the hell did I just do???[8|]

[wdolson]

What are your command line switches? They can affect how fast things are processed.

Bill

[m10bob]

Seriously, several minutes is NOT normal..Almost sounds like possible corrupted .bat ???

[zuluhour]

Please follow the moderators advice and check your command switches. On my machine I use -CPU1 I think.

Troubleshooting:

Ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements. These are found in the game manual. Also, ensure that you have the latest video and sound drivers available for your system and that you have upgraded to the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft. The vast majority of reported problems are resolved by upgrading all drivers and DirectX to the latest versions.

If you are still experiencing problems with the game, please post in the War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition™ Tech Support Forum at www.matrixgames.com/forums or contact our Help Desk at www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk. Please provide as much detail on your issue as soon as possible.

To obtain optimum game performance, close all other applications before beginning a game.

IMPORTANT - Dual/Quad Core Performance and Command Line Switches:

We’ve found that a number of newer multi-core systems with multi-threaded graphics drivers can be particular about how they want War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition to work. We’ve added a number of new command line switches which, in our experience, make it possible for every system to get the best performance out of War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition. They are defined below as “Performance Switches” and we recommend that every player give them a try as they can even improve performance on older systems in many cases.

There are also a number of other command line switches that may be useful to players.

To use any of these, Right click to edit the Properties on the “Quick Start” shortcut to the game (located in your Start Menu folder for War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition). Do not edit the default desktop link, which points to an “autorun.exe” as that won’t work. You have to use the Quick Start link which points directly to the game executable. You’ll want to add these to the end of the “Target” field to get them to work. For example, when you are done your target field could look like this:

"C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition\War in the Pacific Admiral
Edition.exe" -wd –altFont –cpu2 –multiaudio –dd_sw

Performance Switches

(Please note that the old –dual switch has been removed in favor of the below combination of more configurable switches)

-SingleCpuStart : Starts the game in single CPU mode. Switches to multi CPU mode if available later. We’ve found this to be useful on some multi-core systems, especially AMD processors.

-SingleCpuOrders : Starts the game in single CPU mode and stays in single CPU for the orders phase, switches to multi CPU mode for running the turn, then switches back to single mode for the next orders phase. We’ve found this to be useful on some multi-core systems, especially AMD processors. Use this or –SingleCpuStart, not both.

If either of the above are used with one of the -cpu# switches noted below, it will use the specified CPU, otherwise both of these switches default to the first CPU. If a -cpu# switch and one of these -Single switches are used, the turns will always be processed in multi-processor mode.

-cpu# : (cpu1, cpu2, cpu3, cpu4) Switches set the cpu affinity for multi cpu systems. It will do nothing for single cores and will default to using all cores if a core is designated which is not there (for example using -cpu3 on a dual core system). We’ve found this to be very useful on some multi-core systems, especially Intel processors.

If used alone, the -cpu# switches will keep the game running on the CPU specified all the time. If used with the -SingleCpuStart switch, it will only use that core when starting the game. If used with the -SingleCpuOrders switch, it will stay in single CPU mode for starting and the orders phase, but will run in multicore. If one of the SingleCpu switches is used without a -cpu# switch, it will default to cpu 1 when it is in single core.

-multiaudio : Invokes a fix that changes audio timing for multicore machines.

-dd_sw : Handles DirectDraw via Software. We’ve found this can make a huge difference on many systems as far as reducing interface lag and making button clicking in-game more responsive. On a few newer systems this can cause some visual glitches and slow combat animations though, so give it a try and remove it if it’s not ideal on your system.

Performance Examples

For example, on an Intel Dual Core system here, we use the following switches:

-cpu2 –multiaudio –dd_sw

On an AMD multi-core system, we use the following switches:

-SingleCpuOrders –cpu2 –multiaudio

Try these switches in different combinations to see what works best for your system as what works well on one may not be ideal for another. However, we have yet to find a system that didn’t benefit at all from at least one of these switches performance-wise, so test them out!

[Vaevictis_386]

Here are the switches I have been using:

"C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -dd_sw -SingleCpuOrders-altFont -cpu2 -multiaudio -px1920 -py1080

[zuluhour]

Looks like we need a IT guy, I would experiment with the different CPU switches though, it took awhile for me to find the
perfect combination.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Vaevictis_386

Here are the switches I have been using:

"C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -dd_sw -SingleCpuOrders-altFont -cpu2 -multiaudio -px1920 -py1080

Don't think it's related, but I think you need a space between Orders and the hyphen.

