Messages

31

Off Topic / Re: Hello and Good news I think

« on: 2010-Sep-16 »

They want developers pay a tax of 1000+ euros for developing for iPhone.

Actually, I've just bought an Apple licence and it costs US$100 or £59 in real money. Very different to 1000+ euros which (according to today's conversion rate) works out at £827.27. Your quote is more than 14 times the actual cost.

I think the 1000+ euro price is to include the cost of a Mac, iDevice and dev license.

Mac Mini - £650
iPod Touch - £189
Dev License - £59
Total - £898

So it turns out 1000 euros is an underestimation! 

32

Beta Tests / Re: Glowing Rocks from Outer Space

« on: 2010-Sep-15 »

Thanks for the praise, but there won't be an iThing version. I don't own any Apple products, mainly for the abonimations that are QuickTime and iTunes. I also don't intend to pay £650 for a Mac Mini, when a PC of the same spec would only cost about half as much. But that's enough of my anti-Apple rant

33

Beta Tests / Re: Glowing Rocks from Outer Space

« on: 2010-Sep-14 »

  Thanks guys

I downloaded GLB about 3 weeks ago, and spent a few hours most evenings working on it, so it just shows how easy GLB is to get to grips with.

I think I might well buy it now

34

Beta Tests / Re: Glowing Rocks from Outer Space

« on: 2010-Sep-13 »

Yeah, the rotation speed was also mention when I posted on RR, so I'll up that a bit. I've been asked for the source code, so when I've made a few changes and tidied it up, I'll put that up here as well.

35

Beta Tests / Glowing Rocks from Outer Space

« on: 2010-Sep-13 »

So it's a rubbishy title, but what did you expect from an Asteroids clone?

Couple of screenshots attached so you can see what it looks like. Download linkage (3MB) is here

Source code now available: http://tymargames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/GlowingRocksSource.zip

Makes use of MrTAToads vector code and PeeJays bitmap font routine - thanks guys, the game looks much because of that

[attachment deleted by admin]

36

GLBasic - en / Re: Polyvector confusion :(

« on: 2010-Sep-13 »

What graphics card do you have? Maybe it doesn't textures of that size?

37

GLBasic - en / Re: Guidance on using the profiler

« on: 2010-Sep-11 »

I'm not too worried about a slight bit of lag when the music loops, as it's only on the menu screen, so it won't really be noticable.

For the moment I'm going with playing a 1 second non-looped silent MP3 as a replacement for the music. If I have to ship my game in that state, then so be it. It's only a freebie Asteroids clone to help me get to grips with GLB anyway.

38

GLBasic - en / Re: Guidance on using the profiler

« on: 2010-Sep-11 »

One thing you can try : Put a SLEEP command of, say, 500 directly after the STOPMUSIC command.  I'm wondering if the swap file is being tidied at just the wrong time...

Tried that, even increased it to SLEEP 1000, and I still get erratic frame rates

39

GLBasic - en / Re: Guidance on using the profiler

« on: 2010-Sep-11 »

So I stuck in a keyboard toggle to turn the music on and off, and as soon as it went off the frame counter went screwy, but as soon as I turned the music back on again, the counter stabilised.

I then changed it to toggle between playing music and a silent file, and the frame counter remained stable. Either my program is doing something very strange or StopMusic is sufferning from a bug.

Time for a bit of code I guess..

So my main file essentially does this:

Code: (glbasic) [Select]

PLAYMUSIC "Media/Audio/menuMusic.mp3", TRUE

WHILE TRUE
SELECT game.state$
CASE "menu"
displayMenu()

CASE "game"
playGame()
ENDSELECT
WEND

My menu function does this:

Code: (glbasic) [Select]

FUNCTION displayMenu:
WHILE game.state$ = "menu"
// display some menu screen stuff here

// wait for fire key to start game
IF KEY(44)
STOPMUSIC
startGame()
ENDIF

SHOWSCREEN
WEND
ENDFUNCTION
[code=glbasic]

Then we have the startGame function:
[code=glbasic]
FUNCTION startGame:
// set some variables for the start of the game
player.score = 0
player.lives = 4
game.currLevel = 1
game.extraLifeScore = 10000
game.state$="game"

