[Andrew75]

Works very well with this low end nforce 6100.
hnmm,,,, wonder if it would be easier to pull off the effect using ult 3D plug-in and its shader functions.
however, I know that may not be a path your looking to take.

This post has been edited by Andrew75: 08 May 2011 - 11:44 PM

[Mercury]

hnmm,,,, wonder if it would be easier to pull off the effect using ult 3D plug-in and its shader functions.
however, I know that may not be a path your looking to take.

Last time I checked out Ultimate 3D it didn't integrate with the standard GM window and you had to use its drawing commands for your whole game, which kind of put me off since I'm used to GM's functions and it's a simple 2D game. But the shader extension I'm using now integrates completely and is as easy as toggling the blend mode in GM.

Using shaders sounds like it will open up a lot of possibilities for us. But I also wonder are their limits? In Attraction Attack for instance we talked about doing the spot lights coming from the city in the background. Vexer also made a couple of flashing decorations that could be done with tiles and shaders or animated objects. Then of course there's the house shoe pattern again. So I guess the question is how resource intense are these shaders?

Limits? Well, for one I don't think 2 shaders can be applied at the same time without some complicated tricks, but that's not too big a deal. As for resource intensive, my machines are pretty crappy (too crappy to let me continue working on SFR with Unity) but the shader demo that I based this test on runs on them at over 300fps! I was not expecting that at all, so I'm pretty happy.

[Andrew75]

What sort of system are you running Mercury?

[Mercury]

What sort of system are you running Mercury?

Computer 1:

CODE

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.93GHz
Memory: 504MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
[Display] Chip type: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
Display Memory: 128.0 MB

Computer 2:

CODE

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 502MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
[Display] Chip type: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
Display Memory: 128.0 MB

Huh. I guess they're both pretty much the same.

[Andrew75]

What sort of system are you running Mercury?

Computer 1:

CODE

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.93GHz
Memory: 504MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
[Display] Chip type: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
Display Memory: 128.0 MB

Computer 2:

CODE

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 502MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
[Display] Chip type: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
Display Memory: 128.0 MB

Huh. I guess they're both pretty much the same.

Dear God, no.....
how could this be ?
Massive talent restricted by such a system.

perhaps some of us could donate some computer hardware for this guy to work on bigger projects. hint hint.
I could donate an Nvidia GTX 550 and maybe some memory.

This post has been edited by Andrew75: 10 May 2011 - 07:48 AM

[nineko]

I get a full 60/60, with Task Manager reporting a 2% CPU usage, on my main computer:

CODE

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 5/10/2011, 14:37:08
       Machine name: COMPUTER
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
           Language: Italian (Regional Setting: Italian)
System Manufacturer: ECS
       System Model: A790GXM-AD3
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X3 720 Processor,  MMX,  3DNow (3 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
             Memory: 3328MB RAM
          Page File: 827MB used, 5410MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

(...)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce 6600 GT
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0140&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2
   Display Memory: 256.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1152 x 864 (32 bit) (75Hz)

This post has been edited by nineko: 10 May 2011 - 07:42 AM

[Vinchenz]

Now, I know nothing about GameMaker, but can you not animate something based on GameTime? That seems like it would be a lot easier than using a shader.

[Overbound]

Dear God, no.....
how could this be ?
Massive talent restricted by such a system.

perhaps some of us could donate some computer hardware for this guy to work on bigger projects. hint hint.
I could donate an Nvidia GTX 550 and maybe some memory.

I wouldn't exactly call his engine a small project. But I have an AM2 motherboard I could give you too. Still kinda old but better, it has a PCI-e slot so if Andrew gave you that GFX card it should work. I also have a 550wat power supply you could have too, it may or may not be enough to power the GFX card.

This post has been edited by Overbound: 10 May 2011 - 02:04 PM

[Mercury]

Now, I know nothing about GameMaker, but can you not animate something based on GameTime? That seems like it would be a lot easier than using a shader.

When it comes to cycling palettes huge swathes of the zone are animated (think of the glowing rocks in Lava Reef, or the glistening ice in Ice Cap). The amount of graphics you'd have to copy to have swapped frames for everything would fill up memory very quickly, plus swapping out all of the tile layers would eat up CPU time. Also, try to imagine the headache of baking Super Sonic or Hyper Knuckles' glowing colours into their sprite animations. Ouch!

Dear God, no.....
how could this be ?
Massive talent restricted by such a system.

perhaps some of us could donate some computer hardware for this guy to work on bigger projects. hint hint.
I could donate an Nvidia GTX 550 and maybe some memory.

