Compileable version of Alien Breed 3D II - The Killing Grounds

[abu_the_monkey]

ok so now player 2 does not move around at all, all inputs are being read as it bobbles as if walking but goes nowhere.

I will check if the main branch acts the same.

[abu_the_monkey]

all works correct in the main branch from a very limited test run.

[Karlos]

Thanks. I'll have to dig into it later. It may have been a bit of an ambitious refactor.

[abu_the_monkey]

I am sure you will find the solution

it may react differently and be ok on real hardware also, that I can not test.

[abu_the_monkey]

FYI you can not run a two player game between the whdload version and the new builds for some reason.

[Angus]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

nothing in particular, just general stuff speed, any 'new' glitches, etc. but do try the 'F8' option for simple walls please

Hi, first impression, it seems a bit nippier/smoother. I don't necessarily see that reflected in the fps counter, but that's how it feels, and I tried the older version to refresh my memory. In the smaller screen, I'm typically getting between 20 and 25.6(!). (Blizzard 1260 @50mhz) Lower sometimes and occasionally (as before) 30, but never 31 or above. Could that be the refresh rate on my old TV? :-/ The simpler textures looks fine to me and seems to add a round 1 fps, though it maybe more - it's quite difficult for me to judge as there's a sort of delay, and once you're moving, it's another variable. I didn't come across any problems, sorry to be fuzzy, but it just felt slicker and nicer, but I'm not quite sure what that was. Awesome stuff though, it plays a ton better than I remember it - and it's traditionally the other way around. :-)

[Angus]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

FYI you can not run a two player game between the whdload version and the new builds for some reason.

Is that to do with WHDLoad freezing the OS?

[abu_the_monkey]

@Angus

cheers for the info chap.

In summary, it didn't get slower and there were no 'new' glitches

[abu_the_monkey]

Originally Posted by Angus

Is that to do with WHDLoad freezing the OS?

I am not sure. the level path it supplies to the new build is a load of garbage and so it crashes, that is as far as I looked into it, cos, well why would you want to run it a the speed of the whdload/team17 version

[Karlos]

Regarding the FPS counter, it's using a lap timer, that only needs one call to the eclock per frame (rather than the more typical begin/end), and then takes the average over the last 8 frames. This is why the frame rate reported at the very start can't be trusted, you need to wait for a second or so for it to stabilise. In theory, however, it's about as accurate as it can be.

That averaging over time is why you see a delay in the FPS when switching between simple walls and Gouraud walls.

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

I am sure you will find the solution

it may react differently and be ok on real hardware also, that I can not test.

It may be just the long day but it isn't jumping out at me, lol.
I can gradually revert back the changes until it works but I better make sure I can run 2 instances as well, I don't want to turn you into our dedicated QE against your will

[abu_the_monkey]

I better make sure I can run 2 instances as well

I think the only thing that was required for TKG was

in the 'IO ports' tab to have only 'direct' selected in serial ports

and in the 'slave' player 2 instance have jit disabled

hope this helps

[Karlos]

I found it, I think. I'd accidentally left some references to the global player1 structure in the refactored plr1_CheckKeys function that need changing to the appropriate pointer offset. This likely explains some of the nonsense. I'll give it another sweep with fresher eyes tomorrow.

[Karlos]

The thought occurred. So far we haven't done any major optimisation, it's largely been "micro", in the sense it's all been around changing instructions rather than whole algorithms. So it's clear it could've been as fast on release if T17 had spent a bit more time on it.

[abu_the_monkey]

Originally Posted by Karlos

I found it, I think. I'd accidentally left some references to the global player1 structure in the refactored plr1_CheckKeys function that need changing to the appropriate pointer offset. This likely explains some of the nonsense. I'll give it another sweep with fresher eyes tomorrow.

cool beans

[abu_the_monkey]

Originally Posted by Karlos

The thought occurred. So far we haven't done any major optimisation, it's largely been "micro", in the sense it's all been around changing instructions rather than whole algorithms. So it's clear it could've been as fast on release if T17 had spent a bit more time on it.

yeah, I think it was an ever moving target full of feature creep for the developer or at least some of the comments in the code seem to suggest that was the case.

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

yeah, I think it was an ever moving target full of feature creep for the developer or at least some of the comments in the code seem to suggest that was the case.

Indeed. Though I'm very intrigued by the idea of curved wall segments. That was ahead of it's time.

[Karlos]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

I think the only thing that was required for TKG was

in the 'IO ports' tab to have only 'direct' selected in serial ports

and in the 'slave' player 2 instance have jit disabled

hope this helps

Thanks bud. I'll check that out on my nonfunctional lunch break

[StevenJGore]

Originally Posted by abu_the_monkey

builds of the current main

any feed back is a bonus

With the latest posted build, in full screen mode I'm getting 26-27fps when walking around the first room and corridor (i.e. as far as the big red door). Is simple walls on by default, or does F8 switch it on? This is on my A1200 with Vampire V2 V1200 (85Mhz 68080).

I randomly loaded level G and was typically getting 20fps right at the start in the first room, guess it must be a more graphically-intensive level.

If there's a way to give more meaningful feedback, I'm happy to help.

[Karlos]

Simple walls is off by default. I plan to add a whole menu to control these at some point