Max Units Allowed (MUA)

[KingArthur]

During a game of Civ3 is there any limit on the number of units that can be in play at any one time?

If so what's the number? And what happens when the threshold is breached?

Need to discount it as the cause of a particularly bothersome CTD (CrashToDesktop).

 

[WildWeazel]

IIRC it's 4096. I don't know what happens when you reach it.

 

[Takhisis]

Why don´t you try? make one unit for your civ that costs 1 shield, and also have lots of starting improvements/SWs/GWs that produce them... how long would it take you? 20 turns?

 

[WildWeazel]

Or you could preplace them I'd try it, but I don't have enough RAM in my machine to load a scenario like that.

 

[Virote_Considon]

I'm pretty sure that it gives you an error message first.

 

[Yorgos]

In my mod, due to the rules one civilisation gets insane number of units. While this makes it run very slow after the mid game, I never had a CTD reported. Thus I don't think that's the cause of EFZI crashes, because we would experience VERY long waiting turns first (which would make it almost unplayable anyway). The zombies can build units very easy and thus they control numerous, but they're not that many (and definitely not 4000), since the map is small and they control few cities. An additional reason is that if the crash was caused by extending the maximum number of allowed units, the game wouldn’t work after loading the autosave - it would crash at the same point instead.

 

[mrtn]

Check out Bamspeedy's "Beyond Sid" story. In short, he didn't get a CTD for reaching that limit.

 

[KingArthur]

Oh well, good to know. And Yorgos you are right we never get near that number of units in EFZI2.

 

[Bluemofia]

Check out Bamspeedy's "Beyond Sid" story. In short, he didn't get a CTD for reaching that limit.

Supposedly they increaded the limit to some absurdly large number in C3C.

 

[El Justo]

i've reached the MUA limit a few times and it simply craps out w/ the black-screen-of-death. no message - no nothing. just black and then your desktop.

we skirted around the issue a bit w/ AoI by actually encouraging the AI civs to beat each other over the head (ie by allowing for alliance making which the AI seems to really like and starts warring w/ one another once they get this ability).

in sum, there is indeed an MUA and it is problematic. one just needs to find a way to dillute the unit numbers on the map and that should help to not reach the MUA limit.

 

[KingArthur]

i've reached the MUA limit a few times and it simply craps out w/ the black-screen-of-death. no message - no nothing. just black and then your desktop.

we skirted around the issue a bit w/ AoI by actually encouraging the AI civs to beat each other over the head (ie by allowing for alliance making which the AI seems to really like and starts warring w/ one another once they get this ability).

in sum, there is indeed an MUA and it is problematic. one just needs to find a way to dillute the unit numbers on the map and that should help to not reach the MUA limit.

The zombies in EFZI2 are locked in war with 3 separate factions. However, their units are very cheap and they enslave to produce yet more of their kind.

I wonder if MUA is related to map size since if MUA is hitting my scenario it's hitting it a lot sooner than the numbers quoted here so far.

 

[El Justo]

The zombies in EFZI2 are locked in war with 3 separate factions. However, their units are very cheap and they enslave to produce yet more of their kind.

I wonder if MUA is related to map size since if MUA is hitting my scenario it's hitting it a lot sooner than the numbers quoted here so far.

i don't know for certain really...however, i have an adendum to add to my earlier remarks as this whole MUA thing has been kicking around w/ the Storm Over Europe guys. and i have this to add as per recon's most recent info:

originally posted by recon1591 at the SOE site
Germany = 1376
Russia = 1011 = Note plz change out the Wicks DD for Generics. = Done
France = 600
Britian = 869
Turkey = 183 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. Mostly planes. = Done
Ireland = 21
Poland = 303
Hungary = 102 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. = Done
Bulgaria = 96 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. = Done
Greece = 110 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. = Done
Yugoslavia = 195 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. = Done
Rumania = 190 = Note there are a few units that need changed to Generic. = Done
Italy = 671

Total unit so far = 5727

so by these calculations, the 4000-and-some number is incorrect as these numbers are pre-placed units on the map. and beta testing is ongoing and no MUA issue has appeared. now, for AoI, i've have far more units than this on the map at a given time (mid to late game - ie - probably 250+ turns in or so).

i hope this helps and it appears to me that what your experiencing may not be an MUA problem after all

 

[WildWeazel]

It turns out 4096 was the unit limit pre-C3C. Apparently Conquests, as Bluemofia said, increased it to an absurdly large number. It would be at least 8192, but probably something like 65536 (2^16), so it's almost certainly no longer an issue.

Cities and buildings, OTOH, remain strictly limited to an easily reachable number

 

[Bluemofia]

Cities and buildings, OTOH, remain strictly limited to an easily reachable number

Magic 256 for buildings, and 512 for cities.

 

[KingArthur]

Thanks guys. I'm not hitting any of those limits so I will have to look elsewhere for my CTD.

 

[Orthanc]

It turns out 4096 was the unit limit pre-C3C. Apparently Conquests, as Bluemofia said, increased it to an absurdly large number. It would be at least 8192, but probably something like 65536 (2^16), so it's almost certainly no longer an issue.

Cities and buildings, OTOH, remain strictly limited to an easily reachable number

Sorry guys, I've been playing this one Civ3 Conquest game since August 2004, and it's on a map at least twice as big as the regular largest size. The computer I started it on slowed way down due to turn times mid-game (I'm talking 2 HOUR computer turns) it didn't crash though, I estimate there were close to 4000 units total around then. Then I got the new computer, turn times went by WAY faster, and things were looking good. Then, THIS August, I started noticing (just when the end of the game is within sight!) that the city production screen would report a unit made, but the unit wouldn't appear. This happened EVERYWHERE (including enemy cities, so a certain country that was trying to make a comeback from being nigh-obliterated got SCREWED ), and was only fixed by destroying units, but of course, only as many units would be made the next turn as were destroyed the previous.

I have about 6000+ units myself, my last 2 rivals have about 2000+ combined. I imagine my computer could handle ALOT more units (seeing as I bought it brand new this January, it was decently high-end then), but apparently, Civ3 Conquests can't.

Conclusion: End all unit cap is about 8000-9000 (9000 would be stretching it).

Perhaps this is the real solution to stopping the 'Ginourmous Unit Stack' strategy, it sure changed my game...

 

[El Justo]

that's an interesting report Orthanc. thanks for sharing. and i tend to agree w/ your conclusion of 8K-9K units max.

also, i saw similar things like that wrt the construction of new units. it's peculiar to say the least...

 

[BadKharma]

Very interesting news. So it would appear the cap is 8K-9K with no one being able to produce new units when its reached but no crash either.

 

[aaglo]

interesting bit of info - and nice effort from you , huge games tend to be a bit tedious in the end game...