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Author Topic:   Speed in Low-End Systems?

Chironean posted 02-16-99 04:29 PM ET
Hi
I have a "not-new" computer:
P166
32 ram
2mg video card
10x Cdrom
My monitor will only accept 800*600
Based on you guys' esperience and having implemented the patch, how do you think the game will run. I will buy it anyway, just wondering.
Thanks
Chironean
pcgamez posted 02-16-99 04:48 PM ET
I am running a P166 with 48MB RAM, and I think it works ok. Occasionally (I only had it happen 2 times), the movies freeze up for a few seconds, but it otherwise runs great. It might take 5 - 10 minutes for a turn to finish, but it is still worth it.
pcgamez posted 02-16-99 04:50 PM ET
oh, yeah, I also only have a 6x CD-ROM
Archer posted 02-17-99 09:21 AM ET
Go into the preferences screen and select every option for moving units quickly. (Allies, enemy factions, and yours) You have to dig through each preference menu as they all aren't together.
I also switch to resolve battles quickly and flat terrain.
Also, turn off the music and the movies.
My P166 with 128meg of ram plays a quite a bit faster after all of that, and not much is lost in game play.
Tomorrow I should have my new PII 400, so this won't be an issue. Yah!
Back to work,
Archer
marc420w posted 02-17-99 09:28 AM ET
I'll second Archer's suggestion. I run a Cyrix 150 with 64 mb ram and a 4x cd, and I'm playing the game with little or no slowness or problems. Just follow his suggestions, especially the bit about turning off the sound.
I did have one strangeness....at one point it seem to be running slow, and I couldn't figure out why. Just as a guess, I turned all the sound on, moved one unit, then turned all the sound back off....that cleared it up and its been fine since.
Mahatma posted 02-17-99 05:22 PM ET
And you guys talks about low-end systems!! I have a pentium 120 with 16 megs of ram. I tried out the demo and it worked ok when i had the music turn off (i mean it didn�t crash or something but it was really really slow). When i had the music on a scratcing noise would occur when i opened a city screen or researchead a new tecnology. Anyone with a faster machine have experienced the same problem?
I will buy the game anyway, even if it�s slow to death (I think it�s the only new game that actually "works" on my computer!)
Have a good day.
ThRiLL posted 02-17-99 05:30 PM ET
don't forget.. if you are running a slower system, try following the directions in the readme file, regarding replacing the hi-res art with the low-res art. It helps make your pieces move a lot faster. The readme also says 800x600 is the best resolution to use, although i can't detect any difference in performance at 1024x768... (shrug)
-ThRiLL
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Author	Topic: Speed in Low-End Systems?
Chironean	posted 02-16-99 04:29 PM ET Hi I have a "not-new" computer: P166 32 ram 2mg video card 10x Cdrom My monitor will only accept 800*600 Based on you guys' esperience and having implemented the patch, how do you think the game will run. I will buy it anyway, just wondering. Thanks Chironean
pcgamez	posted 02-16-99 04:48 PM ET I am running a P166 with 48MB RAM, and I think it works ok. Occasionally (I only had it happen 2 times), the movies freeze up for a few seconds, but it otherwise runs great. It might take 5 - 10 minutes for a turn to finish, but it is still worth it.
pcgamez	posted 02-16-99 04:50 PM ET oh, yeah, I also only have a 6x CD-ROM
Archer	posted 02-17-99 09:21 AM ET Go into the preferences screen and select every option for moving units quickly. (Allies, enemy factions, and yours) You have to dig through each preference menu as they all aren't together. I also switch to resolve battles quickly and flat terrain. Also, turn off the music and the movies. My P166 with 128meg of ram plays a quite a bit faster after all of that, and not much is lost in game play. Tomorrow I should have my new PII 400, so this won't be an issue. Yah! Back to work, Archer
marc420w	posted 02-17-99 09:28 AM ET I'll second Archer's suggestion. I run a Cyrix 150 with 64 mb ram and a 4x cd, and I'm playing the game with little or no slowness or problems. Just follow his suggestions, especially the bit about turning off the sound. I did have one strangeness....at one point it seem to be running slow, and I couldn't figure out why. Just as a guess, I turned all the sound on, moved one unit, then turned all the sound back off....that cleared it up and its been fine since.
Mahatma	posted 02-17-99 05:22 PM ET And you guys talks about low-end systems!! I have a pentium 120 with 16 megs of ram. I tried out the demo and it worked ok when i had the music turn off (i mean it didn�t crash or something but it was really really slow). When i had the music on a scratcing noise would occur when i opened a city screen or researchead a new tecnology. Anyone with a faster machine have experienced the same problem? I will buy the game anyway, even if it�s slow to death (I think it�s the only new game that actually "works" on my computer!) Have a good day.
ThRiLL	posted 02-17-99 05:30 PM ET don't forget.. if you are running a slower system, try following the directions in the readme file, regarding replacing the hi-res art with the low-res art. It helps make your pieces move a lot faster. The readme also says 800x600 is the best resolution to use, although i can't detect any difference in performance at 1024x768... (shrug) -ThRiLL