JasonC Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 Gentlemen - I thought others might have encountered this issue, and since it is easy to address I thought I'd spare some people the trouble of figuring it out. The first time you start the CMBB demo, it detects the screen resolution it thinks your system can handle. But it "aims high" - that is, it tends to assume if you have a good graphics card you also have a fast processor, etc. It will give you a working screen resolution. But it may "push it", and the demo can be slow as a result. Particularly if you have a slower CPU combined with a later graphics card, or like "imbalances". The way to handle it is simply to accept a slightly lower screen resolution. For example, I have a 733 Mhz processor with a 64 meg graphics card. It picked a 11xx screen resolution first time out. That was slow. I knocked it down to 10xx and it is now fine. The way to do this is to look in your demo folder for a file called "combat mission BB Demo preferences". The right file should be small, only 1.1k or so. That stores the info on the screen resolution. Just delete that file, and you will be asked again to pick a screen resolution the next time you start the game. Reject the first, maximum screen size, and pick the next one lower (that uses your graphics card, naturally). Voila, faster demo. If it isn't a large enough improvement, try stepping down again, but just one lower should make a big difference in many cases. Did for me. Notice also that you will not see this file until you exit the demo, as it is saved at that point. So if you've had it open since you got it (lol), you will have to leave to change the screen setting. Don't worry, only briefly. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 Hi! I have on a the same machine both W2000 and W98. When I run the demo in W2000 (800*600 16 bit colors) it is quite slow. However, when I run it on Win98 (800*600 16 bit colors) it is ok. I can't recall wether I have upgraded the DirectX version on Win98 or not. The HW is the same so either the version of DirectX or diffecrence in OS is responsible ... Teddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 The drivers you have loaded can also be responsible for the lack of performance. Until the last 6 months or so Windows 9x/ME could have had better performing drivers than Win2K/XP. Now the situation is reversed and the video drivers for Win2K/XP now perform a bit better. There are other issues too. Win2K/XP requires more resources and operates in a different manner than Win9x/ME. Win9x/ME can use memory more efficiently (and it has a smaller memory 'footprint'), but that is also the reason for its unstability. Win2K/XP really needs 128 to 256Mb of RAM to operate efficiently. Also if you're loading up different programs (like things that sit in the System Tray, etc.), that can make quite a difference too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGMB Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 Funny, CMBB runs smoooth on my M-A-C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 Not quite Jason. CM starts at your desktop resolution and works its way down. So if you are running your desktop at 1600x1200 on a 16mb TNT (which can do that just fine for 2d stuff), CM will try to run at 1600x1200 as well. So just skip the first few resolutions and choose 1024x768 or 800x600 depending on preferences. WWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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