1.1 Alpha Impressions
by Jason Cahill · in Torque Game Builder · 11/25/2005 (11:48 am) · 18 replies
First off, thank you again for packing this release up in time for us to play with it over the holidays. I spent yesterday reading the new docs and browsing the source code. The ImageMap and Particle docs are fantastic! Although it's really hard to write documents, Melv, these are really valuable!
I was able to port my game (which is based on an old GameBoy game) in about 20 minutes. Mostly renaming everything from fx to t2d and renaming a bunch of properties in the ImageMap datablocks (I like the more consistent names, btw). Once it was up and running, all of my image artifacts were gone! The ImageMap work has been a complete success! I truly do feel like I have control of my ImageMaps inside of T2D now.
The performance and framerate of my game are much smoother as well. Across the board, T2D 1.1 looks like a real winner. I'm particularly happy about having the "right namespaces" now. I feel like I can make engine modifications with abandon now without having to worry about big porting problems in the future. So, for now, I haven't found anything "show stopping" and all of my first impressions are very positive. Looking forward to going deeper.
Jason
I was able to port my game (which is based on an old GameBoy game) in about 20 minutes. Mostly renaming everything from fx to t2d and renaming a bunch of properties in the ImageMap datablocks (I like the more consistent names, btw). Once it was up and running, all of my image artifacts were gone! The ImageMap work has been a complete success! I truly do feel like I have control of my ImageMaps inside of T2D now.
The performance and framerate of my game are much smoother as well. Across the board, T2D 1.1 looks like a real winner. I'm particularly happy about having the "right namespaces" now. I feel like I can make engine modifications with abandon now without having to worry about big porting problems in the future. So, for now, I haven't found anything "show stopping" and all of my first impressions are very positive. Looking forward to going deeper.
Jason
About the author
#2
I've got to say, even though I'm normally a control freak about "making sure I'm using memory well," the new filterpadding and autopacking functionality is SO nice. It's just not something "I want to deal with." As you say in your docs, this is something best left for the machine. Having this level of control over how I pack images, acquire them, and handle artifacting is better than I could have imagined. It's clear that a lot of work went into this.
Regarding the snippet above, it looks like you are deliberately slowing down the "heart rate" of the game engine. This probably makes sense in a lot of "casual games" cases. But this is really handy to know. Thanks for the tip!
11/25/2005 (12:41 pm)
Interesting! The ImageMap additions make a lot of sense. That's always been one of my concerns over using datablocks vs. making a dynamic "newable" object. For the kinds of games I'm interested in (for now), all of my sprites fits on a couple of sheets and need to be loaded at the beginning of the app and disposed only at close. Down the road, as I have multiple "levels", load and unload will be very valuable.I've got to say, even though I'm normally a control freak about "making sure I'm using memory well," the new filterpadding and autopacking functionality is SO nice. It's just not something "I want to deal with." As you say in your docs, this is something best left for the machine. Having this level of control over how I pack images, acquire them, and handle artifacting is better than I could have imagined. It's clear that a lot of work went into this.
Regarding the snippet above, it looks like you are deliberately slowing down the "heart rate" of the game engine. This probably makes sense in a lot of "casual games" cases. But this is really handy to know. Thanks for the tip!
#3
Glad you like it. I tried to take everything into account that I'd heard in the forums and hopefully, I've covered enough people with not too much or too little functionality, the balance is always a devil to get correct. Anyway, more control over image-maps for when you need it is a good thing.
My only concerns are over how much time it takes to pack items on really low-end machines; there are a few tweaks we can still do including having a new option in image-maps that simply cache all the calculations and resultant images into a disk-file that can be used so it's much quicker to start-up. This'll also speed-up texture-ressurection when needed and remove the need to keep the bitmaps in memory.
All good stuff to come that will extend T2Ds reach into the lower-end market. A more robust GFX layer will be one of the next things.
- Melv.
11/25/2005 (12:54 pm)
No problem. The above code is actually from TGE v1.4. In that codebase, the constant integer is exposed as a global variable.Glad you like it. I tried to take everything into account that I'd heard in the forums and hopefully, I've covered enough people with not too much or too little functionality, the balance is always a devil to get correct. Anyway, more control over image-maps for when you need it is a good thing.
My only concerns are over how much time it takes to pack items on really low-end machines; there are a few tweaks we can still do including having a new option in image-maps that simply cache all the calculations and resultant images into a disk-file that can be used so it's much quicker to start-up. This'll also speed-up texture-ressurection when needed and remove the need to keep the bitmaps in memory.
All good stuff to come that will extend T2Ds reach into the lower-end market. A more robust GFX layer will be one of the next things.
- Melv.
#4
One game is acting funny but this gives plenty time to work it out.
11/25/2005 (1:10 pm)
I am already porting over a couple games in progress so this early alpha will help save time a bit.One game is acting funny but this gives plenty time to work it out.
#5
About...
11/25/2005 (2:33 pm)
Finally I could port completely my platformer and just can say T2D rocks, now physics seems to be working nice, u rlz Melv!!.About...
Quote:what insanely cool ideas have you in your mind... ;)
having a new option in image-maps that simply cache all the calculations and resultant images into a disk-file that can be used so it's much quicker to start-up.
