game very slow

For discussions about the release version of the game.
starflight-fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:02 am

game very slow

Post by starflight-fan »

Hi,

I've found the game and tried to install. Now I can start the game but it runs absolute slow ... :(

I'm using XP Pro SP3, Intel P4 2,8Ghz HT, 2GB RAM.

Is there anyone who could help me to make is faster? :shock:
User avatar
Steve
Site Admin
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:33 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by Steve »

The game is extremely dependent upon the speed of your video card and in particular OpenGL. If you run the debug version of the game (browse the directory which you installed the game) load it and watch in particular the core speed listed at the top left corner. It is capped at 59 on faster video cards, but if the number is significantly lower, then your video card or video card drivers are usually the issue.

If you have a particularly slow Intel-based onboard video chipset you may be out of luck, but experimenting with different video drivers for Windows and watching that core speed number change should give you a good idea of what video drivers are the best for your system.

Is the game always slow under all modules?

Is it faster in full-screen mode or in windowed mode?

- Steve
nexguy
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:14 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by nexguy »

The game is very slow for me also. It is the same in full-screen or windowed. I am running it on a new Lenovo Thinkpad with Core i7 processor under Windows 7 64-bit.

I can run Flight Simulator X nearly max graphics and smooth frame rates.
nexguy
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:14 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by nexguy »

Also, the core value under debug mode is usually 7 or 8.
Runecube
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:07 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by Runecube »

I first played StartFlight (the dual 5.25" floppy version) back in '86 was it? And it wasn't too bad on the speed....

At least, considering I was running at 10 Mhz or so... (I forget the actual speed, I'm pretty sure it was a 386)....

I just installed the game... (100MB? My how we have grown!)

On a QUAD CORE i7 machine at 2.4 Ghz and 8 Gigs of RAM... Ok, to be fair, it is running under parallels on a Macbook Pro... (And I can run Empire Earth II, with the picture in picture running - generating multiple 3D images, pushing data out the network (with me as the host) and running 15 other screen consoles and about 50 apps at the same time.... Without any problems...)

And it is too slow to create a char... the mouse drags... (Seriously? that isn't top priority in the game engine?)... I gave up on the 2nd dialog clicking on OK took too long to get the mouse over there... Too painful...

Have to wait until I get me a faster machine.... Once someone makes one...

Dang, I wonder if I can install the original game and see how it plays.. I still have the floppy disks...

-Chert
Runecube
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:07 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by Runecube »

I might add, the Mac's CPU never went below 78% idle while running the game, and (from the port / start room - which only took me about 20 minutes to create a test person... give a name (dropped keys like crazy!), and add the points to the various items (no faster than 1 point every 3-4 seconds, it dropped mouse clicks as well.)

Oh, and it is configured to give Max CPU / performance to the VM, and configured full screen (although, it doesn't help windowed.. I did the CPU tests windowed).. I even tried assigning all 8 cpus to the VM (4 cores, 4 HyperThreading)...

This game is unplayable... (And from a usability standpoint... I had to shut down the VM in order to exit the game.. Is there any way out except going through a door? I saw the up/right/left message, perhaps it said something about exiting, but I tried every keystroke I could... Of course, I don't know if it dropped them or not...)

-Chert
chaddychoo
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 6:41 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by chaddychoo »

I am having a similar problem. I have an intel i5 quad core, 6mb ram and DirectX 11 on my Intel HD graphics card. What is so wrong with the Intel graphics card that makes a game with relatively simple 2D graphics so slow? Is there anyway to force the game to speed up?
User avatar
Steve
Site Admin
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:33 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by Steve »

... Intel graphics cards have horrific support for OpenGL. PC games almost exclusively run with DirectX now, so open-source technologies such as OpenGL have more or less been abandoned. Just about any ATI or nVidia video card manufactured in the last 10 years works just fine, and the only solution I know of is to rewrite the game to implement complete DirectX support would solve the problem, but would be a ton of work.

For people with Intel graphics cards, this may help: http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-010479.htm

As Intel states: "...using the latest drivers usually provides the best compatibility with games that use OpenGL. Graphics drivers that come with Microsoft Windows* or that are downloaded from Windows Update typically do not support OpenGL."

Also see my post under the topic "Video is mirrored/scrambled" for a link to a program that tests OpenGL support.
twobitcoder
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:38 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by twobitcoder »

Hi Runecube. I don't stop by here often so forgive the way-out of date reply. I was one of the developers of the engine and have no idea why the game would wig out like that on some PCs and not others. We tested it on at least 20 different PCs, running Windows XP, Vista, 7, all different configurations, so this is an unexpected problem. It shouldn't have anything at all to do with your computer since these days a 2D game should run on anything, including 5+ year old PCs. Perhaps it's a threading problem? I've heard reports of it running badly on single-core CPUs, but I don't think any of us ever had one to test it on.

The game isn't quite abandonware, it's just that Steve and I were the last two who stuck with it to the end, and we both had busy schedules so over the last two years it was sketchy how much work was done related to bug reports. When it was finally done, and some of the plot was edited out to get the game to a stopping point, I think we were relieved to have finished it. But, there wasn't much support involved in fixing bugs after the final bug fixes were done in, I think, mid-2011. I think that accounts for Steve releasing a 1.02 revision.

So, I guess we should address this problem.... There is idle cycle handling code in the game loop. I don't know why the CPU is maxxing out. Do you remember, @STEVE, when we had that problem and it was supposedly fixed? I know we worked on it and solved the CPU problem at one point. So that, during normal gameplay, it would only ramp up to like 10% of the CPU at most, and that on a single core. If it's preventing potential fans from enjoying the game I think we should try to figure it out. I just can't duplicate the problem, even testing on several PCs. One core runs at idle most of the time while it's running.
evan7seven
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:37 pm

Re: game very slow

Post by evan7seven »

I must chime in and say that I have the same problem, it is essentially unplayable. I have a Dell XPS (laptop) i7 6G Ram with a NVidia Ge Force GT 525M, with current drivers installed. I would love to play this game, and look forward to solve this problem. Does anyone have any suggestions that I may try in the mean time.
Post Reply