Jump to content


Photo

Problems with campaign size


37 replies to this topic

#1 Darth Stalin

Darth Stalin
  • Members
  • 137 posts

Posted 11 June 2012 - 06:04 AM

Hey, guys!
I have a problem and a question.
The question is: how large can be the “campaign” XML file (for example, the GFFA) that the system is not going to break down?
The problem is: how to “trim” the campaign to keep it both HUGE and not causing exceptions?

Now here comes my cause:
I like the GFFA campaign quite much, yet I do not like the small number of planets (just 100).
So, I decided to “enlarge” it – I’ve added planets from Core Worlds, Inner Rim and Outer Rim campaigns, reaching the 203 planets, as follows:
Aargau,
Abregado_rae,
Aeten_II,
Alderaan,
Alzoc_III,
Ammuud,
Anaxes,
Ando,
Anoat,
Anteevy,
Arbra,
Aridus,
Arkania,
Atzerri,
Axxila,
Bakura,
Balmorra,
Bandomeer,
Berchest,
Bespin,
Bestine,
Bilbringi,
Bimmisaari,
Bonadan,
Bothawui,
Bpfassh,
Brentaal,
Brigia,
Byblos,
Byss,
Cadomai,
Cal_Seti,
Caprioril,
Carida,
Champala,
Chandrila,
Chardaan,
Chazwa,
Ciutric_IV,
Clakdor_VII,
Columex,
Colunda,
Commenor,
Contruum,
Corellia,
Corfai,
Corulag,
Coruscant,
Cron_Drift,
Crondre,
Da_Soocha_5,
Dagobah,
Dantooine,
Danuta,
Darkknell,
Dathomir,
Denon,
Despayre,
Dolomar,
Doniphon,
Dressel,
Druckenwell,
Duro,
Empress_Teta,
Endor,
Eriadu,
Esseles,
Etti_IV,
Falleen,
Farrfin,
Filve,
Felucia,
Feriae_Junction,
Fest,
Fondor,
Fresia,
Gamorr,
Ganath,
Garos,
Generis,
Geonosis,
Ghorman,
Giju,
Gromas_16,
Gyndine,
Hapes,
Hijarna,
Honoghr,
Hoth,
Hypori,
Ilum,
Ithor,
Jabiim,
Jomark,
Kaal,
Kaikielius,
Kalist_VI,
Kalla_VII,
Kamino,
Kashyyyk,
Kattada,
Kessel,
Ketaris,
Khomm,
Korriban,
Krinemonen_3,
Kuat,
Lianna,
Linuri,
Lwhekk,
Malastare,
Manaan,
Mandalore,
Metellos,
Mindor,
Mon_Calamari,
Mrisst,
Mustafar,
Muunilinst,
Mygeeto,
Myrkr,
Mytus_VII,
Nkllon,
Nzoth,
Naboo,
Nal_Hutta,
Nar_Shaddaa,
Nentan,
Nespis_VIII,
New_Alderaan,
New_Cov,
New_Plympto,
Norval_II,
Obroa_skai,
Ojom,
Onderon,
Ord_Biniir,
Ord_Mantell,
Ord_Pardron,
Ord_Trasi,
Orinackra,
Orron_III,
Ossus,
Palanhi,
Pantolomin,
Poderis,
Polis_Massa,
Polus,
Praadost_II,
Prakith,
Qat_Chrystac,
Quermia,
Ralltiir,
Raxus_I
Rendili,
Rhen_Var,
Rhinnal,
Rishi,
Roche_Asteroids,
Rodia,
Rothana,
Rudrig,
Ryloth,
Saleucami,
Sarka,
Sevarcos_II,
Sluis_Van,
Smugglers_Run,
Sriluur,
Sulon,
Sullust,
Svivren,
Taanab,
Talay,
Tangrene,
Taris,
Tatooine,
Telos_IV,
Tepasi,
Teth,
The_Maw,
Thomork,
Thyferra,
Tibrin,
Tierfon,
Toprawa,
Turkana,
Ukio,
Umbara,
Utapau,
Vergesso_Asteroids,
Vjun,
Vorzyd_V,
Vulpter,
Wayland,
Woostri,
Xa_Fel
YagDhul,
Yaga_Minor,
Yavin_4,
Yinchorr
Ylesia
Zonju_V

