Happy days for Large/Huge map lovers

[szcott]

Just completed my first game post patch on a large highlands map. Used to start getting serious graphical bugs starting around 1800 or so, like no borders, icons missing, no city names etc. That all seems fixed now. Got to 1930 or so with a space race win and had no problems.

 

[crazy_achmed]

Yes but the loading times in mutiplayer are not shorter. I have a game right now with 2 friends (i have a 6 core intel i7 cpu, 12 GB RAM and a GTX480) on a huge map with 12 civs. my cpu usage is around 23 % and we have (in round 670) 10 minutes (yes!! could be 11) loading time between the rounds.
Iam hosting the game so, what the heck is the problem? I cannot believe this shut anymore.

 

[Keejus]

What is your upload speed, second dude? I imagine you must be sending a ton of data every turn

 

[crazy_achmed]

I have a cable connection and have around 1,5Mbit/s max (download rate is 32 Mbit/s max). but my network usage is around 12% max

 

[Tabarnak]

The time taken is from the slowest comp of all players. I guess it's to prevent unsynchs but OOS can still happens anytime.

 

[crazy_achmed]

But why does not they use a better network code or better distributing the workload? I mean i am starting to think that there is not host/client system but every PC is equal! I think one PC should do ALL the calculations and the other should just f**king move their units. I cannot understand why i have to wait for one person 10 minutes who just moved ONE f**king unit.

 

[EasyBee]

But why does not they use a better network code or better distributing the workload? I mean i am starting to think that there is not host/client system but every PC is equal! I think one PC should do ALL the calculations and the other should just f**king move their units. I cannot understand why i have to wait for one person 10 minutes who just moved ONE f**king unit.

First of all, having one computer do all the calculations and tell all the other players what's happened would greatly increase the amount of data being transferred and introduce massive sync problems, host bias, etc.

On the matter of "why don't they just use better network code"... Coding is not the drag and drop experience most computer users are familiar with -- it particular and intricate work that takes skill and intelligence. Programmers in general and network programmers in particular are in very high demand, simply because there are not enough of them to fill demand. A close family member runs a mid-size programming business producing specialized software for banks and financial houses; the limiting factor on the company's growth is staffing. They literally recruit globally because of this issue.

Finally, Civ V is a brand new engine on the quite new DX11 platform. They used some pretty clever production tricks to get it out as fast as they did. If they had waited until the new engine was bug-free we would still not yet be playing Civ V. What's that? Fine with you? Except that that release date would spell doom for the businesses keeing all those designers and coders employed, so no more Civ.

 

[crazy_achmed]

We have an ultra super fast internet connection and my super gaming rig has enough power to host! two CIV5 games at the same time, i just want the option to do the calculations. It is not good that my loading times are over after 1-2 minues but then i have to wait for one player about 10-11 minutes and he only moved one unit!!
My overall and max cpu usage is 23%!! this is simply not acceptable.

 

[Drago Askani]

its also not a problem with the game, but with that other players POS emachine brand laptop really.

 

[Buccaneer]

We have an ultra super fast internet connection and my super gaming rig has enough power to host! two CIV5 games at the same time, i just want the option to do the calculations. It is not good that my loading times are over after 1-2 minues but then i have to wait for one player about 10-11 minutes and he only moved one unit!!
My overall and max cpu usage is 23%!! this is simply not acceptable.

As others have clearly pointed, it doesn't matter what your machine is but the weakest link of the all of the players. There are some that still believe that laptops are gaming machines.

 

[crazy_achmed]

I noticed that, btw the PCs of my friends are at least dual core non laptop PCs.
What i want to say is, is that we can profit from a different kind of workload distribution, iam talking about a real host/client variant. My PC should do ALL the work and the others should only send their actions.
Or can you explain why it is possible that we all have to wait for one players PC to finish when the player just moved one unit? I mean ONE unit?? do you understand? it is ridiculous to wait 10 minutes when just one unit is moved!

 

[Strategist83]

Achmed, you can't run 'huge' maps in multiplayer. You'd be lucky to even run standard properly - I always go with small or even tiny for MP.

 

[EasyBee]

It think you are exaggerating with the ten minutes for one unit stuff. I'm sure it may have happened, but is likely the exception, not the rule. There are many possible explanations that you may not considering. Just because you have a sweet rig and blazing Internet, doesn't mean that their dual core is running well, or that their Internet isn't slow or being used by others. But *obviously* it's the game.

Getting back on topic and away from crazy achmed's hyjack, large maps are now even better! They were good before, but I recently played japan on a huge earth. Happiness needed attention at the beginning, but before gun powder I had all of Africa and the middle east too! I love building wide, and I'm finding it easier to do so post-patch. It's fantastic. Patch FTW!

 

[crazy_achmed]

Achmed, you can't run 'huge' maps in multiplayer. You'd be lucky to even run standard properly - I always go with small or even tiny for MP.

Thats what iam saying, but i think it is more fun to play on huge maps and marathpn speed. But i know that some people think different, i even want to play some faster and smaler game from time to time but then i play some Starcraft 2 games.

And to the ten minutes waiting time: i is standard about round 650-700, and yes there is no more than one unit moved, it is a fact.
Btw. in singleplayer i have no problems on huge maps, but singleplayer is boring since Civ5 (but the last patch made it better, yes) for me.
Sorry for highjacking iam leaving this thread now but i had to point out the other side of the "Happy days for LArge/Huge map lovers" and that is the multiplayer side.

 

[Strategist83]

Well, back to topic, then. That multiplayer is broken is unfortunately not news to anybody, I think. Except, possibly, Firaxis.

I'm going for a Huge map game right now as China! If I find that is playable, then wow, just wow. My laptop has died every time I've tried.

 

[civnoob13]

Seeing as you've mentioned the highlands map, does anyone else find the edge of the map really, really, really ugly? It could at least be looped with sea or something or ice so you can't see its ugliness.

 

[jtb1127]

Are you saying that civ v is now good enough to handle a map larger than a tiny, without crashing? You must be joking!