The game looks great. I like the graphics, though it's a little odd that the mob is drawn top-down and the walls aren't. I'm a sucker for simple graphics and nice colors with black outlines =)
As I'm sure you're aware, it took a while to start up. Is it really just because there are so many maps and objects?
In some projects with autojoining turfs I'd use the turf's constructor to update its icon_state. As I added maps the game started more and more slowly. I didn't suspect this at first because with a single decently-sized map it'd cause no visible delay, but eventually it added up. If there's any processing like that that could be delayed instead of being done in the turf's New() proc that might make a bit of a difference.
Also, the game is very choppy when I move. The clouds move smoothly as long as I'm standing still but as soon as I move it gets very choppy. I've had problems like this when using screen objects with pixel movement. The BYOND staff has told me that they've fixed this problem but it's certainly still around. I'm uploading a video, I'll add the link here when it's done.
CPU usage (while standing still) was around 30-40% outside and dropped to 15-20% inside the first cave. I'm not sure what the difference was (were the clouds really that much?). Also, it's on a dual-core CPU so the usage numbers have a max of 50%.
Edit: Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxjui9HG0i4
ID:350895
 Feb 25 2012, 5:55 am (Edited on Feb 25 2012, 6:08 am)
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I suspect the problem is screen objects. I've had BYOND projects run perfectly smooth at 40 fps, but once a single screen object is added it becomes choppy when you move (though it remains fine as long as the screen isn't scrolling).
I had posted about this issue in a BYOND bug report but the staff thinks it is fixed. Clearly, it isn't. | |
The new version does load a lot faster.
I've noticed the performance is a lot better inside the dungeon. I'm not sure if it has improved since v0.4 or if it's just the difference that not having clouds makes. Using wires is awkward. The game slows down significantly when several wires are placed on the map. It'd be nice if you didn't need to use the mouse at all. Not only would it make the inventory easier to use (ex: press Q to open or close instead of holding Q to have it open) but sometimes left and right are flipped - left clicking uses what's equipped in your right hand, the object in your right hand is marked with an "L" in the inventory. Mouse input can be unresponsive in certain situations. This is just something BYOND does when CPU usage climbs. It's also odd that you use Q to open your inventory or a chest/enemy's inventory. E is a little awkward to use for opening things. Is space bar used for anything? I have my thumb resting on it to use WASD to move, maybe it'd be better to have space bar open doors/chests. | |
Forum_account wrote:
Using wires is awkward. The game slows down significantly when several wires are placed on the map. It's hard to come up with a solution for this problem, because wires have become an essential part of the game-play and there aren't many different schemes we can use for intuitive wire-placing. I'll trying making them faster, though It'd be nice if you didn't need to use the mouse at all. Not only would it make the inventory easier to use (ex: press Q to open or close instead of holding Q to have it open) but sometimes left and right are flipped - left clicking uses what's equipped in your right hand, the object in your right hand is marked with an "L" in the inventory. I've longed for a keyboard-only control scheme for a while, however I can't seem to come up with something yet. Using the arrows to navigate the inventory menu zelda-style would be interesting, however it would take much longer for players to switch around their items n' stuff. The hands have been 99.999% correct so far( the 0.001% being you, lol) so I have no idea why that would happen, and I'm going to assume you may have just look at it wrong(I don't know, unless you mean how if you face a certain direction the hands can flip because of the way it turns) Mouse input can be unresponsive in certain situations. This is just something BYOND does when CPU usage climbs. Mouse input becomes progressively unresponsive as the game is up for a longer period of time, which is probably caused by the instanced dungeons. Not 100% sure about this though, because it could also be a result of icon procs(which are all cached). It's also odd that you use Q to open your inventory or a chest/enemy's inventory. Q is right where your hand is, and since you're not moving while you press the button it is actually easy to use. I suppose it just takes a brief moment to become accustomed to, but most players enjoy the tight control scheme. E is a little awkward to use for opening things. Is space bar used for anything? I have my thumb resting on it to use WASD to move, maybe it'd be better to have space bar open doors/chests. I'll have the option to use E or spacebar. | |
It's hard to come up with a solution for this problem, because wires have become an essential part of the game-play and there aren't many different schemes we can use for intuitive wire-placing. I'll trying making them faster, though It wasn't just that placing them is awkward. With many wires on the map the game became unresponsive to mouse input. I placed wires to get to a chest to find that BYOND isn't registering the mouse clicks so I can't get the items in the chest. I can use the wire cutters to remove the wires... but I have to click on them to equip them =) I've longed for a keyboard-only control scheme for a while, however I can't seem to come up with something yet. Using the arrows to navigate the inventory menu zelda-style would be interesting, however it would take much longer for players to switch around their items n' stuff. Lots of item switching should be avoided anyway. It might be better to use the mouse to drop a lot of items, but for simple things that you'd do inside a dungeon (switch what weapon is equipped) it'd be easier to only use the keyboard. I'll check the directions again, but I remember the sword had an "L" next to it but was equipped in my right hand. I guess the "L" means "left mouse button", not "left hand", and that left clicks use your primary item (the item held in your right hand). I found O and P to be easier to use because P was on the right side and used the item in my right hand (O and P also don't have the responsiveness problems that mouse input has). Q is right where your hand is, and since you're not moving while you press the button it is actually easy to use. I suppose it just takes a brief moment to become accustomed to, but most players enjoy the tight control scheme. It's not that the key is difficult to reach, but that it's the same key to open your inventory or an enemy's. | |
I'll think about converting the game to being keyboard-only. I can also probably fix wires to not cause speed issues.
Q generally opens the inventory window to view any list of items. It becomes drilled into the player's head after a dungeon or two | |
I found myself hitting Q to open the inventory of an enemy I just killed, but I guess I wasn't close enough so it opened mine instead and I thought "hey, the enemy had the same items I have" =)
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I see what you mean there.
Oh yeah, I just realized I haven't been running the game in hardware mode. That probably makes a very large difference in performance speed. | |
The game seems to run better now, but at the end of the first dungeon dreamseeker.exe was maxing out my CPU. I'm not sure what caused it - it may have started when I equipped the bow and fired a few shots.
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The projectiles use a moderately modified version of the projectiles in your shooter demo.
I'm probably going to spend a lot of time optimizing 0.8 so i'm gonna have to get back to profiling things, lol | |
It could have just been a coincidence that I noticed the slowdown after firing some arrows. The CPU usage remained high even after the projectiles were gone so I'm not positive they were causing it. I noticed it after only firing a few arrows and I don't think that'd be enough to max out the CPU.
Other than that, the performance is much better than it used to be. | |
I'm not sure if this was cause for the CPU usage, but it definitely is helping somewhere, lol.
In all of my tests both offline and online, I have been able to play the game without any CPU issues. The clouds use opacity and this could be causing the issue you're having(Clouds have consistently shown speed issues with the players, especially when the game-play becomes more demanding).
It's also notable that the game renders a bunch of stuff as the game is running. If your graphics card is slow, this can slow down DS regardless of whether you're on a good server or not. On a computer using windows 2k, the game seems to run at half of the FPS as it does on my windows 7 toshiba satellite.