1. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 21, 2002
First off, thanks for the excellent salutation :)
Donuts is actually a DX demo, and was ported to euphoria by Todd for
Exotica. I tried to maintain all his demos as accurately as possible,
and the demo didn't originally have frame skipping. Donuts will run
slower on old machines, and extremely fast on newer ones. I'm not sure
why MS wouldn't have added frame skipping, it's not hard at all.
Look at the FPS_rate.exw demo to see how to moderate the frame rate, so
it will skip when the frame speed drops below the set FPS rate.
You will have to add equations for frame skipping to all the places
within the donuts demo where the position of a sprite is updated.
(I don't think it's worth your time though ;P)
My fps routines do work, but I'm not particularly satisfied with them.
I haven't done any extensive testing, but when frame skipping is done,
graphics seem to freeze for a moment, or speed up dramatically, when the
FPS rate fluctuates too much.
You could make your own frame skipping routines quite easily using win32
timers, and I think it would be more accurate than mine.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> ...ROCKS!
>
> Hats off to Chris Bensler and Todd Riggins.
>
> I've got DirectX 8.1 loaded and only two or three of the demo programs
> locks my machine. The Donuts game runs great. I just spin and spin while
>
> shooting... cheap, I know!
>
> How come Donuts is set for 60 fps but drops to 49 when I play it?
>
>
2. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 21, 2002
I have just looked at your next post, and your computer specs.
You should have NO trouble whatsoever running Donuts. I just finished
testing to be sure. And ran into the same thing you are saying, but I
had winMX and Morpheus running in the background :P
I closed them, ran Donuts again, and I played all the way to level 13.
The FPS was stable at 58(for some reason it never reports 60) the whole
time. It only ever fluctuated 1 frame.
Try closing anything you might have running in the background that you
don't need. If that doesn't help, or isn't the situation, maybe ya just
simply need to reboot.
If THAT still doesn't help, check the E_Report.txt file, and see if
everything was laoded into hardware modes.
You could also try reducing the number of buffers available for the
sound effects. Where the sounds are loaded, in the donuts demo, change
all the buffer values of 10, to 5.
None of this should be necessary though. Your computer more than meets
the demands of any of those demos.
I ran FPS_rate.exw and am able to blit 45 bmp's to the screen without
frameskipping.
I am running :
win98se/DX8.0
PIII 600mhz/64MB
8M S3 Savage/IX video
ESS Maestro2E soundcard
I'd be interested to know which demos failed too if ya don't mind.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> ...ROCKS!
>
> Hats off to Chris Bensler and Todd Riggins.
>
> I've got DirectX 8.1 loaded and only two or three of the demo programs
> locks my machine. The Donuts game runs great. I just spin and spin while
>
> shooting... cheap, I know!
>
> How come Donuts is set for 60 fps but drops to 49 when I play it?
>
>
3. RE: ExoticaX...
bensler at mail.com wrote:
> I have just looked at your next post, and your computer specs.
> You should have NO trouble whatsoever running Donuts
Yeah, I'm having no trouble. It plays smooth and sweet. I'm just
surprised that with my beast of a system that I don't get 60 fps. Even
on Tribes I get over 50 fps in most scenes!
> The FPS was stable at 58(for some reason it never reports 60)
> the whole time. It only ever fluctuated 1 frame.
Mine only ever shows 49 fps, which is weird.
> If THAT still doesn't help, check the E_Report.txt file, and see if
> everything was laoded into hardware modes.
This is something I'll have to look at. The modes file, though, showed
me like 16 modes (or more?), and I was able to go to 1600x???. It was
pretty cool and small! :) I'm at work now or I'd be sure about all of
this.
> You could also try reducing the number of buffers available for the
> sound effects. Where the sounds are loaded, in the donuts demo,
> change all the buffer values of 10, to 5.
