shamino wrote on 2021-04-08, 22:05:

I suspect the abruptness of the freezups in this game is a result of the AI script processing. Certain events may trigger a flood of work not just to interpret the scripts but also because the script may decide to (for example) launch an attack with 100 units, triggering a sudden load of searching for those units and pathfinding all of them at once. There may also be cascade effects of 1 AI action triggering more AI actions.
This kind of behavior could explain the sudden and inconsistent choppiness.

I haven't played in a few years but I recall I still had issues with 200pop on a P3 866/133, but maybe I didn't on a Barton 2100/200. Never played it on a Tualatin.

I'd suspect this as well. I played the game + expansion when it came out on a Pentium II 333 MHz with 64 MB RAM. More than playable with 8 players on large map (even over 56k dialup), but there were always slowdowns during the final end game, especially during large attacks. Same issues on my later XP based P3 1.3 GHz and Athlon 64 3400+ systems.