When resources are loaded into memory, they are not compressed... you wouldn't want to decompress a GIF or PNG each time you want to draw it on the screen.
Understandable about the freezes. Though point of fact, when a program is chugging like that windows declares it to be non-responsive if you click on it (grays the window out) and may ask if you want to terminate the program.
Also in this case with the save file I posted I had underestimated the sheer amount of changes that had been made to the research tree between versions, which the game had to fully process. Guess that was the equivalent of when the patch update happened I just didnt expect it there.
One possible improvement that do not change functionality is change of memory layout of data that program use.
If you're taking up 1 Gb of ram, apparently it is loading ALL of the resources for the entire mod (and game) all into memory and then just leaving it there until it references it. I had no idea it was doing this so I was thinking there was something wrong with the way it was operating in memory.
Easy solution for that is don't load resources from the hard drive (only keep them queued) until the program actually needs to use them. Then for example at certain points where those resources wont be needed for awhile... unload them from memory. When a ground mission ends (also would apply to all tactical musics)... when you close the ufopedia...
(you could even go as far as to defer loading on demand for certain classes of images, such as only loading the paper dolls for units that you've actually seen the inventory screen of - how often does one successfully mind control an enemy unit for the majority of the game...)
Even on my computer the HD bump to load those resources would be barely noticeable, and on a modern machine it wouldn't even register.
There are a ton of game resources that you will probably never see until very late in the game, that are being loaded and just left there in memory unnecessarily.
Only exemptions I can think of for this would be anything in the native game package formats like the .dat files and terrain stuff. Safe to say that probably no modder, dioxine included, will package up the bulk of their mod into the arcane vanilla formats.
(for example if resources were being loaded on demand someone could technically modify some inventory or ufopedia graphic on the hd, open the ufopedia and look at the item and it would be different because it wouldnt have been retained in memory; rinse and repeat. There is no real functionality for this and I wouldnt care for using it that way, but its to illustrate an example)
Less resources floating around may also reduce stability problems and other overhead.
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Possible Bug:
In my playthrough (which started on .99 G5) it seems that Spartan Ships are being used by Raiders, and Raider Ships are being used by Spartans. Screenshot attached. There's nothing wrong with the battles or anything, its just this switch is something that has been consistently going on ever since they showed up.
