NS2 and RAMDisk

IAmSecretSpyIAmSecretSpy Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176006Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
in Technical Support
Hello recently I've dabbled into some fantastic things with RAMDisk.
I've tested some games mainly NS2, RAGE, and TF2 and they all respond well and have very little load times in comparison to normal HDD/SDD usage. Currently i am trying to get the least amount of load times using RAMDisk while using the least amount of storage as possible.

So my question is, is there anything besides maps that i should consider? AKA shaders, models, etc.
Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome

Comments

  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2013
    Materials also eat up some loading time, basically the *.dds files. There are a lot (lots of files) of them btw :P

    However, starting NS2 for a second time during that Windows session (or on mapchange), if you're on Vista of Win7 and have enough memory. NS2 will start super fast in any case, due to it all being loaded into memory anyways. So using a RAMDisk is usually only useful for a first start on the latest Windows and perhaps high resolution/bit rate video rendering (although most HDD's can handle the CPU throughput just fine)
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • IAmSecretSpyIAmSecretSpy Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176006Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    Your absolutely right but i just so have the luxury to dedicate some memory for such a use ;)

    I did run into some weird issue but i think it unrelated and was just a server thing.

    Will post back if anything changes.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • ScardyBobScardyBob ScardyBob Join Date: 2009-11-25 Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    Type loadtimes true into console and run the game. It will tell you the loading times of various parts of NS2. Pick out the ones with the longest time and add them to your ramdisk.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • IAmSecretSpyIAmSecretSpy Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176006Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    Will try that! Thank you :)
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • ersatzheroersatzhero Join Date: 2013-03-26 Member: 184455Members
    What tools do you use to get the data into the RAM?
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • IAmSecretSpyIAmSecretSpy Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176006Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited April 2013
    ersatzhero wrote: »
    What tools do you use to get the data into the RAM?
    Sorry for the late response, atm im using DataRam's RAMDisk.
    Currently i have Materials, Maps, and Models loaded on it and it works like a charm and only takes up 4.89GB.

    I used a junction to forward the folders. Nice thing about the program is i can specify whatever size and have it save and load on shutdown/startup.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • shonanshonan Join Date: 2013-01-28 Member: 182562Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Hopefully they will fix those issues with things not being correctly preloaded into memory so doing something like this wouldnt be needed in order to decrease hitches while playing.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • IAmSecretSpyIAmSecretSpy Join Date: 2012-12-23 Member: 176006Members, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow
    shonan wrote: »
    Hopefully they will fix those issues with things not being correctly preloaded into memory so doing something like this wouldnt be needed in order to decrease hitches while playing.
    I'm mainly doing this to reduce load times while switching maps :D

    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • shonanshonan Join Date: 2013-01-28 Member: 182562Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    IAmSecretSpy wrote: »
    shonan wrote: »
    Hopefully they will fix those issues with things not being correctly preloaded into memory so doing something like this wouldnt be needed in order to decrease hitches while playing.
    I'm mainly doing this to reduce load times while switching maps :D

    Figured that out, but it must also reduce hitches during gameplay of stuff not being correctly allocated to RAM ;)
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
Sign In or Register to comment.