Code a game comp - MIX-IT-UP - Aug 25th to Oct 20th 2019

[Derron]

@ Stevie
Now ... before people "feel lucky":
- check what you changed since last version
- check if that can result in some GPU-related changes
- check if that change resulted in graphics stuff being rendered "invisible" (backbuffer is reused over and over without changing)


@ Adam
Maybe check if the old version is still freezing (maybe it was a Windows thing)


bye
Ron

[STEVIE G]

@ Stevie
Now ... before people "feel lucky":
- check what you changed since last version
- check if that can result in some GPU-related changes
- check if that change resulted in graphics stuff being rendered "invisible" (backbuffer is reused over and over without changing)


@ Adam
Maybe check if the old version is still freezing (maybe it was a Windows thing)


bye
Ron

The only thing which was changed which could impact the GPU was combining the background buildings and shadows into 2 x single surfaces, rather than individual quads, for rendering.  It probably resulted in better  performance and less load on the GPU.  Technically it wasn't a bug as it didn't cause any issues here but changing it probably resolved the issues for Adam.

Also, Vanarchy used this single surface system for the building rendering so might explain why that was fine and Gunstar not so much.

[Derron]

Hmm ... sounds kind of reasonable .. a bit.

Glad it works now


bye
Ron

[STEVIE G]

Hmm ... sounds kind of reasonable .. a bit.

Glad it works now


bye
Ron

Me too.  Although it wasn't a change related to the game itself I'm happy to revert to the old building render method for the comp if anyone has any objections? 

[RemiD]

was combining the background buildings and shadows into 2 x single surfaces, rather than individual quads, for rendering.

about merging different meshes/surfaces into one mesh/surface, to decrease rendering time, yes it is a good idea, but ! with Blitz3d, the number of vertices and triangles you can put in a surface is not a constant number, it seems to depend on several factors others than the number of vertices and triangles (which is theorically around 65000) in practice, i got MAVs on some laptops, with much less, so for my snow fall snow accumulation demo, i chose to stop at 32000 vertices and 32000 triangles per surface (i have not seen any MAV since...)

[STEVIE G]

was combining the background buildings and shadows into 2 x single surfaces, rather than individual quads, for rendering.

about merging different meshes/surfaces into one mesh/surface, to decrease rendering time, yes it is a good idea, but ! with Blitz3d, the number of vertices and triangles you can put in a surface is not a constant number, it seems to depend on several factors others than the number of vertices and triangles (which is theorically around 65000) in practice, i got MAVs on some laptops, with much less, so for my snow fall snow accumulation demo, i chose to stop at 32000 vertices and 32000 triangles per surface (i have not seen any MAV since...)

I have had that issue in the past and seems to be machine dependant but generally I always stuck with 32k. 


I was having a decent play just there and quit at Wave 23 with 311,625 and 7 lives remaining ... beat that!!

Bizarrely, the on Wave 14 another Gunstar spawned and gave me a helping hand .. trying to work out why that happened but was a pleasant surprise.   

[3DzForMe]

Release incorporating 2 player reliability improvements:

Game Title: The Wildest West
Download link and OS requirements: Windows (various OSs + 3D card probably): https://gpsrunningdude.itch.io/ww2
Required dependancies: fmod.dll (included)
Mix-It-Up option chosen: Option 2 : Retro / Shooter
Brief info about your game: Based on a 42 year old game - Boot Hill
Media information - In house musician provided music (my son).
                             JayEnKai provided code for producing Voxel kinda graphics from .png(s) - with a fair amt of fettling to move from yours truly.
                             Big thanks to JayEnKai, and Calum Gormley for music and screams.


https://gpsrunningdude.itch.io/ww2

2 player game allows both players to reload reliably. Although Player 2 seems have to have developed Teflon skin. Still some bug to squish (2300 ish 25 Oct 19)

[therevills]

Congrats all for getting a completed for this compo! 

I'll be checking them out over the weekend!

[3DzForMe]

@therevills - Don't waste too much time on mine until Sunday - it needs a (erm, cough....) a bit more fettling.

gunstar - great defender esque game play reminiscent of the fun I had pumping 20p pieces into the chippy's Defender game in the 'village' a while ago. It was the 'hang-out' spot a (short) while ago - 3D frantic fun to be had galore.


creepy crawlies - I'd recommend slowing down the left and right speed - it seems to shift left and right at a speed that is very hard to judge when to take your finger of the controls (maybe I'm too much of an old fart - I'll consult the other avid gamers at home) Only issue I've seen though, very polished

Honey Things: Seems to just work well for me here

Tyoob:  This game had me holding my breath as I got further into the tunnel, love the sound track too

Sorry haven't had too much time to play test - been a bit busy trying to achieve the nigh on implausible never mind the impossible with my effort

[3DzForMe]

I've laughed (creating some of the accompanying sounds) - I've nearly cried (honestly - just over a week ago at the death knell of submission.)

This is probably it. I've plans for AI improvement - however, I've put in a good 9 hours since 4 (or was it 5 - think it was 5, we're back at GMT - goodbye Zulu thank god.)

I digress. Here is the WildestWestExe - yes - I could've made a sweet front end with buttons and stuff - but, getting it this far has been a MOMENTOUS task.

https://gpsrunningdude.itch.io/wildestwest

Cheers Qube - and as for Xerra and that bloody hat! You'll note, Player one is still modelling this years best in JayKai tall hats - there is code which lends itself to allowing the thing to fly off gracefully towards you - however - it has been shrowded in lots of other code.

One last thing - at the start of this - I aspired to 64 lines of code per file....... just going to check my main.bb     

Hmmm, it would seem I exceeded my initial lines per file by roughly 5060 lines - easily done though

[Qube]

Hmmm, it would seem I exceeded my initial lines per file by roughly 5060 lines - easily done though

Lol, thankfully the days of cramming as much as you can into one line and using single letter variables for everything is long gone

Bug fix week is over - Huge thanks to all those that entered and good luck in the voting.

I'll stick up the voting thread tonight

[RemiD]

I'll stick up the voting thread tonight

can you leave the voting open for a few days ? i have not taken the time to test any game yet... (busy modeling/unwraping/uvmapping/3ddrawing...)

[3DzForMe]

I think it's normally open for a week......

[Qube]

I'll stick up the voting thread tonight

can you leave the voting open for a few days ? i have not taken the time to test any game yet... (busy modeling/unwraping/uvmapping/3ddrawing...)

Might be a good idea as I've not played any yet either and I don't just want to spend 5 minutes on each one.

I'm happy to put the vote up on 1st of November ( I guess bug fixing can continue til then too ) unless a majority of entrants disagree?

[iWasAdam]

that would give time for people to think up what they did or didn't like and may give some 'constructive' feedback as well, plus possible magazine thoughts for the entrants?