Improving emulated performance from original speed (or lack of)

Morbane · 11 December 2011, 06:28

Is there a way or a setting that can be utilised to improve the run speed of a game - eg faster disk access speed and processing time?

I havent been able to isolate anything that made any noticeable difference in Amiga Forever or WinUAE.

Thanks

mihcael · 11 December 2011, 07:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morbane

... faster disk access speed and processing time?
...

In WinUAE you can change the speed of drive emulation under the floppy drives tab, 800% is considered a safe speed, where turbo may produce incompatibilities.

fishyfish · 11 December 2011, 17:21

Additionally, for cpu speed, do you have the option "fastest possible, but maintain chipset timing" selected? (something like that anyway, Im going by memory). JIT can make a massive difference too. CPU type choice makes next to no difference though ( its a not uncommon misconception that it does).

Leffmann · 11 December 2011, 19:13

If you can enter the WinUAE input panel through the Amiga Forever malware then you can also map Warp Mode to any input event you want. Warp Mode will maintain cycle exact emulation while speeding the entire emulation up as fast as your PC can handle. You can think of it as fast-forwarding everything.

Morbane · 11 December 2011, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leffmann

If you can enter the WinUAE input panel through the Amiga Forever malware then you can also map Warp Mode to any input event you want. Warp Mode will maintain cycle exact emulation while speeding the entire emulation up as fast as your PC can handle. You can think of it as fast-forwarding everything.

Where do I look to enable 'warp mode' in WinUAE - what tab is it under?

antonvaltaz · 11 December 2011, 21:59

Or you can just press the End and Pause keys to toggle warp mode any time - only discovered this last week and I'm using it all the time now!

Morbane · 11 December 2011, 22:53

Will that work in both AF and WinUAE?

antonvaltaz · 12 December 2011, 09:06

Yes, it works both ways.

Morbane · 12 December 2011, 11:09

How do I know if it working - sorry to be dim but I am not really sure what warp mode actually does... speed up everything? presumably a lot faster?

and I am not on my game system right now to experiment - end starts it and pause stops it? it could go either way . . . end to end it or pause to pause it - so to speak...?

antonvaltaz · 12 December 2011, 11:41

Warp mode speeds up everything, including floppy drive access. If I'm loading a floppy game I start it straight away after starting emulation, then stop it once the game has loaded.

Apparently it's more reliable than floppy drive turbo mode, which can be incompatible with certain games.

End + Pause (together) starts turbo mode, End + Pause switches it off again.

If I want a particular game to run more quickly in-game (e.g. a 3D polygon game which might be a bit jerky), I sometimes edit the RP9, change the overall compatibility to 'standard' and change the CPU speed setting to 'fastest possible'. (NB I'm at work right now so the exact terminology may vary slightly).

Leffmann · 12 December 2011, 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morbane

How do I know if it working - sorry to be dim but I am not really sure what warp mode actually does... speed up everything? presumably a lot faster?

If WinUAE uses f.ex 50% of your PC's CPU power to emulate your Amiga, then with Warp Mode it can use the remaining 50% CPU power to emulate the Amiga in twice the speed. Like I said the easiest way to think of it is as fast-forwarding, and for each second you watch the screen, the emulated Amiga will have run for two seconds. How fast it will go depends entirely on how fast your PC is.

Morbane · 12 December 2011, 23:06

Thanks anton & leffmann!

I will give it a try when I get on my game pc later today.

(later that day...)

WOW what a difference - Star Command Loaded super quick! Cant wait to see what other games go faster on load!

(Later that night...)

Really really fast = double and triple key strokes/mouse clicks = no good for actual playing of games

Morbane · 17 December 2011, 20:39

So is there a functional way to speed up performance during game play?

antonvaltaz · 17 December 2011, 21:03

Did you try my second suggestion (last paragraph) in post #10?

Morbane · 18 December 2011, 02:57

Yes, I have used that advice - I was hoping for the possibility of another tweak. The game I am trying to speed up is Pool of Radiance - originally it was quite slow - and the emulated version equals that. I have the PC version on DosBox and it is pretty fast but the graphics are no better than the Commodore64 version.

Dont get me wrong that tweak made a difference - just not that extra umph I was hoping for.

Thanks again Anton

12 December 2011, 23:06	#12
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	Thanks anton & leffmann! I will give it a try when I get on my game pc later today. (later that day...) WOW what a difference - Star Command Loaded super quick! Cant wait to see what other games go faster on load! (Later that night...) Really really fast = double and triple key strokes/mouse clicks = no good for actual playing of games Last edited by Morbane; 13 December 2011 at 21:17.

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11 December 2011, 06:28	#1
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	Improving emulated performance from original speed (or lack of) Is there a way or a setting that can be utilised to improve the run speed of a game - eg faster disk access speed and processing time? I havent been able to isolate anything that made any noticeable difference in Amiga Forever or WinUAE. Thanks

11 December 2011, 17:21	#3
fishyfish Banned Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 475	Additionally, for cpu speed, do you have the option "fastest possible, but maintain chipset timing" selected? (something like that anyway, Im going by memory). JIT can make a massive difference too. CPU type choice makes next to no difference though ( its a not uncommon misconception that it does).

11 December 2011, 19:13	#4
Leffmann Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,269	If you can enter the WinUAE input panel through the Amiga Forever malware then you can also map Warp Mode to any input event you want. Warp Mode will maintain cycle exact emulation while speeding the entire emulation up as fast as your PC can handle. You can think of it as fast-forwarding everything.

11 December 2011, 21:59	#6
antonvaltaz Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Age: 43 Posts: 511	Or you can just press the End and Pause keys to toggle warp mode any time - only discovered this last week and I'm using it all the time now!

11 December 2011, 22:53	#7
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	Will that work in both AF and WinUAE?

12 December 2011, 09:06	#8
antonvaltaz Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Age: 43 Posts: 511	Yes, it works both ways.

12 December 2011, 11:09	#9
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	How do I know if it working - sorry to be dim but I am not really sure what warp mode actually does... speed up everything? presumably a lot faster? and I am not on my game system right now to experiment - end starts it and pause stops it? it could go either way . . . end to end it or pause to pause it - so to speak...?

12 December 2011, 11:41	#10
antonvaltaz Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Age: 43 Posts: 511	Warp mode speeds up everything, including floppy drive access. If I'm loading a floppy game I start it straight away after starting emulation, then stop it once the game has loaded. Apparently it's more reliable than floppy drive turbo mode, which can be incompatible with certain games. End + Pause (together) starts turbo mode, End + Pause switches it off again. If I want a particular game to run more quickly in-game (e.g. a 3D polygon game which might be a bit jerky), I sometimes edit the RP9, change the overall compatibility to 'standard' and change the CPU speed setting to 'fastest possible'. (NB I'm at work right now so the exact terminology may vary slightly).

17 December 2011, 20:39	#13
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	So is there a functional way to speed up performance during game play?

17 December 2011, 21:03	#14
antonvaltaz Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Age: 43 Posts: 511	Did you try my second suggestion (last paragraph) in post #10?

18 December 2011, 02:57	#15
Morbane Sub-Dimensional Array Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Posts: 123	Yes, I have used that advice - I was hoping for the possibility of another tweak. The game I am trying to speed up is Pool of Radiance - originally it was quite slow - and the emulated version equals that. I have the PC version on DosBox and it is pretty fast but the graphics are no better than the Commodore64 version. Dont get me wrong that tweak made a difference - just not that extra umph I was hoping for. Thanks again Anton

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