This might be my problem. I have an old Creative SoundBlaster Live card
that might also be giving me problems in Tribes. I think I'll buy a new
one and see what happens.
> I ran FPS_rate.exw and am able to blit 45 bmp's to the screen
> without frameskipping.
On that, I can go over 100 bmp's and it stays at 49 fps.
> I'd be interested to know which demos failed too if ya don't mind.
I'll get back to ya tonight.
4. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 22, 2002
The E_Report.txt is the exotica debug file.
E_Report will USUALLY give you an idea of whats going wrong if it has to
do with Exotica/exoticaX.
It doesn't sound like it's actually a problem with Exotica though. I
can't explain it. The only thing that comes to mind, is that Exotica
doesn't see your video card as being 3D capable and is defaulting to
software emulation. E_Report will tell you if that's the case.
It definitely isn't because of your sound card. If you say you are still
stable at 49 fps when you run FPS_rate.exw than it can't be anything to
do with your sound card, because FPS_rate doesn't even use dsound.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> bensler at mail.com wrote:
>
> > I have just looked at your next post, and your computer specs.
> > You should have NO trouble whatsoever running Donuts
>
> Yeah, I'm having no trouble. It plays smooth and sweet. I'm just
> surprised that with my beast of a system that I don't get 60 fps. Even
> on Tribes I get over 50 fps in most scenes!
>
> > The FPS was stable at 58(for some reason it never reports 60)
> > the whole time. It only ever fluctuated 1 frame.
>
> Mine only ever shows 49 fps, which is weird.
>
> > If THAT still doesn't help, check the E_Report.txt file, and see if
> > everything was laoded into hardware modes.
>
> This is something I'll have to look at. The modes file, though, showed
> me like 16 modes (or more?), and I was able to go to 1600x???. It was
> pretty cool and small! :) I'm at work now or I'd be sure about all of
> this.
>
> > You could also try reducing the number of buffers available for the
> > sound effects. Where the sounds are loaded, in the donuts demo,
> > change all the buffer values of 10, to 5.
>
> This might be my problem. I have an old Creative SoundBlaster Live card
> that might also be giving me problems in Tribes. I think I'll buy a new
> one and see what happens.
>
> > I ran FPS_rate.exw and am able to blit 45 bmp's to the screen
> > without frameskipping.
>
> On that, I can go over 100 bmp's and it stays at 49 fps.
>
> > I'd be interested to know which demos failed too if ya don't mind.
>
> I'll get back to ya tonight.
>
>
5. RE: ExoticaX...
Here's some "just got home" reports:
I ran FPS_rate and got 49fps up to 163 items... Then it goes down after
that.
E_Report.txt is blank after running FPS_rate.
6. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 23, 2002
If FPS_rate.exw runs without any errors, an E_Report.txt will be
generated.
If there is a euphoria error, an ex.err file is generated by exw.exe and
the program is aborted before the E_Report is filled out.
So, if you have a blank E_Report.txt file, there should be an ex.err
file.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> Here's some "just got home" reports:
>
> I ran FPS_rate and got 49fps up to 163 items... Then it goes down after
> that.
>
> E_Report.txt is blank after running FPS_rate.
>
>
7. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 23, 2002
E_Report.txt is first opened when report_mode() is set, or
exotica_init() is called. I'm not exactly sure. But no data is actually
written to the file until exotica_exit() is called. So if the program
crashes, no E_Report.txt data will be recorded.
If you are successfully exiting the program , and it's not generating
data, maybe the report_mode() settings have been changed from
distribution? it should be report_mode("E_Report",1). Either way, it
should report data to the file, if the program terminated successfully.
Also try deleting E_Report.txt before running the demo. Maybe the file
was generated from a different demo.
About the FPS problem. I tested the donuts.exw demo that that comes with
exotica1_6.dll and it runs the same. Stuck at 58.