// spawn player and start the level
spawnPlayer()
spawnUFO()
startLevel()
ENDFUNCTION

Finally we have the playGame funciton:

Code: (glbasic) [Select]

FUNCTION playGame:
WHILE game.state$ = "game"
updatePlayer()
updatePlayerBullets()
updateSparks()
updateRocks()
updateUFO()
updateExplosions()
displayHUD()
SHOWSCREEN
WEND
ENDFUNCTION

That should be pretty much everything for the game flow. I've tried moving the StopMusic command around, I've tried putting If IsMusicPlaying() to only stop the music if it's already playing, and nothing helps. I'm probably just overlooking something, but I can't see what.

40

GLBasic - en / Jerky frame rate after using STOPMUSIC

« on: 2010-Sep-11 »

So here's the output from a quick blast at my current game:

Code: (glbasic) [Select]

                Date     Time       QuerPerfFreq
         Sep 11 2010 08:37:18               2610
            Function    Calls Tot.with childs[s] Exec.only[s] Av.Exe[s/call]
TVector_GetNextIndex   352821              0.000        0.000          0.000
                Line   352821              0.000        0.000          0.000
     TVector_Display    40411              0.000        0.000          0.000
        TVector_Load        9              0.000        0.000          0.000
            playGame        1             62.335       60.579         60.579
          startLevel        3              0.000        0.000          0.000
      __MainGameSub_        1             65.938        0.017          0.017
     playerCrashRock     3492              0.000        0.000          0.000
         spawnPlayer      243              0.000        0.000          0.000
      playerShotRock     4923              0.000        0.000          0.000
       playerShotUFO     4923              0.000        0.000          0.000
          displayHUD     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
 updatePlayerBullets     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
         playerShoot       94              0.000        0.000          0.000
       explodePlayer        2              0.000        0.000          0.000
        updateSparks     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
        createSparks      363              0.000        0.000          0.000
        updatePlayer     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
       defineGlobals        1              0.052        0.052          0.052
     loadRockVectors        1              0.002        0.000          0.000
             cirColl    35140              0.000        0.000          0.000
           startGame        1              0.001        0.001          0.001
         displayMenu        1              3.501        3.400          3.400
 CalculateKern_fancy        1              0.015        0.015          0.015
            DrawChar    49518              0.000        0.000          0.000
            DrawText     8747              0.001        0.001          0.000
           RightText     3762              0.000        0.000          0.000
           TextColor      209              0.000        0.000          0.000
           TextAlpha        1              0.000        0.000          0.000
             AddFont        1              0.030        0.014          0.014
         updateRocks     3940              0.000        0.000          0.000
          spawnRocks       15              0.000        0.000          0.000
    updateExplosions     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
         explodeRock       28              0.000        0.000          0.000
            spawnUFO        1              0.000        0.000          0.000
           updateUFO     3731              0.000        0.000          0.000
               Total   883860            131.875       64.079
Am I right in thinking that despite there being over 350,000 calls to TVector_GetNetIndex, because the times are all 0.00, it's not causing any particular delays in my code?

I'm just trying to figure out why I'm getting some rather random looking stuttering/lag on screen and some rather variable frame rates, despite having set the FPS limiter to 60. My FPS counter shows that the game is fluctuating constantly between about 49FPS and 97FPS. (it's an Asteroids game, so imagine the player just sitting in the middle with a few asteroids making their way across the screen. I'd have thought after a second or two, things would have calmed down and the game would run at a more or less constant rate. If I were constantly creating and destroying objects, I could maybe understand spikes and dips, but not when the game is sitting doing very little.

I appreciate it's a little difficult for you guys to guess stuff sithout seeing my code, but if you have any starting points that I can use to figure out what be causing this problem, I'd appreciate it.

Edit -> OK, so I've found the cause of the stuttering, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

When my game starts up, I use PlayMusic to set an MP3 file looping in the background. This plays whilst the player is on the menu screen, but I don't want it to play during the game. When the player starts the game proper, one of the last calls the menu function makes is to StopMusic. The music stops, but that's what introduces the lag.

