Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ffaerie]

100 f.p.s. actually freaks me out when I start a new fort, after having become attuned to the rhythm and beat of one of my usual half-century behemoths.  When they aren't running at full speed you start to note minute interactions.  I never have fully fledged character emerge until the fort slows to 50 f.p.s. just because there is too much, too quickly.  In a 100 f.p.s. fort I've literally renamed an interesting dwarf to check back a second later and find him dying to a badger. In a 50 f.p.s fort I would see that badger coming (and the dwarf body parts flying) at a nice, measured pace.

I got used to capping fps at 120 and g_fps at usual 60 (when it's slow at the beginning I pretend dwarves don't know much about digging). That said I am usually running fort with fps cap = 0 and g_fps = 20.. at least when it does halt at 50 fps, I know I am in trouble and it's not such an abrupt end to all my megaprojects. Then I just don't buy it, because fing shit, you need to use my only core before slowing the hell down.

I posted this else where but go and look ahead before you say I didn't do something = http://www.megaupload.com/?d=69CN32IW

[ffaerie]

And that's one of my forts with of course never born queen or king. Uses phoebius pack! It's around 10Mb. I today wondered about the place for Stormy Picks to lay rest, that might as well be it. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D1P4TFWI, the map image is here http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-10553-diamondgulf

[Lectorog]

tl;dr
U mad?


Actually, I did read it all. There's nothing really to argue against you about. You present valid points. I just ignore those negative points of the game as much as possible and play it. It's just a game, and I play it to have fun. If I'm not having fun, I don't play the game. Pretty simple. I'd also like to note that the game is still fully and actively under development, and as such I'm actually amazed by how few bugs there are. That's just my opinion; you're free to feel however you want about the game.

Also, I have one thing I'd recommend. Try a 2x2 or smaller embark, and lower pop cap so no migrants past the first 2 waves come. Seal up the fortress, before or after the migrants arrive. Efficient pathing can also help improve FPS. That, or set your FPS cap at 30. I've seen people play like that; it rarely goes below that, so if you're used to 30, it really helps.

I run short-lived fortresses, mostly. I rarely see less than 100 FPS, and almost never less than 60.


EDIT: I ran that save. I got between 25 and 30 FPS. Your main problem is definitely size. 219 dwarves, several layers of the site almost entirely taken up by the fort. Discovered caverns also factor in there. Unless you get something like 4 FPS on this map, I think your situation is pretty normal. Even if it's that bad, a minor computer upgrade could go a long way. Like I said, though, I prefer shorter-lived forts, so I can't comment too appropriately on your playing style.

[Ieb]

Nanofort utility can be really useful. 1x1 embark may not have a lot of space(and dear god is it easy for enemies to show up right on your god damn front door) but all that speed man.

Can't remember the exact details, but embarked on a small spot with that utility, by the time the fort had 200 dorfs my FPS was still well over 50. Made the whole fort basically an underground tower with stairs leading from one level to another(no up/down stairs due to people saying they screw with FPS) but hey, whatever, I had god damn decent FPS for a fort that size.

Pretty sure it was a flat embark too, maybe with some generic forest around. Temp was on too because I love my magma-accidents.

[ffaerie]

Well I started on a lifeless tundra-glacier biome and the fps is at 140ish after 24 years without disabling temperature (disabling it give it easily 600 fps, btw). My computer is as powerful as my little money can buy (i7 930 at 4200 mhz, 12gb memory and some other stuff). I can't confine myself to 1x1; 4x3 is the minimum I will go. I love the new changes and multiple levels assignments are the best thing!!!

[lanceleoghauni]

I'm a few years in 150 dwarves, on a 4x4 and I'm only noting a minor slowdown, about 50 fps, tends to gboer between 75-120 depending on what I'm doing.

[Excedion]

Yeah i get why youre frustrated, my fort is at 50 fps right now with 160~ dwarves and a 3x3 embark. Im playing on my laptop and although its only a dual core im dieing to see the day when the usage goes above 300mb of ram and one core used. Id gladly use five times as much ram even for a 30 fps increase.

Either way what id like to see may eventually come along, for now i just have to live with it or stop playing. Most of my forts die out before 10 years anyway so its not that big a deal.

