Got a Dual/Quad Core? Here's how to speed up WITP:AE

[RyanCrierie]

This is based on some investigation I did for a Secret (TM) Matrix Project.

STEPS:

1.) Make a Copy of "War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe"; call it something like "WITP_Affinity.exe"

2.) Download IMAGECFG.EXE; an intel application to permanently set the affinity of a file to a certain number of cores.

I've Hosted it at my website for ya

3.) Make a file directory on your drive called C:\IMGCFG

4.) Unzip IMGCFG.zip to that directory, and copy your WITP_Affinity.exe to it.

5.) Load up the Command Prompt.

6.) Navigate to C:\IMGCFG

7.) Type

imagecfg -a 0x1 WITP_Affinity.exe

in the Command Line.

It should display:

WITP_Affinity.exe contains no configuration information
WITP_Affinity.exe contains a Subsystem Version of 4.0
WITP_Affinity.exe updated with the following configuration information:
Process Affinity Mask: 0000000001 (a lot of zeroes mang)

8.) Move "WITP_Affinity.exe" back to your WITP AE directory.

9.) Set up shortcuts for whatever options you want for WITP_Affinity.

10.) PROFIT from fast loading speeds, etc (at least on a quad core Q6600 on Windows XP SP3)

[AttuWatcher]

Interesting. Could this work with a core i7 , or strictly quad core?

[RyanCrierie]

It works with anything that has multiple CPUs (cores).

[AttuWatcher]

should I still use the -dual command line switch with the new .exe?

[AttuWatcher]

Holy crap it loads fast ! [X(]

this is w/o -dual in the cmd line.

Thank you Ryan! nice improvement. GC loaded in under 10 secs [:D]

[Akos Gergely]

Also if you have a Black Edition AMD quad core you can give it a shot with AMD Overdirve (can be downloaded from amd.com). You can set the priority theere to high and also even tweak your CPU cores speed when you run AE. Or you can chosse which cores to run it on if you want to do something else in the background (with AE running windowed there is plenty of real estate left on a full HD screen for a manual etc. )

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks for posting this, I've pinned it in the Tech Support area.

[USSAmerica]

My laptop has a dual core.  I have to try this!

[JamesM]

My first response upon seeing the effect:

WOW

[Dixie]

Hmmm. Has this worked properly? [&:]

[JamesM]

Ryan,

Would this work with other games i.e. the original WITP, other matrix games, etc?

[fcam1387]

I'm using Vista Ultimate 64x.

I created a file in "my computer": c:/ IMGCFG

I extracted the zipped file to that file and then clicked on the icon. The command prompt shows up for a split second and disappears - how should I correct this?

[Peter Fisla]

Does it work well with Dual core ? I got laptop with T9550 CPU (2.66 Ghz 6Mb cache)...

RyanCrierie, you wrote this program, you mention above?

[treespider]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Hmmm. Has this worked properly? [&:]

I received the same "Unable to update...." line and I did not see a noticeable change in Loading Speed.

[michaelm75au]

ORIGINAL: treespider

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Hmmm. Has this worked properly? [&:]

I received the same "Unable to update...." line and I did not see a noticeable change in Loading Speed.

I suspect the "Unable to update" means that it couldn't write the information back into the EXE, so there would not be any change how the EXE uses the CPU.
I don't suppose there is some sort of ownership/privileges issue why it can't write back

[treespider]

ORIGINAL: michaelm

ORIGINAL: treespider

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Hmmm. Has this worked properly? [&:]

I received the same "Unable to update...." line and I did not see a noticeable change in Loading Speed.

I suspect the "Unable to update" means that it couldn't write the information back into the EXE, so there would not be any change how the EXE uses the CPU.
I don't suppose there is some sort of ownership/privileges issue why it can't write back

Wonder if virus protection software would affect this...

[invernomuto]

Please change title if it works also with dual core!
 

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: treespider

ORIGINAL: michaelm

ORIGINAL: treespider




I received the same "Unable to update...." line and I did not see a noticeable change in Loading Speed.

I suspect the "Unable to update" means that it couldn't write the information back into the EXE, so there would not be any change how the EXE uses the CPU.
I don't suppose there is some sort of ownership/privileges issue why it can't write back

Wonder if virus protection software would affect this...

Old DOS skills are lost if they are not used. [:D]

Guys, type the line at the command prompt without the quotation marks. When you added the quotes, it confused DOS. I left them off, and it worked for me. Now, to try starting......

[treespider]

ORIGINAL: USS America

ORIGINAL: treespider

ORIGINAL: michaelm




I suspect the "Unable to update" means that it couldn't write the information back into the EXE, so there would not be any change how the EXE uses the CPU.
I don't suppose there is some sort of ownership/privileges issue why it can't write back

Wonder if virus protection software would affect this...

Old DOS skills are lost if they are not used. [:D]

Guys, type the line at the command prompt without the quotation marks. When you added the quotes, it confused DOS. I left them off, and it worked for me. Now, to try starting......

Nope...notice the screen shot. The OP used quotes the first time...second time he did not and received the "Unable..." message

[USSAmerica]

OK, I have a dual core laptop, and I have a lot of other applications running right now.  With this change, I'm pretty sure the game loaded more quickly, and I know the save game loaded much faster.  Here's the bonus for me.  I always play in windowed mode, keeping a .doc file open with my notes.  There was always a bit of lag when I switched back to WitP from any other window, sometimes almost anoyingly long.  After this fix, AE becomes the "active window" lightning fast!  [&o]
 
Thanks very much, Ryan!