QUOTE (dArCReAvEr @ 5 Jan 2015, 10:43)

Even tho I'm necroing this old thread this might help out People trying to find a solution to the "lag Problem" with AI involved, or Generals multiplayer in General.

originally I thought that this issue had to do with certain dual core/quad core CPUs being incompatible with this old game. However, nowadays the game should run on a single quad core CPU without any Problems. Yet, when we played it on LAN we still had massive Performance Problems. While my friends actually blamed the shitty net code, I went further and tried some stuff. Here are my results from These testings so far:



- The game seems to have Problems with the Windows index function for fast searching Folders, especially under Windows XP and Win 7. As soon as I removed that Feature from the Generals Folder the game ran smooth. This is also the case for multiplayer games (except for those where one Opponent has Performance Problems).

- Flash based web Video programs/web sites seem to slow down the Connection considerably, even if you're having more than enough bandwith to maintain both watching a stream and playing a game. Close down your web browser when you're experiencing delay

- there might be Problems when playing with "high Sound Quality" activated, especially when certain types of onboard Sound Chips are used.





If you're experiencing the common "Generals lag" aka low framerate and/or unit stuttering in SAGE engine games (so not only Generals, but also battle for middle earth 1&2 aswell), try following:



1) go to your Generals Sub Folder:

usually you can find it under something like "C:/Program Files(x86)/EA GAMES/Command & Conquer Generals - Zero Hour", or if you have The First Decade it's: "C:/Program Files(x86)/EA GAMES/Command & Conquer The First Decade/Command & Conquer Generals - Zero Hour")

2) right click -> properties

3) under category 'general' click on 'extended'

4) disable check at "allow Windows to index data additionally to properties"

5) click 'apply'

6) enjoy C&C Generals without lag



Have fun and enjoy

DarcReaver

Saw this and was incredibly skeptical at first. No more lag with such a simple fix? Impossible! So I gave it a go and started up a game with 6 brutal bots. Lo and behold, there was no lag or drop in FPS. Granted, it only dipped when a lot of things were happening on screen. But it ran very smoothly all the way through. This friggin' works.HOWEVER the instructions are justunclear in some areas which may mislead some people who had the issue I had when trying this out. When you get to your EA Games folder (Or wherever your ZH folder is), right click the ZH, click "Properties", look in the "General" tab where it shows "Attributes" down at the bottom, click "Advanced" and uncheck "Allow Files in this folder to have contents indexed in addition to file properties". Hit "OK", then "Apply" and apply it to all folders and subfolders and you're good to go.Anyway though, lots of credit to DarcReaver for figuring this out. Pretty relieving for a compstomper like myself