I''ve got a huge map I need to save to disk and then reload in a decent amount of time. It''s approx 74megs of raw data. The compressed data file is only 3k but loading takes 10+ minutes on the average computer. An older 200mhz takes 3. Because the map is so large it''s storing the raw map on disk instead of in memory. Is there an easy way to improve the speed at which the map is loaded? I''m assuming it has to do with the cache size of the main drive. Ben

Some of your numbers seem kindof fishy but assuming they''re correct...

This is a total guess here but I''m guessing that the 3k version isn''t an actual image file, and rather is some kind of file that tell the program which kinds of tiles go where. And I''m guessing that the 74 meg thing is some kind of huge image file or something that your program builds upon reading the 3k?

First I''d recommend that you figure out how to scale that overall 74 megs down any way you can... that''s an absolutely huge amount for just a map.

Also, would it be possible to divide the very large map up into smaller pieces? Similar to Baldur''s Gate works, almost? (If you''re familiar with it)

Or maybe you don''t really need the entire map to exist in memory all the time, maybe you could just de-compress (or build) depending on what part of the map you have to display. This would depend on what type of game it is though, if it''s RTS or something similar I doubt that''d be fast enough.

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As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

-Albert Einstein

The 3k is like a pkzip file but not nearly as good. My map files can be zipped up further about 98%. A map with a mathmatically generated floor used in testing is a little over 1meg. 3k is an empty map. My old compression algoritm did an empty map in a little over 1meg.

What I need to know is how to boost the cache on the local drive to speed up load time. Basically what it''s doing is that as it''s uncompressing the map it writing the raw data to the HD since actual RAM can''t hold it.

Since one computer can do the whole process in 3 minutes I just need to figure out how to get the others to do the same.

I am programming this with 32megs of ram on a P200. And yes it works. I''m using esssentially a test pattern while I figure out the load time problem.

The compressed data is unuasable because it would take too much time to figure out what is being seen by the user and where it is in the file.

Breaking it up is fine for saving but eventually the whole thing has to be loaded.

Ben

It''s an array. Not an image. And yes the information in the map points to other information which contructs the map seen on the screen from tiles. One array stores the tile numbers (the map). Another stores the actual tile information which is pointed to by the tile numbers in the map.

Ben

Here''s a method you can try if your map engine is flexible enough to handle it:

Load the map asyncronously. First load up the section of the map that you need and a large area around it. Then create a seperate thread to finish loading up the rest of the map. If your map is laid out in a nice organized fashion, then this shouldn''t be a problem. If it isn''t, then you got more than speed issues on your hands.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Dino M. Gambone

Good judgement is gained through experience. Experience, however, is gained through bad judgement.

Well 74Megs stored in an array seems really HUGE number.
How many tiles does the array hold?

And how much info for each file?
I mean if you store walkability info or maybe some other special info apart from the usual.

Voodoo4