Windows 7 problem?
 

Hi all!

I have been used SPMBT for some time. It is a great game, but I have a problem which may or may not be related to Windows 7.

The problem is that, whenever I use the game, the computer gets overheated and sometimes stops working. The system and RAM that I have should be more than enough for graphic intensive applications, and the two SPCAMO games are the only ones with this problem.

I have searched elsewhere on the eb for solution and I have read that this MAY be a problem due to the DOS legacy still present in the game. Is it true?

I would be very grateful for any tips that you may have. Many thanks!

Marco

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

If its only one using these games & other games are fine that seems strange. One thing these games most definetly are not is graphic intense. You do clean your computer every 6 months or so to stop heat sinks & vents getting clogged up.

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

Go to your graphics driver control panel (catalyst centre for ATI/AMD cards) and force always on Vsync. Does it help?

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

The game code is converted from the MS_DOS version of the graphics library to a Windows version of the same.

After a little investigation - it seems that the game library idle loop function does NOT release CPU time to Windows. That one is buried in a third party DLL and so not easily fixed by myself.

However, A little experimentation with some other Windows System commands on the main screen menu resulted in the CPU usage going to 0 (from typically 50%) when idle, with responses to button presses, mouse overs etc being unaffected.

So I have a strategy to make the game less of a CPU hog, when it is not "doing stuff", and is simply waiting for the end user to do something. It'll just mean that I have to visit every darned screen's main update function...

However - despite the CPU hogging, no machine that I have ever run the game on has had the sort of problem that you describe. The fans can kick in after a while, is all. Your machine seems to have some sort of thermal problem (perhaps it is clogged with carpet fluff, or the fan has stopped working or is about to do so?). The only thermal problem I have ever had with a tower was one left on the carpet beside the desk - the air intake grille of the Dell was at the bottom front of the case, and over several years it ingested about half the carpet.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

Andy has made some changes to the code which I am testing on my machine ( an 11 year old Dell running a 797 Mhz Intel Chip ) that show CPU usage dropping 33% when the game is idle and dropping 49% when run in the background in windowed mode . Previous to this change, CPU usage on my machine was 100% at all times the game was running no matter if the game was running in the foreground or background so this is a significant improvement.

We will be running more tests over the next couple of weeks but right now this looks like a viable solution to overactive CPU usage by the game.

Don

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

A further update on this issue.

Testing has revealed that with the changes made to the code to reduce CPU usage the results are more pronounced when the machine is faster and has more memory. Andy reports with his machine, which is much more powerful than mine and more typical of what most people are using , that the CPU usage drops to 1 or 2% when the game is waiting for commands with no drop in overall game performance

Don

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

Im using Win 7 with no problems.

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

The problems only show up when playing a long time on a "hot" computer.

Don

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

Dear All,

Many thanks. I have cleaned everything but the problem persists. I will now try Wdll's advice and see if it works - I am not sure which graphic card my computer is using but I should find out from the evice Manager in the control panel.

Don, Andy: how can I try the code that you have been testing?

Many thanks! Marco

Re: Windows 7 problem?
 

We're not done testing the code but rest assured for reducing CPU usuage when it's the human players turn it works and will be included with the next patch for both games .

Don