Probus Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I have a fairly up-to-date PC with NVME SSDs installed but I am having all my games pause at around 30% saved game load every time. The pause lasts from 5 to 15 seconds but I was wondering if that was normal and if others had run into it? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to speed up the process or is this just the point that the CPU starts chugging on the save game data? After this pause the rest of the game usually loads in a matter of seconds. BTW, it does it on all my CM titles. I'm trying to ask questions that new Steam players may run into to avoid any frustrations if it is an easy problem to fix or is it just "one of those things"? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I get the same on BN and RT which is all I have (so far). Haven't got any suggestions on speeding it up unfortunately. I also find that on first startup of BN and RT after my PC has been off, both take quite some time before the BFC screen and then the Menu appear. If I exit either game and later go back in, I don't get the delay. So I assume it's something loading first time which doesn't have to load again the second time? Having said that, it seems rather odd. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 All those pauses you both mention are normal. Depends on size of scenario or campaign, how many mods you have loaded in the game, your system, and other factors. And for me, the load time for the individual games or modules varies a lot. BN takes minutes, Shock Force 2 and FI hardly 20 seconds. FB is fairly quick, too. RT is somewhere in between. The game engine/platform is just not optimized for today’s comps...there’s been much discussion about it over the years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howler Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 Try setting your '3D Model Quality' back to 'Balanced' (default) under *Options* to see if that makes a difference. You could see a three-fold improvement in load times from your current setting ('Best' I assume). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 Yes, not a big problem but nevertheless... My settings are only on 'improved' at the moment, but will give 'best' a try in a minute and see if I can notice the difference (in game and in load times). Oh and I have a lot of mods for BN, not so many for RT. Whatever's available I suppose as I love mods generally, so many thanks to the modders. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 6 hours ago, Howler said: Try setting your '3D Model Quality' back to 'Balanced' (default) under *Options* to see if that makes a difference. You could see a three-fold improvement in load times from your current setting ('Best' I assume). That did speed things up. Hmmm.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 Going from improved to best didn't make a noticeable difference for me, but I should try the reverse as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 Okay, tried resetting to balanced. No noticeable difference in load time, and slightly more concerning no perceived difference to visuals in-game. There should be a visual difference right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 9 minutes ago, Vacilllator said: Okay, tried resetting to balanced. No noticeable difference in load time, and slightly more concerning no perceived difference to visuals in-game. There should be a visual difference right? ah well I should have said I switched from the highest settings for everything to the lowest to make sure I could tell the difference. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 Okay I think I'll do more testing tomorrow . I (as Wittmann) have a pressing engagement with some Allied armour in Villers Bocage... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howler Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I think "Texture" governs how many variations in uniforms and other such numbered visual effects .bmp's. The "Model" setting will expand your visual bubble which you may have noticed as being to see nearby tiles with more clarity than farther ones. This bubble can vary between 80-300+ meters (5-10+ AS). There are a few threads offering more detail under "NVIDIA" which I can't find at the moment... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howler Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 49 minutes ago, Vacilllator said: Going from improved to best didn't make a noticeable difference for me, but I should try the reverse as well. Loading any scenario with trees should bring your load time to a crawl... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 There is clearly a process involving loading a scenario for the first time. Most of my larger scenarios pause in the 30% range and then at around 49% and at about 75% and sometimes sit on 98% before the full load. I wouldn't worry about it and I suspect these checkpoints mean that the code is say moving at the 30% point from one set of textures (say foliage for example) to another set (buildings for example) to others. I know that the Berlin master maps in the Fire and Rubble module for Red Thunder take a considerable time (tens of minutes) to load due to their size and complexity. I wouldn't worry about it or urinate about with your settings unless you get a CTD. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted September 12, 2020 Author Share Posted September 12, 2020 1 hour ago, Combatintman said: I wouldn't worry about it or urinate about with your settings unless you get a CTD. I've heard messing with your settings called a lot of things, but that's a first! