GAME STABILITY

[ariete]

i've always had problems of stability playing the copies of BK which are installed on my pc.
i've always had several copies which each runs a single mod.
they're always been stored in C:/GIOCHI/...
my operated system at now is windows xp 32 bit sp 3, but i could assume to have found a general rule.

since i formatted my pc in august, gradually i installed the copy of BK with mission barbarossa. some days later, the copy of bh-rt with kursk 1.4 ... so all official mods.
here, when i changed in the same windows session the two version of game i had, could happen a crash, but this was very very rare chance (it will be happened once in a month).
then, time by time, i installed a copy of BK with hra, a copy with kursk with iron frost, then one of bk with f40 ...
when i changed in the same windows session the different copies of the game, random crash occured always more frequently, and then i understood, in relation of the copies of bk installed and changed during the same windows session.
same if i used an editor of a copy and then i went to play with another copy of the game installed.
i discussed this with some friends, major too.

it's 2 days i'm playing just only IF 3.2.
first time i loaded-mounted it and plaied it a bit, it crashed because i had worked with the map editor of IF2.2 in the same windows session.
i shout down my pc and i intentionally leaved IF3.2 loaded-mounted on the copy of game where i've installed it, without work with map editor of other copies of the game and without change playing with other copies until today : they're been 2 days of pure IF 3.2.
i've plaied enough ... i didn't have any problems of stability, i could do what i want, load different missions every 20 seconds, thing that if i did before, game go to crash after 4 or 5 missions i changed, play for long time without problems of any sort, ... no problems.
maybe this report could help someone.

moreover, always to know, because the knowledge help us, major suggests RT as best base to load mods.

[Major Pain]

Thanks for your report.

One thing to remember is Xp runs Blitzkrieg very well.   The Win Registry will still try to write Bk addresses but it will not confine those addresses to specific paths.  



I recommend that you never use the suggested PATH during a BK install.  

Never install BK in the C:Program Files Folder.  

This is why some MODs and Add-ons will not run properly.

Install all BK Titles in the C:\NIVAL\Blitzkrieg Folder.

Or you can simply use C:\Blitzkrieg

This simple method will save you many hours of frustration...

It is not so important what the Root Folder is named...


but do not install in the C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) Folders in any Operating System; XP, Vista, Win7 or Win8.

It is too early to know what Windows 10 will be...  but I am hearing from BETA people that is resembles XP more than Win7.  Microsoft had to do something to bring customers back to the current operating systems.  XP is still used on about a third of the Computers in the World... so Microsoft has to attract those people.  Vista and Win 8 have been colossal flops for Microsoft.  So the goal has been to move a bit backward and then bring customers to the new OS.  

The users that still run XP are not going to move easily... this is because many third party software companies are not providing new software which will allow XP users to move to another platform.  It costs thousands of dollars to create software for companies; banks, accountants, engineers, etc...  Companies already have what they want, and the cost of upgrading exceeds what they wish to pay.  

As the old saying goes... if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

[longfellow]

Major Pain    

What an excellent  post......I'm ashamed I didn't know some of this...especially the Program Files info.. 

Thanks

[Major Pain]

We each pass along the knowledge we have to others...   

[Mascarenhas2]

You're amazing, Major; not only about BK galaxy, but also in OS universe. You're right, since I reinstalled my BK files on different root path, I had much few crashes. But my personal dream would be a basic installation and a dashboard from which we may choose mods and specs options to play. I think you're close to it, and I really look froward to your accomplishment. Praise to you!

[Major Pain]

Thank you...  

You raise a very good issue.  The Dashboard is something that I have long thought about... but the coding involved would be tough to write.  

If everyone had the same game titles and mods, assuming all things were equal, it would not be difficult, because it could be designed around a known number of data sets.  

With the many various combinations, you must collect each and store them in a data system on the fly.  

But it could be done.

[bb]

The BK StartTools is allways a good option, I cant live without it...

[longfellow]

Morning all,

Acting upon reliable intelligence......





I decided to fix it even if it wasn't broke..
For what it's worth, if I may add what works for me is to keep my drive constantly defragged and optimized ( once a month for the latter is good)...after 30 mins playing BK you can have up to 35,000 fragmented files so if you have a slowdown/stutter/crash..try that..basic stuff I know but many parts make a whole.