My air superiority phase takes 2-3 seconds on a multi-core Intel CPU. It's a fair bit of math, but there are phases with more. If the supply phase, for example, is as fast as it ever was I suspect you have a DB corruption issue of some kind.

[tdpyle]

Add the switch "-deepColor" to your command line. This speeds up things -- especially om windows 8.

[Vaevictis_386]

Hmmm can't get it going. No worry this was a problem for that game for a long time, I'll give it up. The problem appeared many patches ago, just thought I'd check if there were any developments that might make it run.

[m10bob]

The mods advice is always the best advice, bar none..Might go thr top of the forums when you first come in, ask for "General tech help"..Your problems sound unique to the rest of us, I suspect..We are all on your side..

[HansBolter]

I would kill for a delay of ONLY 4-8 minutes.

A while back my computer died and I had to go with an old backup that is a 2.6ghz P4 with only a gig of ram, a real dog.

It typically takes the old dog 10-12 minutes to churn through the Calculating Air Superiority phase and a good 10-12 more minutes to complete the AIs orders.

I typically move over to the model desk to get some build/painting progress in while I wait.

Hoping to spring for a fast new screamer system soon that will make this history, but its a way of life for now.

Processing power is what is needed to speed up what you see as an interminable delay.

[rockmedic109]

I've had to play on an old relic of a computer {bought refurbished in 2002} for a while after my last laptop died. The Air Superiority Calculation Phase took several minutes {I think it was 4 minutes}. My current computer is 3.5 years old and it takes about 7 seconds.

Could your CPU be not working as fast as it should? Could one of your RAM chips have stopped working?

[BillBrown]

-cpu# : (cpu1, cpu2, cpu3, cpu4) Switches set the cpu affinity for multi cpu systems. It will do nothing for single cores and will default to using all cores if a core is designated which is not there (for example using -cpu3 on a dual core system). We’ve found this to be very useful on some multi-core systems, especially Intel processors.

If used alone, the -cpu# switches will keep the game running on the CPU specified all the time. If used with the -SingleCpuStart switch, it will only use that core when starting the game. If used with the -SingleCpuOrders switch, it will stay in single CPU mode for starting and the orders phase, but will run in multicore. If one of the SingleCpu switches is used without a -cpu# switch, it will default to cpu 1 when it is in single core.

I would take out the -SingleCpuOrders switch and only use one core. Old games have problems using multiple cores.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

I would kill for a delay of ONLY 4-8 minutes.

A while back my computer died and I had to go with an old backup that is a 2.6ghz P4 with only a gig of ram, a real dog.

It typically takes the old dog 10-12 minutes to churn through the Calculating Air Superiority phase and a good 10-12 more minutes to complete the AIs orders.

I typically move over to the model desk to get some build/painting progress in while I wait.

Hoping to spring for a fast new screamer system soon that will make this history, but its a way of life for now.

Processing power is what is needed to speed up what you see as an interminable delay.

The problem is probably the RAM. When Windows runs out of RAM, it swaps memory to disk in a temporary file. Since hard disks are aout 1000 times slower than RAM, this can signficantly slow down the computer. This game is a memory hog and if you have less than about 2GB of RAM, it's going to swap to disk a lot.

Bill

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

I would kill for a delay of ONLY 4-8 minutes.

A while back my computer died and I had to go with an old backup that is a 2.6ghz P4 with only a gig of ram, a real dog.

It typically takes the old dog 10-12 minutes to churn through the Calculating Air Superiority phase and a good 10-12 more minutes to complete the AIs orders.

I typically move over to the model desk to get some build/painting progress in while I wait.

Hoping to spring for a fast new screamer system soon that will make this history, but its a way of life for now.

Processing power is what is needed to speed up what you see as an interminable delay.

The problem is probably the RAM. When Windows runs out of RAM, it swaps memory to disk in a temporary file. Since hard disks are aout 1000 times slower than RAM, this can signficantly slow down the computer. This game is a memory hog and if you have less than about 2GB of RAM, it's going to swap to disk a lot.

Bill

Been limping along with this old dog for a while now Bill.

Got my sights on a 3.6 ghz AMD with 16gigs of ram and dual 1gig graphic cards. Gonna spring for it in another month or so.

Meanwhile the old dog does allow me to play as long as I'm willing to put up with the slowness.

I bought a Windows 8 laptop last Christmas but it errored out in the middle of an automatic update and ever since 90% of the keys no longer register keystrokes.

Three hours worth of online chat with a MS rep left me with no joy. Apparently the keyboard drivers got corrupted.

I'm waiting for Windows 10 in the hopes that the free upgrade will fix the keyboard problem.

Until then or the purchase of my dream system I'm stuck with the old dog.