I repaired that bug to get stuck when walking over dead enemies . Also, I did some performance tune and gained 50% faster framerate (that means 25-26 on average :-*) at my machine (old laptop, Radeon 8500).
Uploaded new version
to JGF
and
my pages
That helped! Performance on the P4 mentioned above is now at 25-30fps.
I did some changes that should raise the gameplay:
- fullscreen - go to options, and select it (it is default option). Around 40% better FPS in fullscreen mode for me!
- roll over effect in menus so that player knows when will something happen if he click the mouse button
- increased movement speed. Now running and exploring the island is more dynamic, I think.
- A little darker exterior, for better mood.
- If someone is interested in little stats (fps, camera pos…), press F10 to see them.
It’s definetly comming along -
It ran fine on my computer at work -
Dual processor P4 4.2 Ghz SMP - 2GB RAM - ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB RAM
Then again - Everything runs great on my office computer 
- gotta get me one of those for home 
Dual processor… cccc… some job you have. All they gave to ME is Laptop (1,4Ghz) with Radeon 7500… :’(
EDIT: (Still, majority of Monstrumo code is done by that monster …)
Just some progress info. This weekend I concentrated on two aspects : performance and better visual experience.
I discovered that my think() class that I call every frame for each visible enemy could have been improved. So i’ve done that. On some places performance was 100% better than before !
Besides that I added some colorful bushes, more realistic looking palm trees and smoother pirate’s animation.
Soon I will upload everything (sometime tomorrow) to new version.
These shots were taken in 1024*768 resolution on my AMD64 3000+, Radeon9800Pro at home. Framerate never dropped below 60 FPS, and sometimes it hit 100FPS (when there is less in your frustum). Good.
EDIT: Last edit today, (I hope). It’s late and I am going to sleep. I really don’t know why didn’t add more sounds to the game earlier. I just recorded some hey’s, steps, scary laughs ( ;D, don’t laugh at me if they are not scary, I’m peaceful man). Gameplay is much better actually when you can HEAR you enemies patrolling around and when you KNOW that they noticed you!
EDIT: new version available :D: play here
very cool! liking it 8)
the game starts, I also can set options, but when I want to start it loads and then I get an unknown error from my Java Webstar.
I’m running it from Linux
I am sorry to hear that! Until now I have thought that Monstrumo runs on Linux (kapta tried it and it works, all except midi which wasn’t loaded properly…). What do you mean by an unknown error? Any stack trace? And did you hear some music at the menu?
I am thinking how to implement more dynamic fight with swords. Something that will move gameplay a little beyont hit - block - hit - block - hit style… I could add an extra pirate attack so he will have 2 of them. Also, player will have two block types (egg from the left and right). So fight will be more chalenging: player needs to observe which attack is pirate performing and react accordingly (with one block or another) in order to stop it. Moreover, he will have to time his block properly.
Only thing I am not shure about is if that type of fight is too complex for FPS (maybe I should leave it for RPG?)
Any suggestions?
Well, I’m afraid I don’t have any solution to you combat dilemna (it’s pretty good as it is now though), but I thought I’d give a little update on how the game is working for me.
Ok, on my older computer, the game used to run horribly slow, almost unplayable. I’ve just downloaded the new update however, and it seems like I’m getting around a 400-600% increase in speed. Quite significant. Not only that but the graphics look better too! I also noticed you fixed the some clicking problems with the main menu and options (it used to be very hard for me to change the resolution), as well as made the cursor highlight when clickable. Very nice. Anyway, it’s now running at around 20-30 fps, and would be very playable except for two things.
One, it seems like the game stutters for at least a solid half second every 5-10 seconds. Two, after playing for approximately a minute, my screen gets those evil, short, verticle green lines that appear at the top during a fatal crash. Comp freezes up. push power button
This probably isn’t entirely your fault, and the game may very well run perfect on 90% of the computers out there. This computer only has 192 mb of ram, and is running Win98. But it can competantly run Descent 3 at reasonable settings, so it’s not incapable (though now that I think about it, it might have a similar “stuttering” issue, just less frequently). I realize, however, that you aren’t a well-funded development team, and haven’t had months to optimize for efficiency, but I thought I’d speak on behalf of those who aren’t using the newest, fastest computers.
