Large textures = memory problem ?

[Lord.Helmet]

I know there are a lot of threads talking about the punkbuster md5tool mismatch but mine is different because I know exactly where it's from...

So I am playing PR in 1680x1050, everything maxed out with high textures and since 0.8, I was crashing without any explanation (just back to desktop without an error message) while loading maps. Getting tired of it I did some googleing on that and found this link: http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-...-solution.html.

I did that and the crashing stopped. Hourra! Not so fast, now, from time to time and depending of which server I’m playing on, I get kicked from punkbuster saying the md5tool mismatch. I know this is because I modified the bf2.exe to allow more than 2 gb of ram but now this is my dilema :

- having my game crashing while loading every 2-3 maps
- getting kicked by punkbuster from time to time without crashing
- playing with a lower video quality setting (medium textures) but everything's peachy

I'm in no way an expert at this coding and c++ stuff but I'm wondering if it would be possible for the next release to allow the .exe to use more than 2gb ram for everyone or if you could optimize the memory use of PR, or every other solution that my very very limited knowledge can't see (probably ALOT of them)

Ultimately I just want to play PR in all its visual glory without having to worry about crashing or getting kicked. I think this matter deserves a look because it is a good looking game, especially with the high textures.

Thanks for reading

[SocketMan]

I don't quite get the modifying bf2.exe part can you elaborate?
How did you "modify" it to allow more memory to be used?

[RedAlertSF]

I'd liek to know how you modified it too. Only way to let BF2.exe use more than 2GB memory is making it a 64-bit software, which isn't easy task.

[VoXiNaTiOn]

AFAIK Modifying BF2.exe is illegal.

Not sure if it would be possible to make pr.exe 64-bit, but I'm no coder...

Oh, and 32-bit apps can use 3.5GB of RAM, not 2GB.

[Mora]

I dont think you may modify the BF2.exe with or without the use of PR.exe.

[Lord.Helmet]

In fact, I don't understand much at this but just read the link on my first post. http://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-...-solution.html

The only thing that is modified is a header saying that the bf2.exe can handle more than 2gb of ram. My guess is that since PR is using lots of memory especially with the "high textures" its ram demand peeks a bit higher than 2gb while loading some map. That would be a logical way to explain the crashing I had but then again, problems in computer are way TOO logical sometimes.

As I said I'm in no way an expert and I just found this tip and did it. I really couldn't answer your technical question. The only thing I know is that since I did this modification I'm not crashing anymore. Also, the punkbuster md5tool kick hasn't happen to me a lot. A couple of time and it seems to be on 2-3 specific server. The rest of the time and it goes just fine; no crashing, no kicking.

All this to say that since it was so easy for me to fix my crashing issue, I Thought that it would be easy for the devs to allow the app to use more than 2gb ram as a "standard" option (or whatever you call it), which would maybe solve the punkbuster problem. ???? Wow, I really don't know about this... please don't read this as if I know what I'm talking about

Originally Posted by [R-COM]VoXiNaTiOn

AFAIK Modifying BF2.exe is illegal.

Not sure if it would be possible to make pr.exe 64-bit, but I'm no coder...

Oh, and 32-bit apps can use 3.5GB of RAM, not 2GB.

Well, 32 bits OS can use 3.5 gb which is the very maximum. If you found a way to run an application without having an OS in the "background" eating a big chunk of your system resources and restricting it, let me know