I’ve also modded the trade routes: I’ve left all trade routes from GFFA campaign and added the “minor” and “major” trade routes from other 3 campaigns, as follows:
Abregado_rae_Fondor_Minor,
Abregado_rae_Giju_Major,
Anaxes_Corulag_Major,
Anaxes_Coruscant_Major,
Anoat_Bespin_Major,
Anoat_Hoth_Major,
Anteevy_Gromas_16_Minor,
Anteevy_Roche_Asteroids_Minor,
Axxila_Bandomeer_Minor,
Axxila_Muunilinst_Minor,
Bakura_Endor_Minor,
Bandomeer_Champala_Major,
Bandomeer_Feriae_Junction_Major,
Bandomeer_Taris_Major,
Bandomeer_Toprawa_Major,
Bespin_Eriadu_Minor,
Bespin_Hoth_Major,
Bespin_YagDhul_Major,
Bestine_YagDhul_Major,
Bilbringi_Coruscant_Minor,
Bonadan_Cadomai_Major,
Bonadan_Telos_IV_Major,
Brentaal_Champala_Major,
Brentaal_Chandrila_Major,
Brentaal_Esseles_Major,
Brentaal_Kuat_Major,
Byblos_Corellia_Major,
Byblos_Denon_Major,
Byss_Empress_Teta_Minor,
Cadomai_Doniphon_Major,
Cal_Seti_Metellos_Minor,
Cal_Seti_Nzoth_Minor,
Chandrila_Corulag_Major,
Chardaan_Denon_Major,
Chardaan_Malastare_Major,
Chazwa_Ralltiir_Major,
Chazwa_Taanab_Major,
Clakdor_VII_Eriadu_Major,
Clakdor_VII_Sluis_Van_Major,
Columex_Lianna_Major,
Columex_Roche_Asteroids_Major,
Columex_Yavin_4_Minor,
Colunda_Lianna_Major,
Colunda_Quermia_Major,
Corellia_Coruscant_Major,
Corellia_Duro_Major,
Coruscant_Empress_Teta_Minor,
Coruscant_Kaikielius_Minor,
Coruscant_Metellos_Minor,
Dagobah_Sluis_Van_Major,
Dantooine_Muunilinst_Minor,
Darkknell_Eriadu_Major,
Denon_Druckenwell_Major,
Denon_Kuat_Major,
Denon_Malastare_Major,
Doniphon_Telos_IV_Major,
Druckenwell_Geonosis_Major,
Duro_YagDhul_Major,
Empress_Teta_Kaikielius_Minor,
Empress_Teta_Prakith_Minor,
Empress_Teta_Vulpter_Minor,
Endor_Sullust_Minor,
Eriadu_Malastare_Major,
Eriadu_Mustafar_Major,
Eriadu_Sullust_Major,
Esseles_Rhinnal_Major,
Feriae_Junction_Toprawa_Major,
Feriae_Junction_Yavin_4_Minor,
Fondor_Thyferra_Minor,
Geonosis_Ryloth_Major,
Ghorman_Giju_Major,
Hypori_Rothana_Major,
Hypori_Ryloth_Major,
Kaal_YagDhul_Major,
Kessel_Sriluur_Minor,
Lianna_Roche_Asteroids_Major,
Metellos_Nzoth_Minor,
Mon_Calamari_Turkana_Minor,
Mustafar_Zonju_V_Major,
Nal_Hutta_Sriluur_Minor,
Nal_Hutta_Tatooine_Minor,
Praadost_II_Telos_IV_Major,
Praadost_II_Toprawa_Major
Quermia_Turkana_Minor,
Ralltiir_Rhinnal_Major,
Roche_Asteroids_Taanab_Major,
Rothana_Ryloth_Major,
Rothana_Smugglers_Run_Major,
Ryloth_Smugglers_Run_Major,
Ryloth_Vergesso_Asteroids,
Sriluur_Tatooine_Minor,
Sullust_YagDhul_Major,
Telos_IV_Toprawa_Major,
Thyferra_YagDhul_Major,
Woostri_YagDhul_Major,
Abregado_rae_Byss,
Axxila_Ithor,
Bakura_Lwhekk,
Balmorra_Hapes,
Bandomeer_Myrkr,
Bilbringi_Ord_Mantell,
Bilbringi_Yaga_Minor,
Bothawui_Nal_Hutta,
Bothawui_Ord_Trasi,
Brigia_Mon_Calamari,
Byblos_Commenor,
Byss_Nzoth,
Champala_Ord_Mantell,
Ciutric_IV_Dathomir,
Ciutric_IV_Despayre,
Ciutric_IV_Toprawa,
Contruum_Obroa_skai,
Contruum_Roche_Asteroids,
Contruum_Taanab,
Denon_Gyndine,
Druckenwell_Naboo,
Etti_IV_Korriban,
Felucia_Korriban,
Gyndine_Kashyyyk,
Gyndine_Nal_Hutta,
Hapes_Kashyyyk,
Hoth_Mustafar,
Ithor_Ord_Mantell,
Jabiim_Mon_Calamari,
Jabiim_Ossus,
Jabiim_Sriluur,
Kashyyyk_Roche_Asteroids,
Kessel_Ylesia,
Korriban_Telos_IV,
Malastare_Naboo,
Mandalore_Myrkr,
Mandalore_Vjun,
Mon_Calamari_Rudrig,
Mustafar_Polis_Massa,
Naboo_Vergesso_Asteroids,
Nal_Hutta_Ylesia,
Ord_Trasi_Rodia,
Ord_Trasi_Tatooine,
Roche_Asteroids_Sriluur,
Rothana_Ryloth,
Rothana_Ukio,
Ryloth_Vergesso_Asteroids,
Sevarcos_II_Svivren,
Toprawa_Yavin_4,
Vorzyd_V_Yavin_4

