Combat Commander module unplayable

Is zooming slow for you?
Yes, zooming is very slow too.

This is due to the depth of traits on each piece
The module’s designer is apparently not aware of any problems.

I’m looking forward to see the next release coming out. In the meantime, I am curious to see if performance will improve with the new PC I will get next week. Thanks for your support.

You’re running the module on a very limited computer. I also have an Asus Eee and I find it unbearable for playing VASSAL. What is more, the CC module is very heavy on unit traits and is probably one of the toughest modules you could have picked to run on an Eee.

  • M.

Probably, but VASSAL cannot be compared with the latest first person shooter either. I think it should run reasonably well, even on a simple computer. Actually, most modules run quite well. The only ones I’ve had problems with, so far, are Combat Commander and Twilight Struggle.
SunTzu, for example, doesn’t seem to suffer from such problems, even on my PC, but I can’t really compare, as the is no Combat Commander module for SunTzu (unfortunately).

Probably as a large result of it’s processor. The Atom’s are not famed for speed and efficiency - just energy consumption.

tomshardware.com/reviews/Int … ,1981.html

They’re not terribly robust either. Mine stopped working properly after 1 year. The sound device stopped cold and the tab key is no longer functional.

  • M.

Argghh… One of my posts got lost. I’m not having a lot of luck with the forums.

I’m going to have to paraphrase myself.

All of those applications your talking about (including SunTzu) rely a lot on the GPU instead of the CPU. VASSAL doesn’t do that because it’s written in vanilla Java to preserve platform independence.

I think that’s what I said. Only better.

  • M.

Thus spake pmiranda:

Probably, but VASSAL cannot be compared with the latest first person
shooter either. I think it should run reasonably well, even on a simple
computer. Actually, most modules run quite well. The only ones I’ve had
problems with, so far, are Combat Commander and Twilight Struggle.
SunTzu, for example, doesn’t seem to suffer from such problems, even on
my PC, but I can’t really compare, as the is no Combat Commander module
for SunTzu (unfortunately).

I would agree with you when you say that VASSAL cannot be compared with
the lastest first person shooter, because they’re doing completely
different things. Modern video hardware is optimized for doing matrix
multiplication, not handling huge bitmaps. I think you’re underestimating
how much computing power you need to handle an image which is several
thousand pixels in each dimension. You won’t find any 3D game which loads
images as large as the ones VASSAL has to handle.

As far as ZunTzu, it’s also not an apt comparison. If you had a CC module
for ZunTzu, it wouldn’t be anything but a board, pieces, and cards. The
VASSAL module has hugely more functionality than that. If you want to make
such a comparison, you should compare a completely bare-bones VASSAL module
with a ZunTzu module.


J.

Thus spake mkiefte:

Argghh… One of my posts got lost. I’m not having a lot of luck with
the forums.

It’s not your fault, it’s my list bridge. I haven’t had time to look into
the problem yet.


J.

The point is that if all the extra functionality brought to the module slows it down to a crawl, I’d rather stick to a bare-bones module. Anyway, don’t get me wrong, VASSAL is great, and I’m using it for 99% of the games with satisfaction. I’m just a bit frustrated by the ComCom module… and by my Eee Box!
Let’s see how it works on my brand new PC in a few days.

Thus spake pmiranda:

The point is that if all the extra functionality brought to the module
slows it down to a crawl, I’d rather stick to a bare-bones module.

You could always make a bare-bones module.


J.

I think if I was playing on an Eee, I would tend to agree with you. Before my Eee crapped out on me, it was fantastic for e-mail, ssh, vi, and plugging into an overhead projector. But the screen dimensions are difficult to work with for most things.

  • M.

You could always make a bare-bones module.

I wish I knew how…
I sure can edit a few properties in a module, but other than that… Is there a simple way to make the module lighter without breaking it? That would definitely be worth a try.

I would start by stripping out many of the gamepiece traits. However, I would keep counter flipping (probably a layer).

That would probably get you a barebones module that works.

It’d be kind of clunky though. Much of the functionality exists because it is designed for players that are not face-to-face and you’ll find yourself having to type “Cpl. Smith activates and activates everyone withing two hexes and they all fire at hex G2.” If you’re not a fast typist, I can see that getting annoying unless you use Skype.

  • M.

just use the old stripped version then. I only keep it as an archive record though and wont update it. This was one of the original ancient versions without automation or rules enforcement

mediafire.com/file/3iwjgenqwdq/Combat Commander 1-1.mod

It is only compatible with users running the same version module. It should put you into a different room on the server than the standard version

But what about the extensions, Tim? I suppose they are not compatible with the old version either, or don’t even exist? Anyway, I’ll first test the module with the new PC, because the ideal case would of course be to have everything working and fast enough.

Not really related to the post topic, but am I completely missing something with the CC:E module page? When I try to download it, it takes me to the upload a module page. All the other modules i’ve downloaded no problems, including CC:P, but I can’t seem to figure this one out.

Not all large modules have been uploaded yet (maybe 10 or so) due to their size. The link is blue if the file exists / is valid, red if it does not and acts just as a placeholder

Thus spake Tim M:

Not all large modules have been uploaded yet (maybe 10 or so) due to
their size. The link is blue if the file exists / is valid, red if it
does not and acts just as a placeholder

Speaking of that, it would help me to have tasks like this (or, really,
any task that somebody wants done) in the bug tracker. If it’s not in
the bug tracker, then I’m reduced to relying on my own memory of what
needs doing. In practice, this means that things which I don’t get to
within a few days will be forgotten until somebody reminds me. The
bug tracker is a much better solution for these things, as it doesn’t
forget.


J.

Just wanted to update you on this performance issue.
I upgraded to an Intel Core i5 650 (3.2GHz 3.2GHz) system with 8GB RAM running 64-bits Windows 7 and the performance increase is literally unbelievable.

When it could take about 5 minutes to save a log, it now takes about 5 seconds…!
I’m now a happy Combat Commander player again! :wink:

However, I am still facing serious issues with the VASSAL server (yesterday, my opponent and I just gave up after spending 30 minutes trying to synch without success).
Maybe a P2P connection would fare better, but we are unfortunately pretty illiterate about firewalls and such, and we could not make it work.

Thus spake pmiranda:

Just wanted to update you on this performance issue.
I upgraded to an Intel Core i5 650 (3.2GHz 3.2GHz) system with 8GB RAM
running 64-bits Windows 7 and the performance increase is literally
unbelievable.

When it could take about 5 minutes to save a log, it now takes about 5
seconds…!
I’m now a happy Combat Commander player again! :wink:

I’m glad it works beter for you wih a more powerful machine.

However, I am still facing serious issues with the VASSAL server
(yesterday, my opponent and I just gave up after spending 30 minutes
trying to synch without success).

This is most likely due to network congestion. We’re working on
getting a faster connection for the game server.


J.