Request for reduced sprites per unit mod

[Davinci]

Jim wrote:

The first partial draft of the SDK manual, written late last fall, runs over 100 pages. It was put aside so we could concentrate on getting the game to release state. This initial draft has to be reviewed, edited, and corrected to reflect all of the changes in the game since last fall.-Jim

Jim ; there is not a single part of that that I do not understand, I absolutely agree that the main focus should be used to correct the bugs, and the multi-player aspect of the game. This is important , I got that part.

Now , the part that really seems to confuse me is that, why , in the H , can’t you release the SDK and put a freaking disclaimer notice saying that until the manual comes out, you will not answer any questions.

It is that simple, the ones that are going to mod this game, and the last game, and the PR5 engine, which was a little bit harder than modding the csv files, didn’t have a manual then , so why is it so important, now?

For the sake of my sanity can someone make the decision to release the files, end of story, it is really that simple.

davinci

[GShock]

Dav, it might be that the 1.0b has limited modding capabilities and that such release would still not allow any of us to hamper with the csv files. Be patient, there has to be a reason for this delay and I believe it's for the good: The top priority should always be given to CTD and since this game is also MP enabled, that includes CTD caused by connection problems.

First things first... I have problems of all kind with the AI, with the sound, with the arty... you know that... but I still believe the team is on the right path.

Patience is the virtue of the strong.

Yesterday I ran a half marathon in 1 hour and 31. It took me all the patience I had, then when this morning I realized the Nike+ Remote is not working anymore because of the rain it took yesterday I exploded in rage because I had no patience left! lol

[Davinci]

GShock wrote:

I realized the Nike+ Remote is not working anymore because of the rain it took yesterday I exploded in rage because I had no patience left! lol

I'm sort of slow, so what does Nike+Remote mean?

Also, it is not an earth shattering moment not to have to SDK , but the reason is really not a sound one, why wait on a manual that you have absolutely no intention of reading.

There is also no one hundred percent guarantee that it is only going to be a couple of weeks, it may take several more weeks past that, depending on the next patch!

These are simple files, they are in English , if you cannot destroy your copy of the game, cannot blow up your computer, then the only thing that can happen is to constantly bang your head against the wall, trying to figure them out!

Why should anybody else care how many hours you spend doing that?

I appreciate your input into this, but I’m really running around in circles trying to explain this, so I am now giving up on this debate!

davinci

[norb]

I fully understand your desire for the files. For me it's a matter of resources and a desire to get things right the first time so that we don't have to do it again. Everytime we release any official file, it ends up everywhere in a matter of hours. That is why I put a simple password on the beta patch. So when we release the SDK the same thing will happen. Problem is that we have a few tweaks that still need to go into our copies of the csv files and we don't want multiple versions out there. So we need to get all our changes in there first, then release.

We are still knee deep in patch changes. We want to make sure the first patch fixes as many bugs as possible. The only way all of this is going to happen is if we do a pre-release of the sdk. We just have to find the time. I will see if there is anything that I can do to make this happen.

[GShock]

Norb I have a question.
The way you 're speaking says that the beta currently out is not going to be converted into official patch because there's more fixes to be added.

Am I right in my guess you are going to release a new beta soon?

[norb]

Yes, the beta currently out was put there to stop a couple of the major crashes. We will probably get another beta out soon.

[Jubal Early]

Gshock Found end it all 2 but you have to pay for it but then I found Game Booster It does the same thing shutting down all the background programs.
Davinci I took your advice and googled and found this helpful.
http://www.speedyvista.com/services.php
I set a lot of programs to manual.
I have also defragmented used CC cleaner and lastly used Game Booster to shut down everything when I was playing SOW but still find I’m averaging 6-8 FPS on scenarios at times 5 when turning the camera I am using the best uniforms but when I reduce the quality it makes no noticeable difference to the FPS. If I reduce the draw distances back to 1000 and trees down to 30% it helps but seems drastic for a Vista 64 bit Quad core with 4 G of ram.
My system is running perfectly smoothly in fact its great and Is running Napoleon and Empire total war on Ultra settings, HDR bloom, Hardware shadows the lot with unit sizes of 200 compared to the normal vanilla 160 with smoke everywhere plus a load of mods and I’m getting at the very least 20 FPS in the heat of very large battles.
When I turn up or down AA and AF with SOW it makes now difference or the resolution the only thing I can think of is the number of sprites. A mod that reduces the number of sprites per unit by perhaps 25-30% would be great and I don’t think it would make much difference to the game graphically as the units especially some cavalry units are large.Also looking forward to the SDK being released.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

The problem may not be graphics related if you have a separate graphics card. My computer is also a high performance one, and occasionally it will stutter for a brief instance and continue on. I think it is AI computation related. SOW seems to do a lot more path checking than TC2M. No more marching through firing lines, etc. You might try running the program in window mode and watch the CPU performance as you play a game. See if the CPU usage spikes when you notice a severe slow-down. That would indicate that it's AI related, (too many units, not sprites).

[Davinci]

How I’m getting around the problem is that I have made a custom OOB that greatly reduces the amount of artillery on the field. I think that these units are the biggest cpu \ cycle hogs, with their long range calculations.

Strictly guessing on my part, but hey when you don’t know the correct answer, just take a guess at the most likely one!

I really didn’t buy the game for the MP \ Scenarios , just for the Open Play (i.e... Sand Box Thing), so with a custom amount of troops on the field, which totals approximately 13,000 per army, my fps are fine.

Now, if I try to play with 40,000 troops per army, well here comes the famous Run Time Error , so I will avoid that problem by keeping the troop level down.

Besides, a 13,000 men army seems to almost fill the map from one side to the next.

Now, I can play with 28,000 vs 29,000 but I have to reduce the amount of trees showing, so it really just boils down to finding the right set-up, that you are comfortable with!

You have to bear in mind that the game is going to get faster but, it is probably going to take some time between now and then!

The TC2M game was slow in the beginning, this is a new engine that has to be experimented with, but the speed will come as soon as Norb gets a little bit of breathing room.

My problem is the default game, I can’t play the TC2M default game, so this game is no exception, I suffered more than six thousand casualties within an hour, but I can fix this!

I feel your pain, but the only advice that I can give you is to find what is playable, and stick with that for the time being!

davinci

[norb]

Davinci wrote:

How I’m getting around the problem is that I have made a custom OOB that greatly reduces the amount of artillery on the field. I think that these units are the biggest cpu \ cycle hogs, with their long range calculations.

Strictly guessing on my part, but hey when you don’t know the correct answer, just take a guess at the most likely one!

Great guess!