Also, to avoid the problem with too small number of AI heroes I’ve placed all available heroes from the start on appropriate planets (starting from Rebels, as I usually play the Empire).

Of course the planetary stats were copied from appropriate campaigns (and in case that the “faction’s planet” replaced the “pirate” planets the appropriate section of the code was cut from the file – like in case of Corulag, which in Core Worlds campaign is Imperial), with heroes’ placement fitted specially for that campaign.

Then, I’ve started the game. Well, during loading there was some lag… but not as big as I could expect from 1.1. Then, during play, there was also lag, but also rather bearable (less than in 1.1, anyway, though more than in “ordinary” 1.2).
However, when I did my first “commands” for my Empire (to build/produce etc.) I wanted to save, but… I couldn’t save the game – I got the info “Failed to save game. Check disk space” or sth like that – the comm. was that I had “too small disk space available”. Of course the “auto save” file was corrupted (with size “0” bytes) and I also got an Exception! communicate.

So, what could have gone wrong? Too many data in the campaign file?
Can it be improved by cutting out some planets (I suppose that some of less important Outer Rim, Inner Rim and even Core planets can be rid off)? Or maybe also trimming down the pirate forces could help?
I think that I can also replace some units with less number of more “repeating” ones, like “hordes” of fighters can be replaced with one “carrier” unit etc.; as well as I probably cut off all those “freighters” used by Empire and Rebels – or replace them with smaller number of LARGE freighters, providing the same amount of credits but with substantially smaller number of them – like one Bulk Transport can replace some 6-7 smaller ones (400 credits from one bulk freighter for 60 credits each of 6-7 smaller ones).
I also thought that some Imperial and Rebel forces could be trimmed down, especially the fighters and some light crafts, that could be replaced with “carrier” units.

