Game optimisation

[BrandonTheCat]

So I have had a hell of a good time on this system (5820k, GTX980, 16GB2666, 730/240GBR0) it gets all I need done in a VERY fast manner, does what I want it to do, and folds like mad.

I decided to install age of empires 2 HD onto it by steam. This game was released in 1999

My issue is past a certain number of people, (population of around 300 people) it becomes laggy, dipping into 30frames. How can a 1999 game turn a enthusiast level PC like just an ordinary laptop? Surely the game is locked to a hardware standpoint right? There are no options menu, and can't edit settings in any way.

[lx_srs]

So I have had a hell of a good time on this system (5820k, GTX980, 16GB2666, 730/240GBR0) it gets all I need done in a VERY fast manner, does what I want it to do, and folds like mad.

I decided to install age of empires 2 HD onto it by steam. This game was released in 1999

My issue is past a certain number of people, (population of around 300 people) it becomes laggy, dipping into 30frames. How can a 1999 game turn a enthusiast level PC like just an ordinary laptop? Surely the game is locked to a hardware standpoint right? There are no options menu, and can't edit settings in any way.

Idk.  May not play well with having a lot of cores, or having HT enabled.  Battlefield 3 had a problem with HT for a while, i7 users had to turn it off in order for the game to run smoothly until the game was patched.

[Tedster]

I'm guessing that's just because of bad optimization. Too many draw calls or something?

[JebKerman]

Is suspect it's an engine limitation. Old games I bring out to play again have similar issues, it'll run smooth most of the time, but there are some things the game itself doesn't seem to like much and it takes the FPS down with it.

[Mattrixx]

I had the same issue with Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds (basically the same as AOE2. Same game engine too I believe). It's a game engine thing. My 4690k with 16 GB RAM and an SSD chugged at a certain point (1-2k units) just as bad as my 5 yr old laptop with integrated graphics.