Thanks for the info..

[Grot]

I have some of mine on SSD no crashes so far and no defrag necessary ( Win 7 64 )

[Folgore]

Oct 20, 2014 12:01:52 GMT 1 bb said:

The BK StartTools is allways a good option, I cant live without it...

Totally agree. A link for peoples who want have a try: www.geocities.jp/kwx50/lbk/bk_tools.htm#Bk_Start_Tools

[Major Pain]

Another good points of reference.   

Yes, BK uses a lot of page swapping, so it creates thousands of memory bytes to make this possible.   Those don't get flushed adequately from the stack or your hard drive when you complete a chapter, or several maps.  So defrag is a very good idea.

Another option to maintain your file integrity is to use an external Storage medium:  Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD), or Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD).


Traditional Hard Drives (HDD) work fine and are consistent with what you already have within your computer.  

But virtually all External Drives maintain and protect your files much better, and offer a lesser chance of losing data if you suffer any kind of Hard Drive Failure or Motherboard issue down the road.  The external file system can also be used on various computers so you add the flexibility of migration.

Solid State Drive (SSD):  These drives have no mechanical or moving parts.  They are fairly shock resistant and add portability to your system requirements.

Solid State Hybrid Drives (SSHD):  This type of Drive uses the traditional Hard Disk Drive along with the Solid State Drive.  The SSD serves as a cache for frequently used data to improve performance.

 
One of the most important aspects of using external drives, is they are not inside your computer.   Having said that, the data is not in your Root Folder... the C:\ Folder.  While it is common for most users to not use any other backup for their data, imagine if your work is lost because of a hard drive failure.  Sometimes, some of  the data can be retrieved, but at what cost, and what is not recovered.

All of my work is backed up daily, and sometimes hourly depending on what I am doing.

The entire collection of MAJOR PAIN's Projects is maintained on External SDD and Internet DATA Hosting Services.  I don't want to lose everything i have worked on if I should suffer a system meltdown.     And with that, includes losing my house during a fire, tornado or earthquake; all possible for my area.  So my external storage systems include putting my work on the internet in a safe harbor.  

I don't expect most of you to consider this option unless you do a huge amount of work.    You must weigh the value versus the loss.   But since my work is also my hobby... it also is much more.  It has become a source of income on other game platforms.   It is common to find my work somewhere else.   Sometimes those other game platforms provide me with the purpose to make the same for BK, but a different variation.  You will never see the exact same model in two different games.  So that is my selfish reason for protecting my work.

For the typical gamer. a simple low cost HDD or SDD is all you need.  And BK will run from these drives, and add nothing to your Win Registry.  They will still add scattered crap bytes to your on-board Hard Drive, but the smaller you keep your C:\ Drive, the easier it is to de-frag.

Your external drives never pick up the Stack or Paged Memory leftover junk.  The common issue about BK was how it did it's system housecleaning.  You are likely to see crashes if your HDD is very small.  This is because the game will seek out blocks of HDD memory for Window Swapping.  Each time you load a Menu Screen, it is another window.  Each little Pop-up in a map, is another window...   That is how Windows works.  

While windows does a good job of cleaning the stack and paged memory out of your RAM and HDD, BK does not.   What is interesting about this is BK was written with Windows 98 in mind, which was very weak in Stack and Buffer handling.    But BK was written using the Microsoft Designed - Window System.   You can clearly see this in the .dll files and the xml based codes.     Beginning with Windows 2000 we saw the creation of the NET Framework which has changed memory handling in a huge way.  Windows 2000 was the direct precursor to Windows XP, although there are some differences for their designed purposes.

So at the very least, do yourself a favor and get at  least a very large USB Flash Drive to back up your work.  These do have a limited lifetime, usually 5 to 10 years, but they are getting better.  The largest I have seen is 1 terabyte (1tb), which most of us could never fill up.  But if you really want very good protection... use a SSD.  

Thanks guys for opening this door for discussion.

[Major Pain]

Oct 20, 2014 12:01:52 GMT 1 bb said:

The BK StartTools is allways a good option, I cant live without it...

I had forgotten about BK StartTools... I believe this was originally written by Lee Campbell (BKP) was it not?

Lee was one of the best gifts Bk ever had... he was a true and legendary giant in our community.

