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[jomen]

I have , could someone please help me.

When i want to launch a Fortress Game , at the time where i have to choose the area to settle my fort , i always have my game crashing if the area is larger than the one by default.

I'm i the only one to have this issue ?

[Garath]

Depends on your computer how big an area can handle usually. My biggest is 9x9, which crashes at year 3 usually. I'm now doing 5x5 and am well into year 11 or so.

really large areas can't be handled by the game engine itself

Also, if you modded the game, you might have made some mistake causing it to crash at embark.

[kenpoaj]

If you open task manager, you can see how much memory DF is using while your map loads. Games usually crash at ~2GB of RAM usage. There's a Large Address Aware workaround that allows up to 3GB on 32-bit operating systems, and 4GB on 64-bit operating systems.

(If you aren't sure if your OS is 32 or 64 bit, and you are using windows, hold the windows key and press the Pause/Break key to open the System Properties window, which tells what OS you are using. But if you aren't sure, it's probably 32-bit)

[jomen]

Thanks to you

Im on 64 bit windows xp

I have done some testing and depending the worlds generation option , i can play in 10x10 or 11x11 map.

In fact i was surprise because i used to play with larger map before the 34.xx

[Findulidas]

Why so much space? Why isnt 4x4 enough?

[jomen]

I don't know , i like playing with large maps. Can't explain

[kenpoaj]

Are you using 34.07? I can link my LAA patched Dwarf Fortress.exe if you need it.

Why so much space? Why isnt 4x4 enough?

Large maps are more fun if your computer can support the fps. You get more biomes, more cotton candy, and more trees to burn cut down. More cliffs to carve into as well. I like owning a whole mountain!

The big change since 40d is the caverns and the circus. I think they eat up a lot more memory.

[GenJeFT]

If you open task manager, you can see how much memory DF is using while your map loads. Games usually crash at ~2GB of RAM usage. There's a Large Address Aware workaround that allows up to 3GB on 32-bit operating systems, and 4GB on 64-bit operating systems.

(If you aren't sure if your OS is 32 or 64 bit, and you are using windows, hold the windows key and press the Pause/Break key to open the System Properties window, which tells what OS you are using. But if you aren't sure, it's probably 32-bit)

What is this large address aware work around you speak of?

[Reudh]

DF is not large address aware. It lacks the ability to detect more than 2GB of RAM. If it reaches that limit, it shuts down to avoid blowing up the computer (which it won't, the program thinks it will).

If it is large address aware, courtesy of Kenpoaj's LAA patch, then it can access 3GB (on 32 bit OSes) or 4GB (on 64 bit OSes).

It's a patch for the EXE, but to my knowledge it's not completely stable.

[kenpoaj]

Link  to original site with directions to use on any program.

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6135 <-Link to patched version of 34.07 on DFFD. Copied straight from my DF folder.

The original program isn't mine, but it works well enough for me. Haven't had it crash yet. Reudh, can you pm/post me a link to a post where it was reported to crash? I'd be interested to know the limitations.

Edit: might not crash until it hits your RAM limit I'm guessing. I'll try to make it crash, but I have 16 GB of ram 

[kenpoaj]

"but to my knowledge it's not completely stable."

For the sake of !!Science!!, I Genned a 200 year history world, embarked on a river in mountains with extreme cliffs, on the MAXIMUM embark size (16x16).

Revealed the whole thing with DF Hack(not the circus because it wouldn't let me), then unpaused. Here's the results:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Things of note:
-CPU says 27%. This is because DF runs on 1 core, and I'm using a Quad core processor, so DF shouldn't be able to use over 25% by itself.
I think graphics can run on a second core though?<verify?>
-Memory use never went over 1.7GB. I find this very interesting. I think DF tries to compress the files somehow, as after 1.5GB, adding more area doesn't affect it much.
-My GFPS is set to 20, but here its only 11. theres HUGE lag spikes, and the fps changes from 30~ to 60~.
With 11 dwarves on a 3x3 embark I get 225 FPS at 20GFPS. (Paused I get over 168,000 FPS)

Edit: spoilers

[GenJeFT]

"but to my knowledge it's not completely stable."

For the sake of !!Science!!, I Genned a 200 year history world, embarked on a river in mountains with extreme cliffs, on the MAXIMUM embark size (16x16).

Revealed the whole thing with DF Hack(not the circus because it wouldn't let me), then unpaused. Here's the results:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Things of note:
-CPU says 27%. This is because DF runs on 1 core, and I'm using a Quad core processor, so DF shouldn't be able to use over 25% by itself.
I think graphics can run on a second core though?<verify?>
-Memory use never went over 1.7GB. I find this very interesting. I think DF tries to compress the files somehow, as after 1.5GB, adding more area doesn't affect it much.
-My GFPS is set to 20, but here its only 11. theres HUGE lag spikes, and the fps changes from 30~ to 60~.
With 11 dwarves on a 3x3 embark I get 225 FPS at 20GFPS. (Paused I get over 168,000 FPS)

Edit: spoilers

Those are generaly the results I get as far as performance as well. I have to wonder if Dwarf Fortress takes ram based on map size and not the amount of stuff on said map. I say this because dispite the fact I have more and more things on my 12x12 map (now around 600 to almost 700 dwarfs AND animals) it NEVER takes more ram then it started with. And unsuprisingly has a slow degrading of the FPS (but I still am getting 30 to 40FPS steady) as time goes on.

Dwarf fortress barely takes 15% of one of my 8 processors in this computer.

What is GFPS?

I would test my ram theory today but it might have to wait untill Tuesday for I have work to do tomarrow.

[nogoodnames]

Thanks for the LAA DF file. I tried to use it to fix a save that somehow glitched and now uses much more memory than it should. It still crashed, but it reached around 2.6 GB before doing so as opposed to the 1 GB of vanilla. It's too bad, I was really starting to like that fortress.

[kenpoaj]

What is GFPS?

According to the Init files: (normal FPS)
"Use this to set the maximum frame rate during play. A frame in this case is not graphical but related to the movement speed of a creature.  A healthy, unencumbered dwarven peasant takes one step every 10 frames."
 (GFPS)
"Use this to set the maximum graphical frame refresh rate during play."

So by setting GFPS lower, the game speeds up (I think). Say you have 100FPS, and 50GFPS (default), A dwarf takes "10 steps per second", but the game redraws every other frame only, so you effectively get 20 steps per second. (I could be wrong, but its like voodoo anyways)


Your 8 core processor probably reads about 12.5%. This means you are using one core at 100%. its the same as my 25%. (100%/number of cores = max % DF can utilize) Basically, DF runs better on a higher GHz machine than one of lower power with more cores, since it doesn't know how to utilize the other cores. The day THAT happens, I'll probably cry for joy as a 16x16 embark wont lag at all. (effectively will be able to have 90+fps instead of 30+)

[Quietust]

If it reaches that limit, it shuts down to avoid blowing up the computer (which it won't, the program thinks it will).

No it doesn't - HeapAlloc() simply fails to allocate memory, and that generally causes Dwarf Fortress to crash because, like most programs, it rightly doesn't ever expect a memory allocation request to fail.