I also tried with other version, both exotica, and exoticaX, and the
effect is the same. This means it has something to do with exotica.dll
or with DX itself. So I can't help you with it. You can over come it
though, by using the FPS routines, and frame skipping techniques to
stabilize the frame rate.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> > If FPS_rate.exw runs without any errors, an E_Report.txt will be
> > generated.
> > If there is a euphoria error, an ex.err file is generated by exw.exe and
> > the program is aborted before the E_Report is filled out.
> > So, if you have a blank E_Report.txt file, there should be an ex.err
> > file.
>
> Does the E_Report.txt file get generated AFTER I press 'ESC' to quit a
> program (on shutdown of exotica)? (It would have to in order for the
> above
> case to apply, because I can go all the way to 'ESC' and it quits the
> program just fine... apparently! :) )
>
>
8. RE: ExoticaX...
> E_Report.txt is first opened when report_mode() is set, or
> exotica_init() is called. I'm not exactly sure. But no data is actually
> written to the file until exotica_exit() is called. So if the program
> crashes, no E_Report.txt data will be recorded.
E_Report gets generated, but it's empty.
> If you are successfully exiting the program , and it's not generating
> data, maybe the report_mode() settings have been changed from
> distribution? it should be report_mode("E_Report",1)
Yeah, that line exists near the top of the program.
> Also try deleting E_Report.txt before running the demo. Maybe the file
> was generated from a different demo.
Tried that and it just wrote another blank E_Report.txt file.
9. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 23, 2002
Sorry, I can't explain it.
Try running a different demo and see if the E_Report is generated
successfully.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> > E_Report.txt is first opened when report_mode() is set, or
> > exotica_init() is called. I'm not exactly sure. But no data is actually
> > written to the file until exotica_exit() is called. So if the program
> > crashes, no E_Report.txt data will be recorded.
>
> E_Report gets generated, but it's empty.
>
> > If you are successfully exiting the program , and it's not generating
> > data, maybe the report_mode() settings have been changed from
> > distribution? it should be report_mode("E_Report",1)
>
> Yeah, that line exists near the top of the program.
>
> > Also try deleting E_Report.txt before running the demo. Maybe the file
> > was generated from a different demo.
>
> Tried that and it just wrote another blank E_Report.txt file.
>
>
10. RE: ExoticaX...
> Sorry, I can't explain it.
>
> Try running a different demo and see if the E_Report is generated
> successfully.
Nope. Ran BlitBMP2.exw and it produced a blank E_Report.txt file. :)
You think it's the dll?
11. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 23, 2002
Try Downloading Exotica v1.6 from Todd Riggin's website..
http://exotica.iwarp.com
You can compare how exotica reacts to your system, to how exoticaX
reacts.
I suspect you will get the same results with those demos as well. I've
never had that problem before, so I can't explain it.
I wouldn't worry too much about that though, you can write your own
logging routines that will give you more useful information for yourself
anyways.
You can always email Todd Riggins, and I'm sure he will be able to help.
You will have to find his email though, it's on his website I'm sure.
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> > Sorry, I can't explain it.
> >
> > Try running a different demo and see if the E_Report is generated
> > successfully.
>
> Nope. Ran BlitBMP2.exw and it produced a blank E_Report.txt file. :)
>
> You think it's the dll?
>
>
12. RE: ExoticaX...
> Try Downloading Exotica v1.6 from Todd Riggin's website..
> http://exotica.iwarp.com
His homepage doesn't seem available.
13. RE: ExoticaX...
- Posted by bensler at mail.com
Jan 25, 2002
That link works, I just tried it. Although I can't find the link on his
home page to get to the exotica section of his site :P
Here is a direct link to the exotica v1_6 download...
http://users2.ev1.net/~triggins/files/Exot1_6.zip
Chris
C. K. Lester wrote:
> > Try Downloading Exotica v1.6 from Todd Riggin's website..
> > http://exotica.iwarp.com
>
> His homepage doesn't seem available.
>
>