What do you think?
Is there any limit of number of planets that can be handled by the game engine?

If anyone wants to see what I mean (especially the PR team) I'm attaching the GFFA file modded by me.

#2 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 11 June 2012 - 02:36 PM

Woah, that's a lot of planets :)

I haven't added any more planets to my GFFA campaign. I want to get get optimal performance first with the default planets. Only changes I've done to planets is change the position of some. I believe that the amount of planets should work, as long as you optimize performance in planet access routes and variety of fleets (size of fleets does not matter the slightest, just unit variety). Also, there's basically two types of lag in the campaign. The "overall lag" (constant low fps), which is decided by unit variety. And "spike lag", "freezes" and "choppyness" which I've concluded is because of the AI moving a lot of fleets.

Either way, to improve performance:
  • Minimize unit variety. Any units that the faction cannot build should be removed with priority. Standardize all the fleets and land forces to one unit type (eg. Only ISD I's, MC80a's, T2-B's etc.). Only after you got smooth performance do you add more unit variety and non-buildables.
  • Make less access to planets, so it isn't possible for the ai to move huge numbers of fleets in a lot of directions (this strains the performance a lot in large campaigns). The more fleets on the move, the more lag spikes you get. Do this through the trade routes and planets files.
  • Minimize pirates. Minimize pirate unit variety even more than for Empire/Alliance. Just leave the pirates with the few ships they should have. Unit variety for pirates should pretty much be something like stock FOC. Have identical forces in most pirate planets. Have very small forces of pirates in other planets. Not all pirate planets needs to have a huge fleets, settle for just a pirate land base with a lot of good units on some planets. In my own campaign, I gave a lot of pirate planets swarms of illegals in order to make them strong.
  • If for some reason you still can't save and get exceptions, and you've done everything above properly and killed all your darlings; only then you cut down on planets. I really doubt it comes down to this though if the above are optimized. This said, if you want more unit variety in the campaign you can simply cut some planets in return for a few more units. However keep in mind that planets don't lag nearly as much as high unit variety and fleet movement. Likely you can have something along 5 less planets for each unit added to the variety for the performance to scale, since the only thing cutting planets really help with is that there's less fleets moving to and from to those planets.
edit:

Forgot to say, that I could run GFFA with all the default planets, no pirates, and standardized fleets for the Imperials/Alliance without tampering with trade routes/planets at maxed fps with zero choppyness or lag spikes. Just more proof that the cause of the lag is not the amount of planets, not directly anyway.

Seconded. I have a custom campaign that I use for development that includes every planet with only a single base for space/ground. I can turn on the CSA strategic AI and still get 45-60 FPS.


And PR can run an even heavier campaign with high fps.

edit 2:

And one more thing, it took a few days for me to manually edit almost all the lines in the GFFA file with notepad++. But it's a lot better than just copy-pasting large chunks from already existing campaigns if you're both optimizing and building a campaign your own way as I did. Basically, I started from scratch on my version of GFFA, deleted EVERYTHING there was and just built it up again.

Edited by Chih, 11 June 2012 - 03:58 PM.


#3 Darth Stalin

Darth Stalin
  • Members
  • 137 posts

Posted 11 June 2012 - 10:24 PM

Okay, thanks for that.
And BTW: I've noticed that my attachment XML file has not been attached to my post...???

#4 johnchm.10

johnchm.10

    ALL HUMANS ARE VERMIN IN THE EYES OF MORBO!

  • Members
  • 738 posts
  • Location:OMICRON PERSEI 8!

