Ramdisk option.

[Kev367th]

Any chance of an option to preload skins, sounds, and the cache to a ramdisk or to main/vid memory during game startup.
This would probably get rid of the stutters alltogether.

[2Hawks]

Anything past windows 98 did NOT like a Ram Disk more than a few meg in size.

I am thinking you would want to install AH to the ram disk completly if you were tp try that, and copy it back out once you were done to keep any changes you made during gameplay.

Not worth the time. However, try getting a second drive and installing to that. It wouldn't have the overhead of the swap space and other files loaded in the normal course of windows.


Dan.

[Kev367th]

Wrong - Windows 2000 and XP can have a ramdisk up to approx 1/2 the total free memory after the OS is loaded. In my case I can run a ramdisk 320Mbs in size. AH2 with Mitsu's sounds is around 270Mbs. Check out QDisk.
The big problem with XP and 2000 is the swap file, no matter how much memory you put in them, they ALWAYS use it. i.e. You could install 2Gb physical memory, and Windows XP and 2000  will STILL use the swapfile.
Unlike Win 98SE where you could change a SYSTEM.INI setting that told it only to use the swapfile if physical memory wasn't available. (ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1)
The copying bit isn't a problem can be automated using a logon/logoff script.
Second drive isn't going to help with stutters caused by disk access, hell I am running SCSI U320 drives and still get them.
Maybe when MRAM becomes available later this year/start 2005 we will finally see cheap solid state "hard drives".

[Innominate]

A ramdisk shouldn't really be needed.  Once the OS reads the files once, it will tend to keep them cached in memory untill it needs that space back.

[Kev367th]

I realise that, point being the actual reading is causing the game stutters. I find it hard to believe that a game wrtten in the last 1-2 years will not take advantage off all available memory.
Kinda a step backwards if you ask me.

[2Hawks]

Oops, See Below:

[2Hawks]

I have to admit to not playing with the Ram disk after the early versions of Win2K.

As far as the swap file is concermed, I usually disable it for a disk optimization, then set it at 1024. This is sometimes required for audio editing, as it removed a similar stutter you are referring to. This was in XP as well. ( Radio network production environment )

It doesn't have much effect in the game however.

As far as using a RAM dive at all, you will notice in my previous post I was alluding to the Pain in the A** it would be to install, back up to hdd, play, Back up to hdd, then exit. If you're comp locked up or otherwise crashed your screenshots, films , setting changes would be lost.

There have been posts about this topic about how to alleviate the issue. Read them and deal with it until HT decides to patch it.

[Kev367th]

The copying and backup can all be done transparently using a logon/logoff script.
Disabling the swap file for me with Win 2k is a big NO NO.

[2Hawks]

You only disable the swap file long enough to perform the defrag, then re-enable once your done, setting the Max and min size to 1024 (or double your ram) to prevent fragmentation of the swap file. On fast 98 machines, turn it off completly if you have >= 512 Meg of Ram.

MInd you this is primrily for workstations. If you want stability and speed, use Linux or some other Unix Varient. Wormware has no business playing server.

Dan.

[Kev367th]

The 'double your ram' that so often comes up is a load of horsehockey.
Think about it, this means the more ram you put in your machine the bigger the swap file has to be?
When in fact the opposite is true.
I remeber running a Win98SE system with 768Mb af ram and only a 100mb swap file. According to the 2x your ram setting myth, this should have been set at nearly 1.5Gbs.
Saying that now we have the option to preload all textures into mem, its has become a mute subject.

[2Hawks]

The tried and true of thousands of IT Pro's not withstanding...

You would THINK that your right, that would logically seem the case if you didn't know the intimate internals of Windows of nearly all versions.

95, 98, NT, I know would try and allocate 4 GIG of memory space for creating the protected virtual systems for the applications. (way oversimplification)  How much it used was an entirely 'nother matter. It's been nearly a decade since I stopped wasting my money on certifications, and haven't kept up on ME, XP, or 2K.  Hence, my ability to render a suffiecient understanding is lacking.

As a general rule, for stability and such, It has been recommended by Industry leaders and review websites across the board, that the swap file be set at double the Ram. if you noticed, I mentioned on Fast 98 systems you can turn it off completly if your above 512, to absolve certain performance issues caused by the computer saving to the swap space. But this was usually reserved for production of multi-track talk show editing, where the pause was perceptable. In graphic editing, it is only noticed during the editing, and not as a final product. I am sure you can appreciate the difference here.

[Kev367th]

Suppose the thinking could be, the more memory you have, the bigger/more apps you could be running, hence the need for an even larger swap file (just in case).

[2Hawks]

As far as I could tell, it's just the architcure they chose to use. Who knows.  

I quit using windows except for games and the problem went away.  I turned off Axctive X and all other scripting more than a year ago on the browser. - Another problem went away.

Anyhow, I digress.