#6
11/25/2005 (8:17 pm)
Read the imagemap pdf in the doc folder... Melv has added some -amazing- new fetures to imagemaps
#7
11/26/2005 (10:48 am)
Superb! I'm downloading the Alpha right now... can't wait to see it. Thanks alot Melv and Team for this sneak peek.
#8
Coffee is brewing.. gonna be a long night ;)
Thank you Melv, Josh, Matt and everyone else!
- Jesse
11/26/2005 (7:56 pm)
Downloading right now.Coffee is brewing.. gonna be a long night ;)
Thank you Melv, Josh, Matt and everyone else!
- Jesse
#9
Although I'm impressed by the features I'm also quite impressed with the time it took to construct such quality documentation.
11/27/2005 (5:33 am)
@King Tut: The Image Map pdf looks to be top notch documentation. Whoever put that together did an excellent job. There is some repetition of information (such as noting the meaning of bolding fields in the docs) which ensures the reader understands, helps if you are reviewing and just reading a particular piece, and serves as an example of how well done it is.Although I'm impressed by the features I'm also quite impressed with the time it took to construct such quality documentation.
#10
11/27/2005 (8:28 pm)
Thanks guys. :) As Melv said above (and as I tried to point out in the inital 1.1 ALPHA posts), this isn't even half of what we've been working on... indeed, as Melv says we haven't even released the full version of the imageMap system we designed yet. More updates to come as soon as we can. We did want to get the core, core tech updates out as soon as possible though, and I think this early release was the right choice (thanks for the nudges :). I'm glad everyone is taking a look and helping us flesh this thing out. Woohoo!
#11
Again, great work. Very much appreciated.
11/28/2005 (4:31 am)
Wanted to also say thank you and congratulations to Melv, Josh, et al. for the superhuman effort to get this released. I'm about mid-way through my next game, but if the Mac version gets fixed up soon enough I may convert it to one of these 1.1 releases.Again, great work. Very much appreciated.
#12
11/28/2005 (9:40 pm)
I've been out of town for the last week, but i'll be looking into porting t2d.net over this week :) i'll let you all know how it goes
#13
Nice work Melv and team - and thanks for all the sweat and tears that obviously went into this masterpiece - you deserve all the thanks us guys can give right now! So thank you again
for everything!:)
Take good care!:)
Gabor
11/29/2005 (1:13 pm)
Looks very encouraging so far! A revolution in 2D gaming is here at last - and works for even the lowest common denominator in terms of skill level and computing hardware! On my old p3, which I still have, I'm getting more than 200 fps consistently while running the accompanying demos. No visual hiccups, distortions or major slowdowns to report here! Very satisfied indeed - and to think that things with T2D can only get better from here on!:)Nice work Melv and team - and thanks for all the sweat and tears that obviously went into this masterpiece - you deserve all the thanks us guys can give right now! So thank you again
for everything!:)
Take good care!:)
Gabor
#14
Thanks; very high praise indeed. :)
I'm pretty happy with it for an alpha but I really can't wait to move onto the next stage; Uber T2D. Gotta' fix the existing problems though first I guess. ;)
*ahem* You may want to post that statement on the Product Reviews page. *obscene marketting off*
Thanks!
- Melv.
11/30/2005 (12:15 am)
@Gabor:Thanks; very high praise indeed. :)
I'm pretty happy with it for an alpha but I really can't wait to move onto the next stage; Uber T2D. Gotta' fix the existing problems though first I guess. ;)
*ahem* You may want to post that statement on the Product Reviews page. *obscene marketting off*
Thanks!
- Melv.
#15
Congrats on a most excellent product!
Hopefully, I can have something in an Alpha state within a couple of weeks (not much time to devote to it right now) that I can put on the Snapshots page.
11/30/2005 (8:38 am)
Melv, I have to agree with everyone else here. High honors to T2D! I was getting pretty frustrated with the TGE pipelines. Now, I can just whip out Photoshop and a Terminal. How simple can it get!Congrats on a most excellent product!
Hopefully, I can have something in an Alpha state within a couple of weeks (not much time to devote to it right now) that I can put on the Snapshots page.
#17
- Melv.
11/30/2005 (9:35 am)
Okay Tim, you're my new best friend for teaching me an emoticon that, believe it or not, I'd not seen before!- Melv.
#18
11/30/2005 (1:03 pm)
*does happy dance*
Employee Melv May
With regards to image-maps, there's something that's not included in the alpha release and that's the control over the loading/unloading of them. This'll allow you to defer any memory usage until you actually need it or simply choose to use object-references to them to determine whether they are loaded or unloaded. Additionally, you can just have them all loaded when you execute them. This functionality is simply a couple of extra fields so there's no worry about breaking anything in the future. We shouldn't be breaking anything and like you said, feel free to assume everything is pretty much static from now on.
Also, if you want to immediately boost your framerate (and you didn't hear this from me) then change the "2" in the following function to "0".
void TimeManager::process() { TimeEvent event; event.elapsedTime = gTimer.getElapsedMS(); if(event.elapsedTime > 2) { gTimer.advance(); Game->postEvent(event); } }- Melv.