Edit: Just tried the app in Fullscreen mode and I felt I needed to comment on that. It appears as though the game doesn’t crash in fullscreen mode (maybe just coincidence? I’ve done windowed twice, fullscreen once), and the stuttering seems to go away after about a minute of play, only recurring when I start running to some unvisited area. Framerate great the whole time. But you are right, the pirates seems a bit easy to kill with the block-hit method. And quite oppositely, I can’t figure out how the kill the zombies at all save throwing explosive barrels at them. I can only block about half their hits, and my sword is always blocked by them. Or am I doing something wrong?
Edit2: Forgot to mention one other problem that occured while in fullscreen mode. About 10 minutes in, my mouse stopped working. Just stopped. I minimized the application, mouse still won’t work. This has happened before, and the only solution seems to be to turn the computer off and on (restart won’t work, has to be cold boot). Thing is, last time it happened, it was with Rimscape? I honestly don’t know what’s going on here.
Thank you for such a big comment on my game. On my comp performance increase was about 100 - 120 %, so that are very good news!
I have a feeling that it is connected with 192 MB of RAM you have. The game needs 244 MB of memory, so every 5-10 s comp is probably doing something with your virtual memory. And then it stutters. Hmmm. About that crashes… Maybe lwjgl have some issues with Win98? I’ll have to check it out.
;D, that would be nice, but no, I am alone and this is my hobby I have for fun and glory!
Uh, sorry, it is a bug, you are doing everything OK. I have put that blocking factor to 100% for testing purposes, and forgot about it :-\ . Will be updated as soon as possible…
EDIT: it is included in latest version…
Maybe there IS some issues with Win98 and LWJGL? Is anyone aware of them? Those kind of problems were never reported before and I am pretty positive that you are the first one running it on Win98…
EDIT: I didn’t mention that cause of your problems could be in drivers, too. Do you have latest drivers for your graphics card? Which one is it?
I definately have the latest drivers for my graphics card. I went through every single possible driver for my card on the NVidia site until I found the most recent functioning one. Wasted many hours with that. :\
I didn’t think the Mouse and Graphics Drivers were connected though.
Today is my birthday and I want to hear only good things about my game! ;D
Happy Birthday!
I will try your game when I get some time, and will say some good things about it ;D
Just for you I uploaded a new version.
- Some buggy collision with trees is repaired now.
- All enemies will drop dead (when dead,of course) and gradually become invisible.
- Collision system is now defined on grid. That way every particle can test if it collide with someone within it’s cell, not with just anyone in the field. Another performance boost!
- Hit F10 for little stats…
Since JGF is dead for now, you can play it here - Version 0.6.5
EDIT: JGF is up —> play at JGF - Version 0.6.5
Like you said, I wouldnt make it too complex for an FPS. Compare “Die by the sword” to “Jedi knight” or “Rune” and most people (including me) will say that the last two are more fun.
Since I’m a big fan of cooperative LAN games: would that be an idea for your game?
After I polish everything, round up story and connect several different levels, that is deffinitely something I will try to implement. Tnx for suggestion
Quite impressed you got around 40% better FPS in fullscreen mode. (writes on post it note, sticks to monitor “Must try FS mode!”)
Could do with your advice on drawing the player’s weapon.
My drawing order is:
- loadIdentity
- glu LookAt (camera info)
- drawSkybox
- drawTerrain
- drawObjects + other 3D
- drawWeapon
- All 2D stuff
However, in order to get the weapon to draw right I’m having to pushMatrix after loadidentity and before gluLookat, which has the effect of ‘freezing’ my frustum.
Any ideas?
Peter, my main rendering process would look like this:
- glLoadIdentity()
- gluLookAt()
- calculateFrustumPlanes()
- renderSkyDome()
- drawMap()
- moveParticles() (and draw them, trees, grass, enemies ...)
- checkCollisions()
- drawWeaponOnScreen()
- drawHUD()
Amazingly similar to your rendering.
In drawWeaponOnScreen() method I do:
glPushMatrix();
glLoadIdentity(); ---> to reset matrix and draw no mater what was drawn before
player.getCurrentWeapon().draw(textures, frameTimeDelta, camera);
glPopMatrix();
What do you mean by freezing frustum? Maybe you have to glLoadIdentity() after glPushMatrix() in drawing weapon on screen?
hope it helps…
EDIT: Oh, yes, Peter, what was speed of Monstrumo at your machine (if I recall, you have Radeon 9550?). I should be ~80FPS? (I hope :))