Playing large maps always had long end turns and was starting to ruin the game for me. However, I just created a ramdisk and moved the game there and boy what a difference. The game loads faster and the late game end turns are much faster. If only I could figure out how to move the saves to the ramdisk as well I would be very happy. Just thought I'd share my experience.

This is definitely useful information for people who have plenty of RAM but can't afford an SSD.



Making a RAM drive is not very difficult and and significantly decrease load times and increase performance in some instances (like a turn based game). You just have to do a little research and find a freeware program to help you do it. You do have to create it ever time you start your computer, though.



Out of curiosity, what are the late game load times like on a regular HDD? I've only ever played this game on SSDs. While the late game turns do take a bit longer, I'd say they're maybe 3-6 seconds on a huge galaxy with 7 AIs.

I'm using the free version of Radeon RAMDisk with the program set to run and load the Disharmony image file on startup. The ramdisk and game are ready to go each time I start my computer, no need to create a new one each time. My computer takes slightly longer to start but only slightly.

In terms of time differences here's some info.

System:

i7-2600

10gb pc3-10600

gts 450

wd15earx sata3



I have AGED,HC,IA and my own mods active (I think it's slower with mods).

Start game: from after amplitude graphic to menu

HDD 30sec

ramdisk 10sec



End turn: large galaxy, turn 150, 6 AI, all systems full, lots of ships

HDD 70sec

ramdisk 20sec



Loading saves off HDD at this point takes about 90sec.



Much improved with ramdisk. I've asked Santa for a Samsung EVO and I've been very good.

Interesting. Perhaps it's having a fast HD combined with processing power. My example was at turn 118 and all systems were full with lots of ships.



I'm running on a couple of OCZ Vertex 4s, an i5-3570K @ 4.6 GHz, and a GTX680. I thought my turn ends could get annoyingly slow, but they're significantly faster than that.

• Amplitude graphic to menu (clicking to skip): 6 seconds
• Loading game at turn 118: 62 seconds
• End of turn at turn 118: 10 seconds

Hey, I have a question:

Is it possible to load just the save game from a RAM disk without moving the whole game to a RAM disk?



I've been having the loading crash in the late game and I want to find a way to get it running again. The thing is I don't have space to move the whole game to a RAM disk so I was wondering if just moving the save game file would help.



(I have my doubts but I want to try)



I think that would involve changing the save game directory but I'm not sure where to find it in the game files or how to go about changing it at this point.

I couldn't find a way to move just the saves to the ramdisk either. It is possible to move your My Documents folder to the ramdisk by clicking properties then location. Change the path to the ramdisk and click move. This sort of fools windows into thinking the folder is still in it's library and all programs that use My Documents will work normally. I haven't tried this with a ramdisk but I have done this with two HDD's.



I also get late game loading crashes. The only way around it that I found is to start a new game then load your save from within the new game. Don't know why it works but it does.

viking74 wrote:
I couldn't find a way to move just the saves to the ramdisk either. It is possible to move your My Documents folder to the ramdisk by clicking properties then location. Change the path to the ramdisk and click move. This sort of fools windows into thinking the folder is still in it's library and all programs that use My Documents will work normally. I haven't tried this with a ramdisk but I have done this with two HDD's.



I also get late game loading crashes. The only way around it that I found is to start a new game then load your save from within the new game. Don't know why it works but it does.

This method also works for me. I think that having all the assets pre-loaded and only having to load the specific game state is what helps it. If this is, indeed, why it works, that's smart programming on Amplitude's part. Regardless, the crash on load is a widespread issue that should be fixed.





As to putting your My Documents folder on a different drive, that's probably fine for a temporary RAM drive.



If you're using an SSD (so that what you move is permanently located there), I'd suggest only redirecting the game save folder itself using a symbolic link. You can do this manually with Command Prompt but there is some very user-friendly freeware out there that can make it less of a hassle.



The reason I suggest this is that, for most purposes, a redirected My Documents works fine. However, it can cause issues with certain Windows Updates, causing them to inexorably fail. It's just easier to keep your root My Documents directory on the same drive Windows is installed on.

Anosognos wrote:
This method also works for me. I think that having all the assets pre-loaded and only having to load the specific game state is what helps it. If this is, indeed, why it works, that's smart programming on Amplitude's part. Regardless, the crash on load is a widespread issue that should be fixed.





As to putting your My Documents folder on a different drive, that's probably fine for a temporary RAM drive.



If you're using an SSD (so that what you move is permanently located there), I'd suggest only redirecting the game save folder itself using a symbolic link. You can do this manually with Command Prompt but there is some very user-friendly freeware out there that can make it less of a hassle.



The reason I suggest this is that, for most purposes, a redirected My Documents works fine. However, it can cause issues with certain Windows Updates, causing them to inexorably fail. It's just easier to keep your root My Documents directory on the same drive Windows is installed on.

Thanks guys, that answers a few questions.

I've actually tired starting a new game and loading up the late game file from there, it doesn't work for me. Likely because I'm using a laptop PC, which while good just can do the same as a desktop.

The fact that loading the assets and the save states (or in my case either) is where the crash problem originate means that changing the save game location likely isn't going to help. The assets themselves would have to be moved...

I'll just have to buckle down and wait for a patch.



Also thanks for the info on symbolic links... this looks useful.

No problem. I hope this issue gets cleared up for everyone soon.