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Master of MagicUnplayably slow as game goes on. (9 posts)(9 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 30, 2020
Even at 30,000 cpu cyles (which, is there a faster way to change the dosbox settings than ctrl+f12 over and over? Sorry I'm a noob with dosbox):

The game was running tolerably in terms of enemy turn length. Then I opened up a tower and met Rjak. Rjak casts drain mana every turn, even when I have zero. When Rjak casts drain mana, it takes a minimum of 30 seconds before the "your mana has been drained!" message shows up.

I mean, I'm fairly annoyed at being mana drained every turn by a myrran wizard who hasn't met any of the others and has been saving up all his mana for an entire game just to spam me with that. But I can't wait an additional 30 seconds per turn on top of everything else. That puts it around a minute per turn, and after a little bit I was spending more time browsing my phone than playing Caster of Magic.

Which is sad, because that ruins the entire expansion for me. I'm a massive loser with way too much time on my hands, but ain't nobody got time for that.
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Posted March 30, 2020
You can edit DOSBoxMOM.conf (or whichever conf file you are using when you launch the game) and there should be a cycles= line there. 100-250k works depending on your computer, 30k is way too slow.

Drain Power can be annoying. You can prevent them from casting that if you form a wizard's pact (or banish them but that's easier said than done). In general, Maniacal and Ruthless personality wizards cast spells from the "curse" category such as drain power more often than others.

The time is either used up on other players taking their turn before Rjak or he casts multiple spells a turn and spends time on that. Drain Power itself should not take much time.

It's worth noting the start menu icons created by the GoG installer seem to skip using the dosbox configuration file for some reason (or at least the beta I got to test it did), but the launcher does not so use it if you can.

If that helps, this is how my CoM icon looks like :
target : "C:\Games\Master Of Magic\DOSBOX\dosbox.exe" -conf dosboxmom.conf
start in : "C:\games\Master Of Magic"
Of course you need to change the paths to the folder where your game is located. I tested and this does work for the GoG version as well.
Post edited March 30, 2020 by Seravy2
Posted March 30, 2020
Cycles and speed depend on your processor.
Posted March 30, 2020
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Seravy2: You can edit DOSBoxMOM.conf (or whichever conf file you are using when you launch the game) and there should be a cycles= line there. 100-250k works depending on your computer, 30k is way too slow.

Drain Power can be annoying. You can prevent them from casting that if you form a wizard's pact (or banish them but that's easier said than done). In general, Maniacal and Ruthless personality wizards cast spells from the "curse" category such as drain power more often than others.

The time is either used up on other players taking their turn before Rjak or he casts multiple spells a turn and spends time on that. Drain Power itself should not take much time.

It's worth noting the start menu icons created by the GoG installer seem to skip using the dosbox configuration file for some reason (or at least the beta I got to test it did), but the launcher does not so use it if you can.

If that helps, this is how my CoM icon looks like :
target : "C:\Games\Master Of Magic\DOSBOX\dosbox.exe" -conf dosboxmom.conf
start in : "C:\games\Master Of Magic"
Of course you need to change the paths to the folder where your game is located. I tested and this does work for the GoG version as well.
I made a typo (it was late last night) I was up around 300k cycles, not 30k. Mine defaults to 100k.

I didn't check to see if I was using my full processing power or not. My computer is old but it isn't a piece of trash. Frankly, anything that can render 3d graphics ought to be able to handle a power drain spell. Is an Intel Core i7-6700 @ 3.40 GHz garbage already? garbage for dosbox gaming? :)

As far as drain power, the noticeable additional time falls entirely within the message of "your power has been drained" with the big message bar on the screen. If that bar is popping up and then other things are going at the same time, fair enough.

Thanks for the help.


Update, with a clock I tested a turn at 300k cycles just to make sure I didn't flub anything. Task manager shows my computer at 12%cpu, 26% memory, 1% disk for total usage. Hit next turn, the 3 non Rjak players took 10 seconds. Rjak casts Drain power. 73 seconds before the message bar clear and it goes back to my turn. I guess I was underestimating it last night.
Post edited March 30, 2020 by Smackledorf
Posted March 31, 2020
...Oh I understand what you're saying now. The screen is not refreshed during the AI's turn unless you see a unit move, so even if you click away the "drain power" red window, it will remain visible until the AI finishes their entire turn. I'm not sure how to change that but it's probably best not to - forcing screen rendering to happen would just make the AI turn even slower.
So then it's Rjak who controls and moves a lot of troops.

73 seconds sounds about normal for an AI who is controlling over 1000-1500 units but if they don't then it might be a new problem. (There is a global cap on unit counts so it can't get much slower than that, fortunately)

I've explained here why the game is slow despite having a good CPU : https://steamcommunity.com/app/1146370/discussions/0/1744520920057020752/
Post edited March 31, 2020 by Seravy2
Posted April 01, 2020
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Seravy2: ...Oh I understand what you're saying now. The screen is not refreshed during the AI's turn unless you see a unit move, so even if you click away the "drain power" red window, it will remain visible until the AI finishes their entire turn. I'm not sure how to change that but it's probably best not to - forcing screen rendering to happen would just make the AI turn even slower.
So then it's Rjak who controls and moves a lot of troops.

73 seconds sounds about normal for an AI who is controlling over 1000-1500 units but if they don't then it might be a new problem. (There is a global cap on unit counts so it can't get much slower than that, fortunately)

I've explained here why the game is slow despite having a good CPU : https://steamcommunity.com/app/1146370/discussions/0/1744520920057020752/
Hehe, the way your last sentence formatted made it seem like you were taking big pauses between each word as if calling me a moron. Then I hit reply and realized the formatting is on my browser's end as the quoted section doesn't have the spaces. :P

So bottom line is, unless I more or less blitzkrieg I'm dooming myself for multiple minute enemy turns, as the enemy is going to reach those numbers. I prefer to build up, pretend to be friends and/or wall myself off while looting all the junk, then doing a planned overnight smash.

I'll have to get used to changing my tactics I suppose.

Thanks again for your time. Even if I don't end up playing CoM much I'm glad I paid for it anyway :)
Posted April 01, 2020
I guess the best thing I can recommend is doing something while the AI takes their turn once it gets too long to stare at the screen, waiting. I usually enjoy looking at my anime figures or alt-tab and read the news. I'm not a fan of winning early, either.
Posted April 02, 2020
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Seravy2: I guess the best thing I can recommend is doing something while the AI takes their turn once it gets too long to stare at the screen, waiting. I usually enjoy looking at my anime figures or alt-tab and read the news. I'm not a fan of winning early, either.
I like it.
Posted April 18, 2020
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Smackledorf:
I don't know if you've already tried what Seravy2 suggested. If you need help here's where you get to change the cycles in order to speed the game. If you write "max" the software will try to use your full processing power to the game.
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Master of MagicUnplayably slow as game goes on. (9 posts)(9 posts)
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