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Waits between turns, map scrolling, and other optimisation issues.
Like the original civ, civ2 after that and most spectacularly in this version, I've noticed that there is much which could be done to optimise the game engine.
On my PIII-800 with Voodoo5 (not an obsolete set up by a long shot), there are minor but noticeable delays in certain processes which should be instantaneous, such as shifting between advisor screens, or clicking the victory acknowledgement box after overrunning an enemy city. Surely, isn't this just sloppy programming? or am I failing to acknowledge vital coding procedures which should be there for the proper functioning of the game.
On ancient platforms such as the Amiga, where you had the bog standard 68000 processor and 512k of memory, code optimisation was a key feature in any game development process. You had coders writing intricate 3d demonstrations lasting 5 minutes into 24k of code, or crunching entire music sequences and introduction sequences into the bootblock of a 800k disk (<5k?) - especially for those of you who have had "access" to hacked software *ahem*, where (in my opinion) the best and most efficient coders were at work.
I hate to be so negative (I mean, they are still coming up with fantastic games!), but I think games programmers have become so complacent with the vast processing power at their disposal that they're getting fat (in the metaphorical sense, not in the biophysiological sense!). M1 tank platoon written in 1989 was written fully in machine code to optimise framerates. Nowadays programmers won't stray beyond C++, or even visual basic.
Besides this "commentary", I'd like to ask just a few questions, as I haven't had a chance to try the patch. How much have Firaxis tightened up the code? Does the game run smoother with less delays? I understand some NVidia users have noticed significant improvements with map-scrolling, but has this changed across all platforms? (any voodoo users especially). Has the long wait between turns issue been resolved?
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