Posted 12 June 2012 - 04:06 AM

lol, my computer hates you

#5 Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising

    Beyond the Impossible

  • Petrolution Staff
  • 6,509 posts
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising
  •  Mod Leader
  • Division:Petrolution
  • Job:Mod Specialist

Posted 13 June 2012 - 09:23 PM

The only limit on planets and trade routes that I've run into is the character limit of the XML buffer, which is some number shy of 4096 (header and/or footer data presumably takes up some characters). If you hit the limit, the game will crash on load at the splash screen. If that happens, the first thing to do is eliminate the whitespace characters, including carriage returns. Those count against the limit. If it still crashes, that's a little more complicated: you'll have to encode trade route names in shorthand (see Executor hardpoints). Bottom line, the save issue you're getting is not directly related to the number of planets you're using.

#6 Darth Stalin

Darth Stalin
  • Members
  • 137 posts

Posted 14 June 2012 - 05:47 AM

The only limit on planets and trade routes that I've run into is the character limit of the XML buffer, which is some number shy of 4096 (header and/or footer data presumably takes up some characters). If you hit the limit, the game will crash on load at the splash screen. If that happens, the first thing to do is eliminate the whitespace characters, including carriage returns. Those count against the limit. If it still crashes, that's a little more complicated: you'll have to encode trade route names in shorthand (see Executor hardpoints).

Well, it seems that I have NOT "hit the limit" - the game loads normally, I can start the campaign etc.

Bottom line, the save issue you're getting is not directly related to the number of planets you're using.

Heh, and what could be the indirect cause of that issue? The number of trade routes?
BTW: looking into Pirate planets I thought that the "diversity" of pirate units is not so large - I've just copied Pplanet entries from other campaigns into GFFA...
However, maybe given that number of planets that diversity is large enough to cause that issue? And maybe - as Chih said - I should tweak the pirate forces to jus a few types of ships and place them on these planets? Especialy I thought about placing a few "carriers" (ships that can spawn fighter and bombers) instead of more indiviual squadrons of fighters/bombers.
The same applies to "commercial" transports - especially in case of Rebels/Empire: for a player it's no difference HOW he gets his money from, but for the game it MAY be important, whether that comes from, let's say 5 x Bulk transports (400 credits each), instead of 10 smaller transports of one type (Barloz?), 20 medium transports (Containers) and 40 very small transports (Lambda shuttles or so). I also find rather annoying all those small crafts that are of a very little usage - and as I started the "vanilla GFFA vcampaign" the first thing to do was to sell all those Lambdas, Aethersprites, ERCs etc and instead produce some Carracks (with their own TIE squadron) and TIE fighters if needed.

#7 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 14 June 2012 - 07:20 AM

BTW: looking into Pirate planets I thought that the "diversity" of pirate units is not so large - I've just copied Pplanet entries from other campaigns into GFFA...
However, maybe given that number of planets that diversity is large enough to cause that issue? And maybe - as Chih said - I should tweak the pirate forces to jus a few types of ships and place them on these planets? Especialy I thought about placing a few "carriers" (ships that can spawn fighter and bombers) instead of more indiviual squadrons of fighters/bombers.
The same applies to "commercial" transports - especially in case of Rebels/Empire: for a player it's no difference HOW he gets his money from, but for the game it MAY be important, whether that comes from, let's say 5 x Bulk transports (400 credits each), instead of 10 smaller transports of one type (Barloz?), 20 medium transports (Containers) and 40 very small transports (Lambda shuttles or so). I also find rather annoying all those small crafts that are of a very little usage - and as I started the "vanilla GFFA vcampaign" the first thing to do was to sell all those Lambdas, Aethersprites, ERCs etc and instead produce some Carracks (with their own TIE squadron) and TIE fighters if needed.


Oh trust me, the pirate diversity is more than large enough :p

There's tons upon tons of different pirate units. I mean it when I say take down pirate unit variety to stock EAW/FOC amounts. With very little variety in pirate units, the Alliance and Empire can pretty much freely build whatever they want and there will be very minimal lag that depends entirely on fleet movements and as such on the size of the scenario.