Yes, take a look at the BK_StartTools... I do not use it but my system is different from everyone elses...  just the way mine works...

I still use Computer Language based software along with DOSEMU and DOSBOX.  But my work systems are Linux-based with UNIX Emulators for Windows.   I still use XP Pro but most of my work is in Linux Mint.   Linux Mint will run anything that XP can.   So there is your life after XP.    Most of you have never seen that stuff before.

In my opinion, Windows XP was clearly the best Operating System ever developed.  Microsoft made a huge mistake when they abandoned it.  That mistake has cost them in a big way.   Since 1/3 of the Computer Users still use XP, Microsoft again shot themselves in the foot when they thought wrongly they could force those users to upgrade.   Vista and Win8 were not big successes for Microsoft, and now we're talking about Win10.  Windows 7 was a pretty good stand-in for XP, but it is not XP.  

My decision to move to Linux came several years ago, around 1998, when we were talking about Y2K.   But even then, I acquired XP and will use it until Linux or no other company supports 16, 32, 64, or even 128 bit systems.   

[Quintaxel]

I have been running BK from a memorycard or flash drive for years without any issues so far. I learned that it pays to buy a brand pendrive and that you van never backup too often.

[Folgore]

"Your external drives never pick up the Stack or Paged Memory leftover junk. The common issue about BK was how it did it's system housecleaning. You are likely to see crashes if your HDD is very small. This is because the game will seek out blocks of HDD memory for Window Swapping. Each time you load a Menu Screen, it is another window. Each little Pop-up in a map, is another window... That is how Windows works."

Hi MP, just a question about the part of your previous post I quoted above.
Do you have a crash if you keep intentionally low the amount of the swap file?
I mean, in a system where you have a large amount of RAM (say 16 GB or more) you can keep at the lowest level possible the use of the swap file since you can rely on RAM in order to get a better performance. But if BK is designed to use the swap file to an amount bigger than you have in the system this could led to a crash.
Is this correct or I'm saying something silly?

[Major Pain]

Folgore...  nothing silly about your excellent question

Yes, we can limit the amount of memory used for page swapping.   But in reality what it is doing is not necessarily reusing the same block of memory all the time.  The only constraint you have placed on it is it can only use 1mb at a time, you cannot tell it where, or when it can change which 1mb.  So it can roll along until it consumes more than you thought it was doing.  But in effect, this 1mb or that 1mb is never going to be used for the same thing again once you exit the game or program.   But it is filled with unusable junk.  This junk is not what the Directory keeps up with, since it's beginning and end are defined by the software...  Somewhat like a relative file.  

So if you set aside 1mb, when it uses it up, it does some minor housecleaning and starts over... with a 1mb again, but it may be a different 1mb.   All the system cares about is it not overwriting files on your HDD.   The Directory tells it what is a program or file, and what isn't.  So you will still find used bytes (bits) on your HDD that have something on them.   And there is nothing that says the block or bytes must be next to each other...   it can take some here, and some from there,  then some more from another area.   This usually happens on drives that limited space left to write on, which can really bog stuff down.

One thing I should add.... I'm not telling you guys that you should de-frag every day, or even every week.   But once a month you should certainly do.   If you have anything larger than a 32GB drive... it will take a very long time to fill it up... with junk.

The reason programs can get bogged down is how they installed or loaded onto your hard drive.  Most programs and files are read/loaded sequentially, and so the best way to do this is to make sure all of the files for that program are in the same block on the disk where they are installed sequentially.

The HDD Directory maintains the location of everything on the HDD.  So when you install anything, the installer must check with the Directory to find the best place for the install.  If the installer cannot place everything within order, it will skip over other programs or used parts of the drive to complete the install.  De-frag restores everything so these programs are in an orderly condition.

Before you install any new program, take a little time to houseclean your system and defrag your HDD.  Life is so much easier if you plan on the front end.

If you read/write to External Drives a lot, then perhaps twice a years defrag the external drives.   They will not collect as much junk since they are not on the front line of your system... meaning not your default drive.

And I hope this does not make anyone overly concerned about house cleaning or worrying about BK RAM or HDD memory use.  Today's computers can take a lot more than systems of 10 years ago...   And defrag takes a lot of time you could be doing something else...  right?