I thought I had fixed this problem by loweing the process priority to Low. but I think it only fixed it for the Title screen. In game it fires usage up to 100%. I like to play on a laptop and my fans kick off.

Anyone know why I have this problem? Does everyone have this problem?

Is it possible to limit the CPU usage of a process?

I just discovered it is the Idle Animation setting which is causing this. The warning about high CPU usage is an understatement. Im using a Core 2 Duo!

Never mind, at least I can play it wihtout the fans going mental.

The idle animation setting's CPU usage varies.
For instance, I have mine on, but it usually only runs at about 15%
Odds are that it's because I have a number cruncher in the background that uses up all spare cycles (and freely gives them back when needed by anything else.)

My guess is that that idle animation setting is a process throttle in itself.
It's a bit odd that a game this graphically simple and 99% turn based would use so much CPU just for animations on systems that don't have something else running.

Anyways, take those for what they're worth.
If you're interested, the Distributed Computing project that I'm a part of is Einstien@Home.
It's a astronomical analysis searching for proof of Gravity Waves (Gravitons)
Feel free to Google it if you'd be interested in participating.

So what you are saying is Idle animation will take what ever is available to the max?

If something else is taking the cycles it would not be as hungry?

Just to make it clear, this is by no means going to be the same for anyone else, nor do I know any particulars of the underlying code, only what I've observed through use.

But based on your experiences (I run my cruncher at startup, and haven't tried playing without it to confirm the 100% thing) I'd say that yes indeed, the Idle Animations frees the process to use all cycles available, instead of limiting itself to a reasonable 25-30%.

In my case, all the cycles are still used, but yes, UrW only uses ~15% when my Idles are on. (Running a C2D@2x2.13Ghz)

Odds are that this will be addressed whenever optimizing the entire code is done, to include the save game sizes.
Though in truth, it doesn't really effect anyone other than laptop users, and even then, smart habits that should be followed anyways will prevent problems.

(and if you're so bothered by the fans in performance mode, then check your BIOS (the 'press *X* key to enter setup' that you see at boot) to see if you can either throttle the CPU, or shut down a core. both should be available, and either one should prevent a need for the fans to run at high speed. Do yourself a favor though, and don't mess with any settings you're not certain of, and most certainly don't tell the fans not to run at high speed. Quickest way to ruin a CPU is overheating (In dramatic situations, it's a matter of seconds till it literally blows!).)

Its ok, I will just disable it and wait for the code to be optimized. Although I didn't actually notice any difference when it is enabled. Are the little graphics supposed to animate?

Also.....

Is this your signature or are you just on drugs? :lol:

I'm getting 30-50% CPU usage, and I run TF2 at 1024 with a very nice framerate.

@bear
If you're the only thing on the screen, no.
But things like rain falling, and animals/NPCs doing that little wiggle are the idle animations.

it's obviously not my signature... and whytf would I be on drugs to mention it?

@abno
nice... though I don't see how your performance with a graphics-heavy game is relevant to a discussion about heavy CPU usage. (case in point, the only reason you can't get better framerates at higher resolutions would be your video card)

Was just joking, seems a bit out of place :)

So will I see any rain at all if I turn off idle animations?

Well, considering that I had just mentioned using a number cruncher in the background right before that, I don't see how it was out of place.

I believe you'll just get non-falling rain (i.e. just blue dots that don't move)

The only reason I brought up TF2 was just to point out that I have a fairly beefy computer.

Maybe I was just bragging. :lol:

Intel Core2Duo@2.13
2GB Ram (of course)
EVGA 8600 GTS
500GB RAID 0 (striped)

Heh. Raid0! Back up your files frequent. ;-)

Had it a year, no probs yet. *gives a glare at Murphy to back away from the destruct button*

I'll get a third and make it a 5 at some point in the not too distant future.

But, in anycase, I rarely have unrestorable files on a hard drive.
They're almost always available in specific and unexpiring locations online, on CD/DVDs in RARs, or on my Flash Drive.

This is all coming from a guy that has done probably approching 100 wipe and reloads, and few of them were done on systems with a separate partition for the system itself.

ABSOLUTE worst case it dies tomorrow, I go pick up a discounted 50 Gigger to get my stuff online, and see what the current market pricing is for a set of 3 identical SATA drives, and begin the few days process of reinstalling everything, like the last time I wiped and reloaded, and forgot to enable a split partition specifically for the OS.

Speaking of W&R, I'm thinking I'll be doing it anyways shortly... damn thing's not shutting down properly on a regular basis, and that's usually one of the sure signs it's time to consider a W&R.