For example, Myrkr used to look like this:

<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, Pirates_Star_Base_2 </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Asteroid_Base_2 </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Asteroid_Base_2 </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Twin_Ion_Engine_Starfighter_Illegal_Squadron </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Twin_Ion_Engine_Starfighter_Illegal_Squadron </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Twin_Ion_Engine_Starfighter_Illegal_Squadron </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_BTL_Y_wing_Starfighter_Illegal_Squadron </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_BTL_Y_wing_Starfighter_Illegal_Squadron </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_HWK_290_Medium_Raider_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Firespray_31D_Patrol_And_Attack_Ship_Group </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Crusader_class_Corvette_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Crusader_class_Corvette_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Crusader_class_Corvette_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Crusader_class_Corvette_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ardent_class_MC30a_Frigate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ardent_class_MC30a_Frigate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Quasar_Fire_class_Frigate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Quasar_Fire_class_Frigate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Super_Transport_VII_Interdictor_Frigate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Super_Transport_XI_Fleet_Carrier </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ground_Cantina </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ground_Command_Center_Pirate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ground_Command_Center_Pirate </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Raider_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Raider_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Buccaneer_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Buccaneer_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_PX_10_Compact_Assault_Vehicle_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_PX_10_Compact_Assault_Vehicle_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Arrow_23_Scout_Landspeeder_Mark_II_Platoon </Starting_Forces>


In my campaign it looks like this:


<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, Pirates_Star_Base_2 </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Venator_class_Star_Destroyer_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_DP20_Gunship_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_DP20_Gunship_Illegal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ground_Command_Center_Criminal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Ground_Barracks_Criminal </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Mercenary_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Mercenary_Illegal_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Mercenary_Illegal_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Mercenary_Illegal_Platoon </Starting_Forces>
<Starting_Forces> Pirates, Myrkr, P_Missile_Attack_Launcher_Illegal_Platoon </Starting_Forces>


This is one example and not all planets are as weak as Myrkr, I just didn't want to make a larger post than this already became. Several planets are actually significantly stronger than they were pre-overhaul. Eg. Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa has not been taken by Empire/Alliance a single time yet in my playthroughs due to it's ridiculously huge fleets of illegals (just 6 different types of ships however, same ships which are also used on several other planets). I haven't counted, but I'm pretty sure pirate unit variety for space doesn't exceed 20 units in my campaign, and should be somewhere between 15-20. For land I have also used the same units mostly, and there shouldn't be more than 15-20 different units there either (before it was loads of land variety).

In my campaign, the pirates have no fighters, minimal transports, no ships that are "associated" with the Empire/Rebels (other than illegal types), and only one version of each ship. Eg. There's not several types of venators, just the illegal type, there's not several types of Recusant-class destroyers, just the droid type etc. Pirates have several carrier types though, so they still get a lot of fighters.

Anyway, I'm 99% certain you've got too much different units in your campaign because of copy pasting from other files and hence the lag. Rest is due to too much access to too much planets. And yes, you are on the right track that you should remove all "loose" fighters and transports. In my campaign, the rebels have some loose fighter wings still. But for a campaign of your size, I'd remove all starting fighters and transports, as well as all units that your faction can't build save for minor heroes and possibly artillery units if you use them.

For testing purposes, you could make a copy of your current GFFA xml file, then open the original, remove all pirate presence and all fighters/transports/nonbuildables from the Empire/Rebels and play some weeks into the campaign until both you and the Ai own half the galaxy and then you see how it runs. If it lags with a minimal amount of unit variety, then you need to fix planets/tradelanes, if not, the main problem is unit variety. If you upload your XML file, I could take a look at it as well to see where work is needed or even optimize it myself if I got time.

#8 Darth Stalin

Darth Stalin
  • Members
  • 137 posts

Posted 14 June 2012 - 11:32 AM

OK, thanks for reply!
I can upload the file, but I don't know how to attach it or where should I upload this - maybe the fastest way would be if I send it to you via e-mail?
Just give me your e-mail address and I can send it to you almost right away.

EDIT: OK, I found out how to attach files - now it should appear...

