Load saved game very slow

[SoftwareSimian]

In v2.4 the Load Game function worked pretty quickly, just a couple seconds to load a game. Now with v2.5 (2013mar11,win32) it takes a very long time (20-40 seconds) to load a game. Is this a known issue?

[ShipIt]

Uploading the save for somebody to check this would help a lot here.

I tried and didn´t encounter something like this.

[SoftwareSimian]

I'm not certain, but it seems to take longer to load the further into the game I get. Possibly more data on bases, soldiers, equipment, etc to load, but still I don't think it should take nearly that long to load. Saving is near-instantaneous.

The attached savegame takes exactly 20 seconds to load on my system (v2.5-2013mar11, Win7.64, i7-3930K, GTX570)

[H-Hour]

Tried it here and didn't have any delays...

[jffdougan]

I'm having similar issues, although it had been a while since I'd played 2.4, so wasn't in a position to make the immediate comparison.

[ShipIt]

I could save & quickload without problems.

[SoftwareSimian]

I'm not sure if there's any internal difference between quickload and regular load, but since I hadn't tried a quickload I tried that now -- makes no difference. Still takes about 20 seconds to load any game. And the computer is blocked while loading -- the UFOAI cursor is "stuck", and I get the Windows "busy" cursor (spinning blue circle on Win7) while the game loads.

Are there any debug options I can turn on to help try and figure out where this slowdown is occurring? And why it affects me and jffdougan but not H-Hour and ShipIt?  Is it perhaps platform-specific? Is everyone here trying it on Windows?

[H-Hour]

ShipIt and myself are both Windows (me Win7).

Could it be rendering delays from loading the models into the system? Try turning shaders and other options off in the video settings...

[ShipIt]

Iirc the delay when switching the time was caused by the models precaching option. Maybe turning this off in the options menu helps.

[SoftwareSimian]

Try turning shaders and other options off in the video settings

Iirc the delay when switching the time was caused by the models precaching option. Maybe turning this off in the options menu helps.

I have been running at highest detail settings, and with pre-caching enabled.

However, I just tried both Medium and Low video presets, and I tried disabling options:overall:precache_models. None of those changes (restarting the game for each) made any appreciable difference to load times.

[jffdougan]

Oddly, my save times aren't affected - just loading.

[SoftwareSimian]

Oddly, my save times aren't affected - just loading.

Same here -- saving is near-instantaneous, but loading is a 20-second ordeal. Loading a saved game takes approximately the same amount of time as initially loading the game.  I'm not sure what kind of preloading/caching is (or can be) done during the loading process, but it seems a likely candidate for the slowdown. But having disabled what options I could see to no effect, combined with H-Hour and ShipIt not having problems, leaves me confused.

[geever]

Saving the game is just saving the game. Loading however: shutdown campaign, start campaign, load game, render world. It should not (and for most of us it doesn't) take much time either but comparing save and load times makes no sense.


Have you compiled the game for yourselves?

Tips:
- set pre-cache enabled (slower boot time but more smooth model loading later)
- make sure you have models compiled (mdx files via make models)

May worth a try: Exclude savx extension from your antivirus? Do you have the same kind?


Other than that, a profiling log from the loading process is welcome...

-geever

[SoftwareSimian]

Have you compiled the game for yourselves?

No, I'm just using the provided nightly Windows build. Updating the binaries with the nightly binaries only made no difference positive or negative.

set pre-cache enabled (slower boot time but more smooth model loading later)

Is this the same "pre-cache models" option under Options->Overall->Precache Models? If so, I've tried that and either enabled or disabled makes little visible difference in game boot or load game times.

make sure you have models compiled (mdx files via make models)

I don't see any .mdx files anywhere in the installation director. Where should they live?

May worth a try: Exclude savx extension from your antivirus? Do you have the same kind?

I disabled my antivirus entirely (Panda Cloud) and it made no difference.

Other than that, a profiling log from the loading process is welcome...

And how do I make you one?

[geever]

No, I'm just using the provided nightly Windows build. Updating the binaries with the nightly binaries only made no difference positive or negative.
Is this the same "pre-cache models" option under Options->Overall->Precache Models? If so, I've tried that and either enabled or disabled makes little visible difference in game boot or load game times.
I don't see any .mdx files anywhere in the installation director. Where should they live?
I disabled my antivirus entirely (Panda Cloud) and it made no difference.
And how do I make you one?

If you use the installer there isn't really much I think you can do without big efforts (learning how to build and debug) unfortunately.
( mdx files are packed in case of the installer. And for profiling you need a special build... )

-geever