Tweaking Command and Conquer solving lag

Got this from filefront from a poster called Johnwe


**********************************

I did post this under another section but wanted it to be a main posting as
well. Here ya go.
Hey guys I am fairly new here but not new to the various problems with the
issues with CNC Generals Zero Hour, mainly the lagg issue. I have done
testing on several fronts to find what was causing the issue. It seems there
is a huge memory leak in the game that allows the game to just keep eating
resources slowly. Thats why after like 10 mins or so the game slows down
considerably. I have pointed it out to EA's Tech Support but they have
claimed they know about it and cant fix it. But anyways, I have something
you guys could try that has worked for me and seems to make the game run
better not massive better, but it doesnt slow to a grinding halt all the
time. No modding(file changes or downloading a mod file) is involved and it
is pretty easy to do.
This will work with Windows 2000 and Windows XP only.
1. Start the game as you normally would. When it gets to the full boot
screen hit the "windows key" so that you get back to the desktop.
2. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to get into the task manager. We want to be on the
processes tab.
3. Find the following 3 files. "generals.exe" "game.dat" and "~e5d141.tmp"
These are created by the Zero Hour Game.
4. What we are going to do is change the way Windows allocates the resources
to each of those files. This can be done by "right-clicking" on each of the
files one at a time and selecting "Set Priority".
5. Setting Priority to each file as follows below:
-"game.dat" - set priority to "Low"
-"~e5d141.tmp" - set priority to "Low"
-"generals.exe" - set priority to "High"
Now the .tmp file doesnt take much resources and I have had it just set to
default which is normal and havent really seen any performance difference. I
just figured saving as much resources as possible is good. The file that
hogs the resources is the "game.dat" file. It starts out at some range of
151,000 and eventually gets well above 250,000. thats what is eating up all
the resources and lagging the game down. Thats why I set it to "Low" in
priority to save alittle.
I have seen improvement in playing 3 comps on hard and also having a friend
play via LAN connection. Usually it lags so bad(without modifying the
Priorities) that you get fed playing and just quit. Theres really no hope of
getting another patch out of EA anytime soon if ever again. Hopefully one of
the modders could find where the memory leak and maybe fix it in a
"unofficial patch". That would take sometime. Until then we have to find our
own ways to get the game to be enjoyable.

The real problem is that the game begins swapping to disk. Take a look at
your HDD activity light whenever the game lags badly.

I've decided I'll never buy an EA product again. If I'm forced to play an EA
product (e.g. at a LAN party) I'll pirate it.

--
Doug
"Wylie Wilde" <sniper968.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:445ef537$0$10674$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Got this from filefront from a poster called Johnwe
>
>
> **********************************
>
> I did post this under another section but wanted it to be a main posting
> as
> well. Here ya go.
> Hey guys I am fairly new here but not new to the various problems with the
> issues with CNC Generals Zero Hour, mainly the lagg issue. I have done
> testing on several fronts to find what was causing the issue. It seems
> there
> is a huge memory leak in the game that allows the game to just keep eating
> resources slowly. Thats why after like 10 mins or so the game slows down
> considerably. I have pointed it out to EA's Tech Support but they have
> claimed they know about it and cant fix it. But anyways, I have something
> you guys could try that has worked for me and seems to make the game run
> better not massive better, but it doesnt slow to a grinding halt all the
> time. No modding(file changes or downloading a mod file) is involved and
> it
> is pretty easy to do.
> This will work with Windows 2000 and Windows XP only.
> 1. Start the game as you normally would. When it gets to the full boot
> screen hit the "windows key" so that you get back to the desktop.
> 2. Use CTRL+ALT+DEL to get into the task manager. We want to be on the
> processes tab.
> 3. Find the following 3 files. "generals.exe" "game.dat" and "~e5d141.tmp"
> These are created by the Zero Hour Game.
> 4. What we are going to do is change the way Windows allocates the
> resources
> to each of those files. This can be done by "right-clicking" on each of
> the
> files one at a time and selecting "Set Priority".
> 5. Setting Priority to each file as follows below:
> -"game.dat" - set priority to "Low"
> -"~e5d141.tmp" - set priority to "Low"
> -"generals.exe" - set priority to "High"
> Now the .tmp file doesnt take much resources and I have had it just set to
> default which is normal and havent really seen any performance difference.
> I
> just figured saving as much resources as possible is good. The file that
> hogs the resources is the "game.dat" file. It starts out at some range of
> 151,000 and eventually gets well above 250,000. thats what is eating up
> all
> the resources and lagging the game down. Thats why I set it to "Low" in
> priority to save alittle.
> I have seen improvement in playing 3 comps on hard and also having a
> friend
> play via LAN connection. Usually it lags so bad(without modifying the
> Priorities) that you get fed playing and just quit. Theres really no hope
> of
> getting another patch out of EA anytime soon if ever again. Hopefully one
> of
> the modders could find where the memory leak and maybe fix it in a
> "unofficial patch". That would take sometime. Until then we have to find
> our
> own ways to get the game to be enjoyable.
>
>
>
>