I wouldn't exactly call his engine a small project. But I have an AM2 motherboard I could give you too. Still kinda old but better, it has a PCI-e slot so if Andrew gave you that GFX card it should work. I also have a 550wat power supply you could have too, it may or may not be enough to power the GFX card.

I appreciate the offers, guys, but I'm basically designing classic style games here and what I have is plenty. I don't really want people sending me computer parts, and I don't have the time or expertise to assemble them, anyway. Chances are I'll just get a brand new computer when I can.

[nineko]

I appreciate the offers, guys, but I'm basically designing classic style games here and what I have is plenty.

QUOTED FOR EMPHASIS.

This has got to be the best post on Retro, ever. These days too many people tend to think they need more processing power while they actually need better, less bloated code... Glad to see you're doing it right instead.

In the mean time I tested it on my laptop, and I get a full 60/60, with Task Manager reporting a CPU usage oscillating between 6% and 22%, on this configuration:

CODE

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 5/11/2011, 09:33:05
       Machine name: SAGER
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp.080413-2111)
           Language: Italian (Regional Setting: Italian)
System Manufacturer: SAGER
       System Model: M980NU          
               BIOS: BIOS Revision: 1.00.05LS1      
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     P9700  @ 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 2558MB RAM
          Page File: 701MB used, 3746MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

(...)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M      
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce GTX 280M
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_060A&SUBSYS_98001558&REV_A2
   Display Memory: 1024.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)

SLI is disabled, but I don't think it would make a difference.

[Andrew75]

I appreciate the offers, guys, but I'm basically designing classic style games here and what I have is plenty. I don't really want people sending me computer parts, and I don't have the time or expertise to assemble them, anyway. Chances are I'll just get a brand new computer when I can.

Hey no problem, I like the work you did in fan remix .
and I was thinking free hardware would be useful for you if you decided to go back into doing a 3D engine.
I think it would be amazing to see some kind of open end 2.5D engine where people could drop level chunks in just like editing the 2D games in sonicED2.
level chunks could be 256 x 256 x 256 xyz units for example. its sort of what I'm doing with Sonic CD remix anyways.(minus the sonicED2 style editor)

This post has been edited by Andrew75: 11 May 2011 - 06:38 AM

[nineko]

For the lulz I tried it on my older computer. It complains about some missing DLLs and it doesn't even start. Bonus points for the executable icon (the flower) not displaying correctly, either.

CODE

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 5/11/2011, 17:11:47
       Machine name: COMPUTER
   Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional (5.0, Build 2195)
           Language: Italian (Regional Setting: Italian)
System Manufacturer: n/a
       System Model: n/a
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: AMD-K7(tm) Processor,  MMX,  3DNow, ~550MHz
             Memory: 128MB RAM
          Page File: 51MB used, 251MB available
        Windows Dir: D:\WINNT
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode

(...)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: Matrox Graphics MGA-G100 AGP
     Manufacturer: Matrox Graphics
        Chip type: MGA-G100 B4 R2
         DAC type: Integrated, 230 MHz
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_102B&DEV_1001&SUBSYS_FF00102B&REV_02
   Display Memory: 4.0 MB
     Current Mode: 640 x 480 (32 bit) (60Hz)

It used to have a G400 as video card, but a friend of mine broke it so I traded it with Oerg who sent me his old G100 (he also fixed my G400, but he can keep it as decided in our deal). I don't think a G400 would have made the miracle, though. This test was just for the lulz as I said.

[Mercury]

^ That doesn't sound like it'd even run plain vanilla Game Maker. It sounds like the old Dell I have that I sometimes test things on. It fails to create the proper icon, too, and doesn't have enough video memory to "initialize the drawing surfaces". It's like expecting a homo habilis to enjoy Scott Pilgrim.

(Oh, and the Game Maker icon is supposed to be a gear, not a flower. That's supposed to be a generic pacman in the middle, but I see where the G opens up as a nose and just think Mr Game and Watch. =P )

[nineko]

Interesting, this is how the icon looks like on my (working!) computers:

You have to admit it does look a bit like a flower.

[Mercury]

Ah yes. It slipped my mind that the game icon is a simplified version. It's the GM editor that has the icon I posted.

And it does look like a flower. It's hard to make gear icons look like gears, I've had the same problem myself - they always end up looking like sunbursts or something if they're too small.

Anyway, thanks again to those who tested. It looks like nobody had any serious problems with it, and at this rate I doubt there are any alternatives for GM anyway, so I guess it's a keeper.