Quick performance tip

[Ad Hominem]

As I said, it had to be something that stupid... I am such an idiot sometimes

 

[lifeaquatic]

I can't find the cache

 

[ranLR]

Hey guys, i fixed all my problems, maybe it will help you out

My problems were:
Unbearably long load times
Very slow performance

I tried clearing the cache, but there was nothing to clear
I dfragged the drive
I closed all b/g apps i could
I ran the game with high priority

Now the game is running excellent. Load time for a new Large map game is even better then Civ3!!!

Thanks Humba3 for your tip.

now i can pursue lesser problems like what to get my g/f for her birthday...

 

[groobz]

guys, i:m having some trouble,, i follow those instructions, and save it as civ.bat,, but when i edit that line in and save it, i think its saving the file as civ.bat.txt is there anyway i can get rid of that .txt at the end? cheers

 

[Firebird]

guys, i:m having some trouble,, i follow those instructions, and save it as civ.bat,, but when i edit that line in and save it, i think its saving the file as civ.bat.txt is there anyway i can get rid of that .txt at the end? cheers

You can either select "All files" at the botteom, when you save from notepad or you can rename the file in the pathfinder by clicking on the name an then delete the ".txt".

Best regards

Firebird

 

[lifeaquatic]

How can I tell if the priority is working?

My load times have always been fine but I get choppy graphics once the game gets going.

 

[naminator]

Yeah, and the instructions to use this BAT file are about as clear as mud !! Why can`t i buy a game these days that doesn`t need 101 different ways to make it work for fk`s sakes !!!!!!!!

 

[lifeaquatic]

HELLO??? How do I know if this is even working?????

 

[Gatsby]

Looking for a quick and cheap way to improve Civ4's performance?

Creating a bat file to set the civilization4.exe to run at high priority might help (http://www.tweakxp.com/article37033.aspx). Creating the BAT file really made the game fly, the other system tweaks (pagefile, defrag, etc.) made it just playable.

Good Luck!

Civ4 runs great on my machine:
Toshiba TabletPC
WinXP Tablet Ed
1.5 GHz centrino
768 MB RAM
nVIDIA GeForce Go 5200FX 32 MB

With the patch I might even try a large game in tablet mode, rather than sticking to the laptop mode. Tabtip is just too much of a hog for that right now.

Where exactly do I go to create/put this bat file?

 

[ranLR]

Where exactly do I go to create/put this bat file?

Put it in your civ4 directory
e.g. c:\program files\firaxis games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\

it should be (preferably) in the directory where the Civilization4.exe file is.

You can see if its on high priority if u press ctrl+alt+del in the game,
although i wouldnt advise it since minimizing the civ4 window will just load the cpu to wazoo (at least it does for me...)
cheers

 

[alco75]

Just make a .bat file and put it anywhere (I put mine in the start -> programs -> Firaxis Games folder) with the following:

start /HIGH /D"C:\Program Files\Civ4\" Civilization4.exe

It ought to go without saying you replace the /D option with the root folder of where Civ4 is installed on your own machine.

 

[alco75]

Put it in your civ4 directory
You can see if its on high priority if u press ctrl+alt+del in the game,
although i wouldnt advise it since minimizing the civ4 window will just load the cpu to wazoo (at least it does for me...)

This might not work. Windows XP appears to automatically lower the Civ4 process priority to 'below normal' when it's not the active application, i.e. as soon as you alt-tab out of Civ4, the process priority gets lowered. Hence it's not possible to tell whether it's 'working' - although I guarantee it does work, as I tested the batch file method with calc.exe.

 

[BobTheTerrible]

I can't seem to save it as anything other than a text document... would someone mind uploading the .bat file?

 

[j0hnnnym]

I tried running it using a bat file to set it to high proirity it seemed to make a big difference to the speed however it crashed at the end of a turn. I then tried editing the batch file to load it like this: ...AboveNormal Civilization4.exe. This seems to work a lot better. Its still stupidly slow considering my specs but I'm gonna give the new patch a go tonight... fingers crossed.

 

[alco75]

I can't seem to save it as anything other than a text document... would someone mind uploading the .bat file?

Just rename it from X.bat.txt to X.bat.

A batch file is a text file.

 

[Capewak]

I did this tweak and it works definitely on my Pc system. However i got a CTD after 10 or so turns and before that a couple of warnings in the shape of short "screen stutter/blackouts" !?!?

 

[BobTheTerrible]

Just rename it from X.bat.txt to X.bat.

A batch file is a text file.

No matter what I do, I can't get rid of the .txt extension.

 

[X sheehan C]

i am really confused(dont get mad at me for it cus i am really dumb). i dont get how 2 make a bat file... and i have noticed that when i minimizer civ4 it is not at normall it is at below normal

 

[Bast]

Bob you need to open a notepad file and then go to "Save as".

 

[DiscomBob]

No matter what I do, I can't get rid of the .txt extension.

When you 'Save As' the file in notepad (or whatever you're using), make sure the filename is in inside " ".

i.e. "civ4.bat"
rather than civ4.bat

This should force the correct extension. If you are still having problems, in a Windows explorer window, select Tools->Folder Options, go to the View tab, and unselect the 'Hide extensions for all known file types', and apply. Go back to your file, and you should be able to alter the extension using the rename command.