Automated PBW Game Turn?

[Grandpa Kim]

The number one reason I haven't used the RTC is based on an assumption. I have a limited amount of RAM and am loathe to install any program that sits in the background and uses up what little I have. Is RTC or JRE one of those programs? I've been assuming they are.

Kim

[tbontob]

Originally posted by Grandpa Kim:
The number one reason I haven't used the RTC is based on an assumption. I have a limited amount of RAM and am loathe to install any program that sits in the background and uses up what little I have. Is RTC or JRE one of those programs? I've been assuming they are.

Kim

The program is all geoschmoe says it is. It automates almost everything...

Kim, if no one has answered your question before the next turn, I will try to get an answer on how much the programs are a memory hog. But, I need to wait till the turn to do it.

The only disadvantages, that I can see are
1) Additional memory useage.
2) Additional cost if you pay by the hour for your connection to the internet.
3) Free space on your hard drive is used to store the programs

[geoschmo]

There is one other downside, which I am hoping we can fix in a future Version. If you are in the middle of a turn and lose your internet connection, or PBW goes down, it closes SEIV. You don't get to finish your turn. It can be quite distressing if you are towards the end of a lengthly turn. Fortunatly it doesn't happen often, but the possibility is enough to turn some people off from using it.

Geoschmo

[tbontob]

Kim

About the memory usage...

As many people know, I am a bit of a newbie in about the P4, but here goes...

Using Norton Utilities to identify the active processes, the only running process it came up with was JAWAW.exe

Going into the Systems information - systems, the memory it uses is 5.2 MB.

A number of points
1) This is the amount of memory used when it is in a non-game state. When I am actively processing a game the amount may be different.
2) When I downloaded JRE, we have the choice of selecting one of a number of Languages. I selected US English. Well, the sites program said it did not match my computers language (there was no Canadian English ) and suggested that I download all the Languages, which I did. So, if you are able to select the appropriate language for your computer, there is a possibility that the memory usage may be less.

I hope this helps. I'll give you more information when I am actively processing a game.

[tbontob]

As previously mentioned, RTC is very easy to use for PBW games. However, where the game requires a mod, things get a bit more complicated.

The instructions say "to use PBW for a mod game, you will need to manually modify the path.txt file in your Space Empires IV directory before joining the game in RTC."

As chance would have it, I have just started a new PBW game which requires a mod. Geoschmo was kind enough to e-mail me these instructions which simplifies everything.

The easiest way to use the RTC for mods I have found
is instead of hand changing the path.txt file, use the
mod picker. Click on the mod on the left side and hit
the "Play SEIV" button below that. This will modify
the path.txt and open SEIV. You can close SEIV but DO
NOT close the mod picker and the path.txt file will
remain with the mod path. As soon as you close the
modpicker it changes the mod path back to none.

Now with the mod picker still running you can open RTC
and play your turn and it should allow you to play it
with no errors. Afterwards close modpicker to get your
mod path back to none and you are golden.

It worked like a charm.

Kim, I have not forgotten about you. I will get you the information I promised with a "regular" PBW game.

[Grandpa Kim]

tbontob, thanks for your efforts. I would be interested in the numbers while running a game even though 5.2 MB is still pretty high for my machine. (Sorry, gotta get a new vehicle before a new computer!)

I wonder, does it run even when you are offline?

And thanks again for your efforts

Kim

[tbontob]

Hi Kim

The size of the JAWAH.exe module in memory is as I have said 5.2 MB.

The total non-shared memory actually used is 3.25 MB when I am running it with a game.

In the Mac we can change the amount of memory a program uses through "Get Info". I don't know if this is possible with these non-Mac machines :-)

As to your question, I haven't checked it, but I am pretty sure that you will regain your memory when you go-offline. If you want me to check this...let me know.

If memory serves me right, in the older machines, if you load your programs into memory in the correct manner, you can make optimum use of it.

For example, loading a word processing program and then SE4, then quitting the word processor uses more memory than if you quit the word processor first and then loaded SE4. It has to do with where the program is positioned in memory.

When you are using your computer for another purpose, and then you want to get the most out of memory, you may want to consider trying a warm boot of your system and then load the programs you want.

Going back to your question, I am pretty sure (in the older machines at least), that memory is used sequentially. In other words, JAWAh loads first and then SE4. Then when you quit JAWAH, you probably regain the memory, but I am not sure it would be usuable memory.

For example, the memory in your older computer may be
JAWAH
SE4
Balance of memory

Then when you quit JAWAH, you have
Memory vacated by JAWAH
SE4
Balance of memory

The available memory then becomes fragmented.

But as I said, I am no expert (a novice in fact) on these machines and I could be totally out to lunch. There are others who are far more knowledgeable on this than I am.

[Ruatha]

When I try to run the RTC I get "Error: Main Class not Found"
What to do?

[geoschmo]

Ruatha, when you loaded the java JRE did you let it install itself to the default deirectory it wanted too?

Geoschmo