slow running

toepasta · October 9, 2002, 02:06

hi

for som reason civ 3 runs slow on my win98 computet. especially aggravating is the fact when i try and draw a distination from a unit with the red line the pointer is jerky

i have an amd 450 cpu and 318mb of ram.

i wish the resolution could be turned down some like to 800x600.
any suggestions?

tom

bbaws · October 9, 2002, 02:33

Turn off all the animations. Check the readme for *.ini, iirc you can force the resolution down there. Make sure you have the latest patch. Save up for a new processor and motherboard. Good luck.

vmxa1 · October 9, 2002, 04:02

The manual recommends 500 P-III and every game I ever saw the recommended pc was really the min. You will see many people saying (me too) that their 1.6g and above still slow down with large numbers of units moving around. Like BBAWS says start turning of things. The resolution will not hurt if you have a good APG card.

Arc · October 9, 2002, 05:43

p2 450, 512 mb of ram

Works fine on standard maps with 9 civ even in modern age and 200+ MA. I tried large map with more civ but then it slows down horribly.

Hint: clean your computer once in a while, defrag it, buy Ram up to 512 (i have been told it is the limit W98 can handle efficiently), it will go 25-30% faster average.

Tiberius · October 9, 2002, 06:00

I have an AMD Duron 900 Mhz, 256MB RAM and an older graphic card with 16mb ram and the game works quite good. In modern ages I wait mybe 1 or 2 minutes between turns. On the other hand I play on standars maps with 8 civs, so don't know about huge maps with 16 civs.

The Pioneer · October 9, 2002, 07:54

I have a PIII 500Mhz with 768 RAM and the game works mostly fine. I do have to wait between turns if I play on a huge map with many civs but most of the time I do not have a problem.

So long...

TheStinger · October 9, 2002, 11:11

I'm gonna wait until pentium 6 10Ghz comes out i'm gonna get 1G of ram and that should make the smegger run real fast even on huge maps

vmxa1 · October 9, 2002, 12:51

If animations are all on, it will still take a while late in the game on hug maps. Watching 100 tanks move one tile in the mountains is going to be slooooow.

Fredric Drum · October 9, 2002, 13:36

Quote:

Originally posted by TheStinger
I'm gonna wait until pentium 6 10Ghz comes out i'm gonna get 1G of ram and that should make the smegger run real fast even on huge maps

Yeah, but civ 4 is gonna be a lot more complicated, so it will still run sluggish!

Raion · October 9, 2002, 16:20

That's the way the game is. People usually buy another faster computer usually before they are done playing the game.

Before all the scenarios are made. Before all the maps are made. Before all the extra graphics are made. Around 3-5 years (yes, years) and maybe even for some longer, depending on how many bad games come out in the mean time.

Only game I see coming out, but since they are changing it, and the reviews have changed, and it may not be as good, is MOOIII.
That will be played also, if it comes out any good now.

In the meantime, one can get a faster computer with more memory.

Sometimes, it is the operating system, (Windows) that is slow, when virtual swap memory to disk is used, and other things, that Windows slows down.

I just bought a 1.8gH and it still seems a little slow, especially with 12 CIvs, and only have 256mB of memory right now.

More memory, less virtual swap needed, makes game faster.

That's the way Civ's has always been.
When Civ II came out (1994-95), it was slow, then it was speeded up, then most people ended buying a newer computer anyway, and then it became faster, then Alpha Centauri came out in 1998, and still people were playing Civ II, or trying to play multi-player, then which was different, with Civ-Net. Never bought it, don't know that much about it.

The OS is slow, and always has been slow, and Microsoft adds more to it, and has more small programs running when it starts to make it look as if it runs faster when starting other progams like Word, or another one of their programs.

The rest of the games, never get that involved to slow down the computer that much, they (at least to me) strip out things in the game to make it faster, making it different, then the detail involved with making a game like Civ III.

Lots going on in that game, (CIV III that is)!

Smiley face goes here!

Raion · October 9, 2002, 16:27

The animations are there to upset you as you watch them move around their armament. Its been always in the game, but you can turn it off in Preferences.

That is to psych the player out.

The only thing some people missed right out of the box (but it was added later in CIV II) is cheat mode.

In cheat mode, one could watch the computer play its self. That was interesting, and one could also take over a CIV, or one could start a CIV, and let the computer take over playing it.

All the map was revealed and one watched the game.
CIV II was way smaller in megabytes though, and CIV III carries more.

In CIV II, only could play up to 7 players in the game, most of the time, I played five.

Now with 16 players total, its bound to slow down any computer out.

When a 3.2gH computer comes out, probably will be gettting up to speed with the game - may take a 4.8gH machine or something before anyone's done with the game.

I am sure you will kind of think of the game after playing it a while, as a kind of virtual reality.

A game you love to hate!

Smiley goes here!