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[Apocalypser]

Sorry if this topic has been used in other threads before. Every single level in Painkiller takes at least a whole minute to load, and the red light on my computer sparsely flashes. Particularly bad is level I-5, which claims to be fully loaded as soon as I start it up and takes at least 2 minutes. To start, which system attributes contribute to the load times?

EDIT: Just remembered another problem that I might as well mention here: Sometimes (due to abundance/lack of ammunition in the level), it feels like I should/shouldn't have a weapon that I do/don't have. I especially noticed this problem in levels I-5 and II-2, where I could find stakes everywhere but I didn't start with and couldn't find the stakegun. What is going on?

[Bjossi]

What are your computer specs? If you want fast loading times, recommended amount of memory is 1 Gb of fast memory like DDR400.

About the other problem, I had this issue aswell. Then I asked here (my first post here was about this issue), and the members told me that you can find the Stakegun in Atrium Complex.

Just play Atrium Complex, find the Stakegun, finish the level and then you can go straight to the level you were playing previously, armed with the Stakegun. :)

[Apocalypser]

Memory... I'll see what I can do about that.

I didn't know there was a stakegun in Atrium Complex, the one I found was in Catacombs (I-3). When I finished the level with the Stakegun, I was able to use it in Cathedral (I-4) but not in Enclave (I-5) or any other level after that until I went back to Catacombs and finished the level again. Or maybe because the level I played next was Town, which starts you off with the stakegun equipped... I'll see what I can find out.

[BloodBuster]

I had this same problem - it was taking over a minute to load. I was playing the game on 512MB RAM and a 64MB graphics card. I added a GB RAM - made hardly any difference. Then I replaced the graphics card with a 256MB one and ---whoooosh---

[Frag Maniac]

...it's a costlier way, but adds to your storage space. The only trade off to data striping (using two harddrives as one) is that all your data can be lost if one of them fails.

I have two 74GB Raptors, but my MB does not have Raid capability. The speed of the drive actually helps more than the RAID 0 does, so I don't really miss it.

I'd love to have an SLI setup with two 256 MB video cards and a RAID 0 board, but that technology is not supported widely enough to justify the money even if I had it to spend.

[Bjossi]

I had this same problem - it was taking over a minute to load. I was playing the game on 512MB RAM and a 64MB graphics card. I added a GB RAM - made hardly any difference. Then I replaced the graphics card with a 256MB one and ---whoooosh---

That´s odd, graphic card affecting loading times? DC/PCF suprise me every day. :p

[Apocalypser]

I think I might have figured out the loading problem.

The .PAK files used to load the game were fragmented, so defragging shortens the load time to under 1 min... for most maps. It doesn't solve the issues of the boss levels, which the computer claims start out fully loaded but then sits around doing nothing for 2 minutes. That still doesn't explain why BloodBuster's graphics card switch decreased the load time, maybe you did something else that you forgot about?

As for the stakegun bug, I found out that playing level 1 doesn't let you start with any weapons other than the Painkiller, so you have to go back through the levels in which you got your other weapons to get them back. Argh! :p

[BloodBuster]

I think I might have figured out the loading problem.

The .PAK files used to load the game were fragmented, so defragging shortens the load time to under 1 min... for most maps. It doesn't solve the issues of the boss levels, which the computer claims start out fully loaded but then sits around doing nothing for 2 minutes. That still doesn't explain why BloodBuster's graphics card switch decreased the load time, maybe you did something else that you forgot about?

As for the stakegun bug, I found out that playing level 1 doesn't let you start with any weapons other than the Painkiller, so you have to go back through the levels in which you got your other weapons to get them back. Argh! :p

No, it was defininately the card that made the difference. I remember it distinctly as I was able to see the game in all its glory. And it was beautiful.

With regard to your Boss level loading symptoms, I still get this. I am currently running through the game again, and when I have loaded each Boss level, the slider zooms to the end of the scale, then there is a pause of up to 15-20 seconds after which the level starts. However, I have found that the Boss levels always take longer to load than any other level, and always in the same way.

[T'krau]

I put a BFG 6600GT OC in my machine about two weeks ago, replacing my old Ti4200. Since then, my boot time is a few seconds quicker, along with knowing what the 'bloom' setting does.

The game has always taken forever to load. When I went from 512 to 1 gig of memory (dual channel DDR), load times went down maybe a few seconds, but nothing major.

[Bjossi]

My loading times are 15 - 20 seconds in many levels of BooH, sometimes less than 10 seconds. (Stone Pit and Underworld).

[Apocalypser]

No, it was defininately the card that made the difference. I remember it distinctly as I was able to see the game in all its glory. And it was beautiful.
How is that possible? Why would it be the graphics card that affects the load time? Are you absolutely positive that you didn't do anything else?

[Bjossi]

Loading times is just how fast the computer caches all textures and effects, items etc.

That´s not the video card´s job, something else happened. ;)

[BloodBuster]

How is that possible? Why would it be the graphics card that affects the load time? Are you absolutely positive that you didn't do anything else?

I assume it is because the card I bought had 256MB as opposed to the original card which had a measley 64MB. Also, the card will be doing a lot of the processing that the CPU would normally do, so the CPU is free to do more processing, and, the page file will not be used so extensively.

I definately did not do anything else. Like I said, I had been used to s-l-o-w loading times with my old card. As soon as I installed my new card ->>whoooooosh>>>>>

[Bjossi]

Video memory is video memory...
It stores textures and graphics, it stores them, but the virtual memory and processor loads them.

Video card can´t affect loading times. You´ll only see performance increase because the card can store more graphics at once.

Btw, when I got my card, I went from 64 Mb Geforce 2 to 256 Mb GeforceFX 5700, no difference at all in loading times. Later I went from 256 Mb RAM to 1 Gb DDR400 memory and loading times decreased by half and more.


All computer experts will say the same. Just look around google if you still don´t believe me. :)