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 (edited) In my experience it's very normal to have the loading pause for lengthy periods at several time locations especially for larger scenarios. It's been reported that even with a very powerful system, there can be long pauses. Edited September 12, 2020 by Erwin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Interestingly (for me at least ) some scenarios say to be patient as the map will take a long time to load. Doesn't happen, it's almost immediate? Is that because it has been loading the map while I look through the notes? I suppose a quick test might answer the question, but I have the feeling that isn't the reason. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bufo Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 Loading time tests with AMD GPU 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 23 minutes ago, Bufo said: Loading time tests with AMD GPU Good to see some figures and pictures showing quality. Your comments were of course noted . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 26 minutes ago, Vacilllator said: Interestingly (for me at least ) some scenarios say to be patient as the map will take a long time to load. Doesn't happen, it's almost immediate? Is that because it has been loading the map while I look through the notes? I suppose a quick test might answer the question, but I have the feeling that isn't the reason. Well that will probably depend on the specs of the scenario designer who created it. Bear in mind also that you may be loading content that was created 5-10 years ago by people owning systems that were at baseline system specs. Again - don't stress it unless the thing does a CTD. Go make a brew/crack open a beer/make your war face or whatever it is you do before playing a scenario while it is loading. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Combatintman said: crack open a beer I totally agree it's not a big problem (particularly when the map loads faster than I'm told it should), and have selected my favoured option Edited September 12, 2020 by Vacilllator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin2k Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) On 9/12/2020 at 12:57 AM, Howler said: I think "Texture" governs how many variations in uniforms and other such numbered visual effects .bmp's. The "Model" setting will expand your visual bubble which you may have noticed as being to see nearby tiles with more clarity than farther ones. This bubble can vary between 80-300+ meters (5-10+ AS). There are a few threads offering more detail under "NVIDIA" which I can't find at the moment... Regarding "Model" setting. You know about different "Level of Detail" models for the same items? Like the 3D modeller is supposed to supply like 3 or 4 models of the same tank, with increasing amount of polygons and details***. The main one is just for looking up close. The lowest polygon one is for in the distance. The "Model" setting will change the distances involved here. *** Yes, this is tedious work. But most professional game developers do this. While modders of 3D objects often neglect it. It is only recently that Epic (Unreal Engine) announced they have a practical automated in-game polygon reducer. Edit: example picture here http://en.pcars.shoutwiki.com/wiki/LOD_-_Level_Of_Detail Edited September 14, 2020 by Kevin2k 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Perfectly normal. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 You can almost track what game is processing by the pauses in the progress bar. At this point I bet its tabulating the map LOS action squares, at that point I guess its importing and placing the units. Because scenario with a huge map slows down here, scenarios with a lot of forces slows down there. During Beta testing if a scenario crashes at startup we often report 'It crashed a 79% on the progress bar', which gives an indication what the game was struggling with. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 On 9/16/2020 at 3:17 PM, MikeyD said: You can almost track what game is processing by the pauses in the progress bar. At this point I bet its tabulating the map LOS action squares, at that point I guess its importing and placing the units. Because scenario with a huge map slows down here, scenarios with a lot of forces slows down there. During Beta testing if a scenario crashes at startup we often report 'It crashed a 79% on the progress bar', which gives an indication what the game was struggling with. 79% is for losers - mine CTDs at 25% - that's a hardcore scenario 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Probus Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Combatintman said: 79% is for losers - mine CTDs at 25% - that's a hardcore scenario Lol. You know, my #1 cause (by far) for CTD is when I have no sound device enabled. Sometimes my laptop refuses to switch to my Bluetooth headphones, so I'll disable the speakers from the control panel. If I forget to enable my speakers (or headphones) the next time I play, I get CTD on any CM game I try to load. May just be my machine, but if an error check for this was included in the code with the next update, it may reduce issues for support. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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