Edited by Darth Stalin, 14 June 2012 - 11:35 AM.


#9 Kitkun

Kitkun

    Hater

  • Members
  • 903 posts
  • Location:Southern Washington, U.S.A.

Posted 14 June 2012 - 04:17 PM

It certainly is impressive seeing all that again. But yeah, you're gonna have to trim it back. Took quite a long time to load and I got all of 5fps on that monster, and then promptly ctd'd when I tried to enter tactical.
Honestly though, I like Ghost's work too much to discard it.

Frosty Freaky Foreign Forum Fox

<DevXen> Today I was at the store and saw a Darth Vader action figure that said "Choking Hazard." It was great.


#10 P.O._210877

P.O._210877

    Traveller in the Balance

  • Project Team
  • 796 posts
  • Location:L'Épiphanie, Québec (Fédération canadienne du Royaume du Canada)
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising
  •  Tester/Translator/Resident SW Loremaster (self proclaimed)

Posted 14 June 2012 - 05:34 PM

I like Ghost's work too much to discard it.


Ditto, there was much care in making the game as it is, I salute and respect that. :thumbsupcool:

I'm still going to mod the :twisted: out of it though! :p

If it's hard then it's worth doing.

 


- Alcor, Alcor pardonne-moi mais je ne veux pas que tu meurs. Je ne veux
pas que la planète bleue soit mise à feu et à sang par ces monstres. Je
me battrai pour les empêcher de détruire ce qui est devenue ma Terre.
Goldorak m'aidera. Au besoin, j'irai jusqu'au camp de la Lune Noire
puisque c'est là que Véga et ses monstres ont établi leur base. Et je la
détruirai.

 

Actarus


#11 Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising

    Beyond the Impossible

  • Petrolution Staff
  • 6,509 posts
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising
  •  Mod Leader
  • Division:Petrolution
  • Job:Mod Specialist

Posted 14 June 2012 - 05:55 PM

Don't worry: we're still quietly optimizing other aspects of the game so as to hopefully reduce lag and maintain unit variety.

#12 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 14 June 2012 - 07:40 PM

Here's a version with no pirates, and optimized fleets for Rebels/Empire. Ground forces remain unoptimized. The campaign runs very smooth. It's actually comparable to my campaign, where the only slow down is when the Ai moves a lot of fleets at once. I could do this quickly for rebels/empire, but didn't want to tackle the pirates in the xml file since it takes a while to cut their units and standardize their fleets and ground units. Anyway, considering the performance of your campaign, if the pirates have a low unit variety, there should hardly be much of an impact compared to this version without them.

Btw, looks pretty nice with this amount of planets. When I'm done with the first version of my submod, I might update it at some point to have as much planets as you do in your campaign. But I don't want to do it for the first release as it would involve modifying so much of the work I've already done to secure the gameplay for the campaign :)

Attached Files



#13 Darth Stalin

Darth Stalin
  • Members
  • 137 posts

Posted 14 June 2012 - 09:40 PM

Thanks for replies!
And to be clearly understood: I'm NOT going to underestimate ANY work of Ghost Rider, Phoeix Rising or any other team member :thumbsupcool: .
I know that in modding I'm just a rookie (though I've tried some own little modifications foor Rome: TW, but only within existing files) and the sole purpose of my work was to try and see what could be done to get as much planets as possible - you know, the more SW EaW/FoC mods I play, the larger Galaxy I'd like to see and conquer... :flameblast:

#14 Kitkun

Kitkun

    Hater

  • Members
  • 903 posts
  • Location:Southern Washington, U.S.A.

Posted 16 June 2012 - 08:25 PM

Out of curiosity, I grabbed Darth Stalin's file and reduced unit types (Nothing for Rebs/Imps they can't build, CR70/CR90a into CR90, etc.) and removed all civilian units. (Civilian platoons, freighter/passenger/exploration ships.)
Framerate increased to 7, still crashed on save. Do miss the 10,000 unit campaign.