[Flaming Toadstool]

I can't stand 100fps. Way too fast for my liking. I have my fps capped at 70 and g_fps at 20, and everything is a-ok with me, until about 3rd year when it starts to slow down due to all the rock that I am to lazy to get rid of, and even then, I don't even mind. At least I can keep track of my dwarfs instead of watching them all blazing at lightspeed.

[RAKninja]

i get about 13 fps.

to the owner of the i7, DF is not multithreaded.  you get no benefit from your extra cores.  well, unless you are running other applications.  but  multitasking is not the issue.

so the years roll around slower.  i find that to be an advantage, personally.  i find i pause, stopping time completely, a lot less often.  it also lets me see what's happening in battle.  at 100 fps, unless i do the single-step advance, combat happens far to rapidly to check up on fights in progress.  i like to do that, rather than read the reports when it is all over.  i find it to be more exiting watching when the outcome has not yet been decided.

at my fps, if i play the whole day, i might have had a year pass.  it is no big deal to me.  i'm still playing.  the dwarves are still working.  if it gets too boring, i can run a separate instance of DF and go adventuring on a different world.  or even do something else entirely.  i dont do that often, though.  watching my little smileyfaces is still quite entrancing to me.  it's like an electronic interactive ant farm.

i doubt i'll ever abandon due to "fps-death".  then again, my friends tell me i am patient to a fault.

[moki]

FPS got a lot better since past versions. The 2d version (23-something) is one of the slowest for me. 28-something-40d was ok until 70 dwarves on a 3x3 but 31.25 actually is the fastest so far, even though it has a lot more features. Optimizing performance may not be Toady's current main goal, but obviously he did do some work and will continue to do so. The reasons why it's not the main priority has been discussed too many times already.

As for your other rants: I found none of them truly game-breaking. The game is playable right out of the box if you're not too nitpicky about these details. Ignoring the bad stuff and concentrating on the good helps a lot in any situation and DF has a lot of good to make you forget about the bugs. And as someone else said: It's a game. If you don't like it, do something else with your time and maybe come back later.

[Tallefred]

Jesus, you're crying about 75 fps? I run this thing on a netbook. I don't see 100 fps even when I embark. I've got 50 dwarfs and I'm at 30 fps right now.

Kids today.

[lanceleoghauni]

Damn Whippersnappers. Back in MY day we had to mail our moves to the Organizer, then he mailed us an updated map and the results of the turns!

[Tallefred]

Damn Whippersnappers. Back in MY day we had to mail our moves to the Organizer, then he mailed us an updated map and the results of the turns!

Ah, those were the days. 2 frames per week and we were glad for it!

Of course, that was back when the mail still ran on time. Couldn't play a game like that today, no sirree.

[Jake]

Am I the only one with FPS capped at 50? Faster than that and keeping the ornery little buggers alive and reasonably happy becomes less of a strategy/management game and more like Whack-A-Mole.

[Urist_McArathos]

I do find the slowdown somewhat disheartening, mainly because it seems like you have to choose between certain projects or a blazing fast embark.  Now, I personally never complain about FPS because I was still over 100 FPS with over 100 dwarves, a brook being rerouted into a waterfall, and the caverns breached.  I've got a damn good rig, but it IS noticeable (I was at 150 constantly, my cap, until I started the water works).

Really though, even on my old computer where 50+ FPS after the first year was incredibly fast, I had few complaints.  The game has so much content, and is so much fun in SPITE of being under construction, that I find myself the opposite of the OP.  Rather than finding the flaws and gaps grating on my nerves, I instead find news of completed features and squashed bugs giddying.  For me, the game feels so complex and fun it's easy to forget it's STILL in alpha, and not even a third complete.  So, I guess the best approach is to shift your mindset, really.

By the way, this isn't to say I don't have my own complaints (I find the inability of dwarves to wear the f-ing clothes they incessantly claim and leave ALL OVER THE FLOOR EVEN AFTER I GIVE THEM TWO CABINETS AND TWO COFFERS IN EVERY ROOM!!!!!! nothing less than steadily infuriating), but they are easily outweighed by the positives.