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[thebigJ_A]

Hey all.
From watching the tutorial vids, it seems like my game runs alot slower than it should. It takes hours and hours for a season to go by, and my dwarfs are walking at like half the speed I see in the vids. It took me two long nights play to go from spring to winter.

I tried setting the game's affinity so it only ran on one of my two cores (I have an AMD 64x2). That definitely helped (my lil guys are moving maybe 3/4ths as fast, maybe), but I'm wondering if you guys have any other suggestions to get my game to run faster.

I appreciate any and all ideas.

[darkrider2]

If your playing the game right you should be happily enjoying the cripplingly low FPS.

I'm afraid we may have to work on your technique.

[fivex]

In the init file(data>init>init.txt) change FPS:NO to FPS:YES
Start up the game the load your fort.
While unpaused, what does the FPS counter say?

[FleshForge]

It's pretty normal for game speed to decline as you gradually build up your fort.

Forcing any app to run on a single core, for a multicore machine, is generally a pretty bad idea, but whatever makes you happy.

[thebigJ_A]

It seems to hover around 25 (20). And my fort isn't particularly large. Hell, I've only got 15 dwarves.

@FleshForge: I've been told that, since many games don't support multithreading, setting affinity is a good thing if the game isn't running well. It definitely helps, especially with older games. There's little to no risk, from all I've heard/looked up.

[fivex]

It seems to hover around 25 (20). And my fort isn't particularly large. Hell, I've only got 15 dwarves.

I...
what.
What is your system specs?

[thebigJ_A]

AMD Athlon 64x2 4400+ ~2.3 GHz
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 4600 series (4650 i think)

Any other info that'd be helpful?

[Emily]

What size embark?

And how deep does it go?  ...I've had maps that went down about 50 layers run twice as fast as the ones that went down 150, despite there being nothing in those bottom layers

[thebigJ_A]

Just  the default 3x3. My fort starts on the surface at 143, and the very bottom of the map is -20something. I haven't dug very deep, apart from a stairwell that goes down to level 73,but that's just 4 tiles of up/down squares.

[thebigJ_A]

I just tried something I read in the wiki, lowering the G FPS cap, but that had no effect at all.

This is really annoying. According to the wiki, my pc is far above minimum requirements, and I should be getting near the 100fps cap I have set.

I'm maxing around thirty. While the game is pefectly playable, it takes forever to accomplish anything.

[Raging Mouse]

How much moving water do you have in your embark?

[fivex]

The only thing I can think of that would lower your fps in this case is the magma flowing into the circus or a lot of flowing water

[LoSboccacc]

Just  the default 3x3. My fort starts on the surface at 143, and the very bottom of the map is -20something. I haven't dug very deep, apart from a stairwell that goes down to level 73,but that's just 4 tiles of up/down squares.

this. stairs kills fps, for no particular reason. I used to dig a 3x3 staircase to hell a la Led Zeppelin, but that is very very bad on the pathfinder.

now I'm using something like this:


odd level

WWWWWW
W.....W
W.v^v.W
W.^W^.W
W.v^v.W
W.....W
WWWWWWW

even level:

WWWWWW
W.....W
W.^v^.W
W.vWv.W
W.^v^.W
W.....W
WWWWWWW




W wall
. space
v ramp down
^ramp up

[Vehudur]

As said before, efficient stairs are critical.  In fact, do not use stairs, use ramps.  And if you must use a stair, do NOT use an up+down stair.

Mine look like....

Code: [Select]

Exits can, well, exit from any W tile on the edge.

W=wall
X=open space
^=up ramp
V=down ramp

Single "stairwell" even level
WWWWW
W   W
W^ VW
W   W
WWWWW
Single "stairwell" odd level
WWWWW
W   W
WV ^W
W   W
WWWWW


Large "stairwell" even level

The center has an access every 10th level and the outer areas are marked as low restricted,
so if a Dwarf can use the inner one he will.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
W            W
W            W
W   XXXXXX   W
W   X    X   W
W^^ W^XVWX VVW
W   X    X   W
W   XXXXXX   W
W            W
W            W
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Odd level

WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
W            W
W            W
W   XXXXXX   W
W   X    X   W
WVV WVX^WX ^^W
W   X    X   W
W   XXXXXX   W
W            W
W            W
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW



[LoSboccacc]

yeah any design will apply, even rotating ones, it's just that I'm fixated with compactness and symmetry of the main up/down pathway. =P