rec.autos.simulators

by **Scott B. Huste** » Sat, 15 Nov 1997 04:00:00

Ok guys... since it is become evident that future games will be
designed to run on Winblows95 and DOS is dying a slow, painful death ( I
know... alot of people will argue this point, but from my research it
is true!)... does anyone know of where I can get some very good info
on how to speed up system performance in Windows95?? Or if anyone just
wants to give me some advice Id appreciate it. IE.. Im looking for info
regarding settings like virtual memory, etc....
My primary game playing is N2 and Id like to get into TEN sometime
soon... I hear its awesome from alot of people.

My systems is as follows:

Gateway 2000 P-166 Pentium with MMX (is upgrading to 200 worth it??)
32 megs of RAM (hope to upgrade to 64 soon)
3.2 gig hard drive
16X/18X CD Rom drive
ATI 3D Rage II video card (yes.. I will get a StealthII soon!!)
33 modem
15 inch monitor
Joystick

Currently... my motherboard will accept up to a 200mhz penitum mmx
processor... is it worth it ??? Or should I wait and buy a new mother
board and faster processor ???

All and any comments, suggestions, and guiding lights would be
appreciated!! =)

Thanks in advance,

Scott B. Husted
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~sbhusted

by **Tom Hanse** » Sat, 15 Nov 1997 04:00:00

To successfully run N2 on Windows 95 in a decent length race you will need
more memory. 32 megs of memory will get into swap space after a number of
laps in the race as the replay is stuffed into virtual memory. When this
occurs, Windows 95 will slow down a lot. 64 megs of memory should suffice.
Other than that, I suspect you should only see a 5-10% loss in performance
running under Windows 95 with all other applications shut down. You also
need to check that you don't have any unnecessary network protocols
installed. I have seen problems with Windows 95 stalling on occasion while
trying to reacquire a TCP address from DHCP for example. Just install the
DIAL-UP protocol you will be using for connecting to the internet. You may
also install any protocol you are using on a local LAN (for example, IPX for
local multi-node game play) - but make sure the other computers on your
network are not sending you any traffic - print jobs, file sharing etc.
This will rob lots of cycles from the game.

I suspect your 166 should run ok with very basic details turned on under
Windows 95. I would also guess that a 200 mhz processor will not help a
lot - but just a little. I don't suspect this is worth the money - but
that's your call. My 200 mhz runs N2 without rendition ok without track,
grass, sky, crowd and other non-essential textures and with about 8 or so
cars drawn ahead. With rendition, I can run with all the textures on at
all tracks except Martinsvil and view a few more cars ahead. I don't see
much difference in Windows 95.

Good luck !! /TomH

by **wsiegle** » Sun, 16 Nov 1997 04:00:00

I have a pp200 with 32M and no rendition card and I can go all out on the
detail... Including full cars in front and behind. That is all in
Windows95. Maybe all you need is a faster video card.... the Processor
really is noticeable but definitely not as noticeable as a good video card
would be..... by the way.. that's with 13 programs running in the close
program box?

by **Scott B. Huste** » Sun, 16 Nov 1997 04:00:00

<HTML>
A question...  You said that Replay starts filling up the RAM and
Windows95 starts slowing down due to Virtual Memory...     
I do not have Windows95 handle the virtual memory...   
I have it set at 80mb (2.5 X 32 megs of RAM)..   and I dont see
this happening as much as it did...    Is this what you
were referring too or were you referring to the slow down with Windows95
handling the virtual memory ????

Thanks for the info though...  I appreciate all and any insight.

Scott B. Husted
 <A HREF="http://home.ptd.net/~sbhusted">http://home.ptd.net/~sbhusted</A>

<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>>Gateway 2000   P-166 Pentium with MMX
(is upgrading to 200 worth it??)
 >32 megs of RAM (hope to upgrade to 64 soon)
 >3.2 gig hard drive
 >16X/18X CD Rom drive
 >ATI 3D Rage II video card (yes.. I will get a StealthII soon!!)
 >33 modem
 >15 inch monitor
 >Joystick

To successfully run N2 on Windows 95 in a decent length race you will
need
 more memory.   32 megs of memory will get into swap space
after a number of
 laps in the race as the replay is stuffed into virtual memory. 
When this
 occurs, Windows 95 will slow down a lot.  64 megs of memory should
suffice.
 Other than that, I suspect you should only see a 5-10% loss in performance
 running under Windows 95 with all other applications shut down. 
You also
 need to check that you don't have any unnecessary network protocols
 installed.  I have seen problems with Windows 95 stalling on occasion
while
 trying to reacquire a TCP address from DHCP for example.  
Just install the
 DIAL-UP protocol you will be using for connecting to the internet. 
You may
 also install any protocol you are using on a local LAN (for example,
IPX for
 local multi-node game play) - but make sure the other computers on
your
 network are not sending you any traffic - print jobs, file sharing
etc.
 This will rob lots of cycles from the game.

I suspect your 166 should run ok with very basic details turned on under
 Windows 95.  I would also guess that a 200 mhz processor will
not help a
 lot - but just a little.  I don't suspect this is worth the money
- but
 that's your call.   My 200 mhz runs N2 without rendition
ok without track,
 grass, sky, crowd and other non-essential textures and with about 8
or so
 cars drawn ahead.   With rendition, I can run with all the
textures on at
 all tracks except Martinsvil and view a few more cars ahead. 
I don't see
 much difference in Windows 95.

Good luck !!  /TomH</BLOCKQUOTE>
 </HTML>

by **Scott B. Huste** » Sun, 16 Nov 1997 04:00:00

<HTML>
In DOS...     My p-166 with 32 RAM and no rendition
card can do a full car draw in front and behind and 4 car sound with ALL
graphics on in high res...    but,  I cannot do that
in Windows95.   I get staggered frame rates if I do.... 
although just turning some things to auto helps.  That why I dont
understand how some people claim they cannot get full graphics on in DOS
with a P200 ????    I have no problems... even at Martinsville..
in DOS that is.   My Gateway came pre-setup for running DOS games
in a DOS environment.   There is a shortcut on the desktop to
restart Windows in MS-DOS mode... the only thing I had to add was the localloadhigh=1   
N2 flies in ms-dos mode.  all I need is a rendition card...   
i wish they would get a fix for dos for the StealthII card!!!

Scott B. Husted
 <A HREF="http://home.ptd.net/~sbhusted">http://home.ptd.net/~sbhusted</A>

Scott B. Husted

<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>I have a pp200 with 32M and no rendition card and
I can go all out on the
 detail...  Including full cars in front and behind.  That
is all in
 Windows95.  Maybe all you need is a faster video card.... the
Processor
 really is noticeable but definitely not as noticeable as a good video
card
 would be.....  by the way.. that's with 13 programs running in
the close
 program box?</BLOCKQUOTE>
 </HTML>

by **Stev** » Wed, 19 Nov 1997 04:00:00

what kind of dos equipment do you have?
i have a sound blaster 16, and i think i can get my dos drv's for me
cd-rom, but i cannot get nascar2 to run in dos (or any other game) cause
i cannot get my sb16 working.
if you have same setup as me couls you please send me the drivers (your
whole c:\sb16 dir)
thx.

N2 plays great for me in windows, i have a p200 w/512 cache, 64 mb ram
(that makes the biggest differece) and a 4mb millenium.
i just want to see how much faster it will run i dos.

if any one out there can help me.......

by **Silco** » Fri, 21 Nov 1997 04:00:00

Make sure you have the "CTCM" dir on your hard drive; then make a batch file
that loads the CTCM.EXE and your mouse driver.