Edited by Kitkun, 16 June 2012 - 08:25 PM.

Frosty Freaky Foreign Forum Fox

<DevXen> Today I was at the store and saw a Darth Vader action figure that said "Choking Hazard." It was great.


#15 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 17 June 2012 - 02:00 PM

Out of curiosity, I grabbed Darth Stalin's file and reduced unit types (Nothing for Rebs/Imps they can't build, CR70/CR90a into CR90, etc.) and removed all civilian units. (Civilian platoons, freighter/passenger/exploration ships.)
Framerate increased to 7, still crashed on save. Do miss the 10,000 unit campaign.


Test this with the file I attached in my last post.

#16 mrazek666

mrazek666
  • Members
  • 15 posts

Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:17 AM

Hi guys!

I am no modder but I really like the idea of such a big GC map - sth I always wanted to see in EaW! So I downloaded the file you had uploaded but ... I havent got a clue where to insert it! Where is the folder containing GC maps? I would really like to give it a go!

#17 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 18 June 2012 - 08:30 AM

Hi guys!

I am no modder but I really like the idea of such a big GC map - sth I always wanted to see in EaW! So I downloaded the file you had uploaded but ... I havent got a clue where to insert it! Where is the folder containing GC maps? I would really like to give it a go!


Place the campaign inside: Your FOC Folder/Mods/Phoenix_Rising_v1.2/Data/XML

Create the XML folder if it is missing :)

#18 mrazek666

mrazek666
  • Members
  • 15 posts

Posted 18 June 2012 - 09:30 AM

Hi guys!

I am no modder but I really like the idea of such a big GC map - sth I always wanted to see in EaW! So I downloaded the file you had uploaded but ... I havent got a clue where to insert it! Where is the folder containing GC maps? I would really like to give it a go!


Place the campaign inside: Your FOC Folder/Mods/Phoenix_Rising_v1.2/Data/XML

Create the XML folder if it is missing :)

Yep - it is missing - that would explain why I couldnt find it :evilthinkin: Thank you for your prompt answer and I am looking forward to playing itnow - seriously the universe has always been too small for me even though I always play on hard give most of the starting planets to AI to capture and bunker up in 3-4 planets where I start my sloooow expansion. Even though I must say that so far AI hasnt been of a threat - I might have lost an odd battle or 2 but nothing major.

Hmm...I have done exactly as you said but I still cant see it in the GC selection menu - does it replace the original GFFA? Which file do I have to put in XML?

Edited by mrazek666, 18 June 2012 - 09:48 AM.


#19 Chih

Chih
  • Members
  • 127 posts
  • Location:Finland
  • Projects:Phoenix Rising Enhancements

Posted 18 June 2012 - 07:40 PM

Hmm...I have done exactly as you said but I still cant see it in the GC selection menu - does it replace the original GFFA? Which file do I have to put in XML?


You should just need the GFFA file. And yes, it should simply replace the one in the XML folder. Backup old one first though.

If it still doesn't work, I think using meg extractor to extract config.meg in Mods/Phoenix_Rising_v1.2/Data and then replacing the GFFA should fix it. I recommend doing this anyway, if you want to play around with the xml files and mod the campaign to your liking :)

http://www.lucasfile...x.php?file=1215

Edited by Chih, 18 June 2012 - 07:41 PM.


#20 mrazek666

mrazek666
  • Members
  • 15 posts

Posted 21 June 2012 - 12:43 AM

OK, thanks for reply!
I can upload the file, but I don't know how to attach it or where should I upload this - maybe the fastest way would be if I send it to you via e-mail?
Just give me your e-mail address and I can send it to you almost right away.

EDIT: OK, I found out how to attach files - now it should appear...

Are you sure you uploaded the correct file? It doesnt seem to work for me - I managed to get the other guy's GFFA to work but this one doesnt seem to work...How do I install it?Sorry to be a nuisance.



Reply to this topic



  


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users