Command Line Switches

[Rainer]

Please find below a collection of Command Line Switches known to me at this time.
Two switches are not clear to me (the first two), and I'd appreciate any references or clarifications. And, of course, additions I overlooked.



Undocumented / unclear
-dd_hw Direct Draw switch (DirectDraw Hardware?)
-dd_def Direct Draw switch (unclear)


Performance Switches
-SingleCpuStart : Starts the game in single CPU mode. Switches to multi CPU mode if available later. We’ve
found this to be useful on some multi-core systems, especially AMD processors.

-SingleCpuOrders : Starts the game in single CPU mode and stays in single CPU for the orders phase, switches
to multi CPU mode for running the turn, then switches back to single mode for the next orders phase. We’ve
found this to be useful on some multi-core systems, especially AMD processors. Use this or –SingleCpuStart,
not both.
If either of the above are used with one of the -cpu# switches noted below, it will use the specified CPU,
otherwise both of these switches default to the first CPU. If a -cpu# switch and one of these -Single
switches are used, the turns will always be processed in multi processor mode.

-cpu# : (cpu1, cpu2, cpu3, cpu4) Switches set the cpu affinity for multi cpu systems. It will do nothing for
single cores and will default to using all cores if a core is designated which is not there (for example
using -cpu3 on a dual core system). We’ve found this to be very useful on some multi-core systems,
especially Intel processors.
If used alone, the -cpu# switches will keep the game running on the CPU specified all the time. If used with
the -SingleCpuStart switch, it will only use that core when starting the game. If used with the
-SingleCpuOrders switch, it will stay in single CPU mode for starting and the orders phase, but will run in
multicore. If one of the SingleCpu switches is used without a -cpu# switch, it will default to cpu 1 when it
is in single core.

-multiaudio : Invokes a fix that changes audio timing for multicore machines.

-dd_sw : Handles DirectDraw via Software. We’ve found this can make a huge difference on many systems as
far as reducing interface lag and making button clicking in-game more responsive. On a few newer systems
this can cause some visual glitches and slow combat animations though, so give it a try and remove it if
it’s not ideal on your system.

-colorBlind : Support for color blindness
-deepColor : Enables 32 bit color
-altFont : Enables alternate in-game font (Lucida Sans Unicode)
-w : Windowed mode
-wd : Windowed mode, daily autosaves
-ww : Windowed mode, weekly autosaves
-fd : Full screen, daily autosaves
-fw : Full screen, weekly autosaves
-r : Show Roads
-autosave : Daily autosave

Edit: Please note - the explanations listed are from official documentation or notes from Matrix. They're not mine.

[Streptokok]

Hi,
 
-dd_hw made my game load 10x faster and picture quality seems to be better (could be wrong there...)

[Rainer]

Good for you [:)]

However, I'm more after some explanation, like for the other options.

Btw, I checked especially the dd variations, and on my system (Intel P4) there is no real difference between them or not using any dd switch at all. The real accelerator for my box seems to be the cpu# magic.

Edit: typo (explonation. Duh!)

[wdolson]

As far as we can tell, the dd, cpu, single switches probably won't make any difference on older, single core processor machines.  Most of the switches you listed above are for the problems on multi core machines.

The multi core problem is not just one thing, it's at least two distinct problems.  One has to do with some video drivers on some multi core machines and the other is an issue with the multi core processors themselves.  The latter problem only happens on Intel processors, the former problem can affect either Intel or AMD.

The -cpu# switches set the machine to run with only one processor all the time.  This is primarily helpful for the Intel problem.  The -single... switches help with some of the delay problems seen with some video cards.  -SingleCpuStart will switch the machine to single processor for loading the game, but will switch to using all processors after loading.  -SingleCpuOrders will keep the machine in single processor mode when loading the game and when you are entering orders, but will switch to use all processors for turn processing.

The -dd_sw switch disabled hardware acceleration for DirectX, which some people have seen improves performance.

-multiaudio is a multi core fix for audio processing that used to be part of the -dual switch. 

The rest of the switches are all carried over from WitP.

Bill

[Jonathan Pollard]

I'm using a 32" HDTV as a monitor and the game is distorted when it's displayed, the hexes are elongated and shortened. I can get around this problem by setting the monitor to 4:3 mode but is there a switch or other setting, either in the game or on my computer where I can get the game to display in a non-distorted way while using all of the space available in my monitor?

[Rainer]

Thanks Bill.

Hyperthreading processors (Intel P4) may also benefit from the cpu switches. On my system the loading times (game boot and load save file) are quite reduced when using those.

[pmelheck1]

I believe the short answer is no. AE runs in 4:3, HD monitors run 16:9 or 16:10. AE can't run on a wide screen monitor or TV and use all the screen without stretching. If you have a monitor/video card setup that supports maintaining aspect ratios then you can get correct dimensions but you will have black bars on the right and left of the screen.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Jonathan Pollard

I'm using a 32" HDTV as a monitor and the game is distorted when it's displayed, the hexes are elongated and shortened. I can get around this problem by setting the monitor to 4:3 mode but is there a switch or other setting, either in the game or on my computer where I can get the game to display in a non-distorted way while using all of the space available in my monitor?

The only solution would be to run in windowed mode. Being able to change the video resolution is one thing that would have been nice, but just wasn't possible. Few games are able to do this, virtually all the art would have to change if the resolution did, just about every graphics calculation in the code is counting individual pixels. If the number of pixels changes, every calculation has to change too. It would have literally involved a complete rewrite to change resolutions.

If there is a WitP II, support for wide screen monitors will definitely be on the list, but it's just not possible with what we have now.

Bill

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Rainer

Thanks Bill.

Hyperthreading processors (Intel P4) may also benefit from the cpu switches. On my system the loading times (game boot and load save file) are quite reduced when using those.

Results are going to vary dramatically from computer to computer. My development computer was dual core capable, but only had a single core (dual cores were still very expensive when it was built). The switches did either nothing, or slowed things down on my single processor. I got a dual core processor to work on this problem and saw dramatic differences upon changing. Same computer, just a different processor.

In my case, I get the best benefit from the -SingleCpuOrders switch. I have an AMD and the slow down issue with me has to do with my graphics card driver. The only time things slow down for me is when the game is loading an image. Each image can take more than a second each to load without switches. With the above switch the load time drops to about 1 ms each. Loading the game goes from a couple of minutes down to about 15 seconds.

With the single core, load times were about 1 minute no matter what the switches.

Bill

[Rainer]

Right.
Just as Erik said: try different switches and find what works best for you.
I'll give the SingleCPU switch a try now, though I have to admit that my box (Intel P4, Nvidia 7600GT) handles WitP and WitP:AE just fine.
I'm just curious I guess [;)]