As soon as I comment out the StopMusic command, I get a constant 60FPS all through my game. I've tried moving the StopMusic command around, but it doesn't seem to help. Anyone else had this, or is it just me?

Edit 2 -> Changed thread title to something more appropriate

41

GLBasic - en / Re: Wav byte

« on: 2010-Sep-10 »

Take a look here: http://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=4897.0

The SFXR wrapper outputs the sound as a .wav file, and the wav writing code is in its own little function.

42

GLBasic - en / Re: LF Game Developer/Programmer

« on: 2010-Sep-09 »

I haven't attacked you, and I apologise if my postings came across in that way, as it certainly wasn't my intention. I can see from your website that your 3D renders and animations are impressive, but that doesn't mean that you can create low poly assets suitable for a game. I was simply suggesting that you create a few models, stick them in a scene and mock up some game type screenshots.

You're not alone at being new to this particular forum - I've only been here a short time myself, but I have found the people friendly and willing to help where they can.

43

Bug Reports / Re: IDE issues Strange/unknown characters, language issues

« on: 2010-Sep-08 »

I see the error in the edit menu as well.

It looks like the square should be interpreted as a space or maybe a line break between the name of the tool tip, and the keyboard shortcut to access it. Unfortunately I don't see the keyboard shortcut when I hover over a toolbar icon (I just get the description), so I don't see the square. Is there an option to turn that on?

44

GLBasic - en / Re: LF Game Developer/Programmer

« on: 2010-Sep-08 »

I have received a few emails from interested parties so far. The main issue is that the games they have shown tend to be overly complicated (requires a 100 page manual to play), some major language barrier issues, or the examples they show are mainly 2D.

As I said before, if I see a pretty amazing portfolio that looks like it has potential to translate what I need (think 3d type of pinball game but not quite), I'd send over a NDA followed by some screenshots.

I don't want to come across as overly negative here, but it sounds like you're on a bit of a fishing trip. Chuck out some bait (of fancy 3D renders - none of which are game related), and hope some programmers bite.

A lot of people have ideas, very few are good ones, and even fewer of the good ones get executed.

I'm presuming your idea is a good one then? How can anyone tell from the phrase "type of pinball game, but not quite"?

Unfortunately, I maintain 8 websites and run a 3D company, marketing, manage gf aggro, and all the rest that entails which takes a load of time.

You're not alone in being busy. Programmers aren't sitting twiddling their thumbs waiting for an artist/muscian to come along and pretty up their game. They're getting on with the job and making progress. Once they've got something to show, they can look for artists and muscians.

Seriously, I would suggest that you setup a website and create some game related 3D models in "the blink of an eye". Tanks, spaceships, buildings, characters, street furniture, anything. If you want people to send you their portfolio, at least show everyone else yours, and how it relates to games.

45

GLBasic - en / Re: LF Game Developer/Programmer

« on: 2010-Sep-07 »

Unity is pretty good. I was *this close* (holds fingers very close together) to buying it when they made it freely available It works perfectly under Windows.

The paid for version does have some lovely extra features, but for my personal use, they were overpriced. Things like proper realtime shadows are only in the paid for version, and the blobby shadows of the Indie version are rubbish. There are workarounds (essentially creating a sprite out of your 3D object and using that as the shadow), but I couldn't be bothered and dropped it.

With regard to the feature list below, Unity is 3D only, but you can set the camera so that it renders without perspective, effectively giving you a 2D environment.

As to the OP, it's all very well saying you have a good idea, but loads of people have those. To get others onboard, you need to have something to entice them. Even if it's only a cobbled together demo that runs on the PC. If others can see the potential in what you're trying to do, they're much more likely to want to get involved. Yes, programming it may be a hassle for you, but you'll stand a much better chance of achieving your goal.

Alternatively, get your name out there a bit. Look for projects that have a working demo but are looking for 3D artists to join their team. Submit your stuff and get your name known on a few forums. If you can come at from that angle, you might also find others are willing to work with you, simply because at the very least the game will look good!