beta 319 : still get weird jerkyness =\

Does it still jerk if Throttle FPS is disabled?
Also, do you have any idea of the exact beta at which this problem began?

uncapped frame rate flickers between 712 and 690 frames per second.

i'll look into when this started to occur.

i downloaded the oldest beta from shardstorm, and it calls itself beta 17 oO and has a date of january 1st 2007...

walking in a simple square (in first quest) yields the frame rate randomly going up to 61 then down to 59 for brief moments... (it does this every 8 or so seconds)

run zelda classic then wait for the intro (zelda splitting the triforce parts yadda yadda) and it wont scroll up smoothly.

where can i get beta 10b from? that was the last version i thoroughly used, i made a simple quest in it as well =)

could you compile a build with no sound at all? im just curious if it is the sound engine or not...

oh, and im very coherent with making legible forum posts =)

I've attached a special version of the Zelda executable with layers and some other rendering features disabled.

Does it solve the problem?

that version now gets to showing the list of items before it becomes serious... and yes, the frame is not a stable 60fps for me pretty much since the "vsync" option got renamed to "throttle"

this issue also occures in 2.10.1 and 2.10.2

edit: in both (your special build and the last alpha on teh shardstorm) it is fairly stable till the title fades out and any scrolling happens... but in your build it is less noticeable (but still present) with the intro story and highly noticeable when the items come.

i take it its a pain to debug the rendering code?

😞 Indeed.
You're absolutely right, I did some detailed testing and it appears that when running in fullscreen, there's a significant lag spike of about 40 milliseconds every second or so. Tracking down what introduced this lag might take me a while, however.

ok =) good to know you experience a issue as well.

i generally run at 640x480 with sbig set to 1... but when you asked me to test i left that at the defaults...

did you notice any issue with windowed mode? (i've never really used it before)

At least one of the devs is experiencing this so they can know quickly if the problem has been fixed. I'm not seeing it here. :/

While you wait, franpa, try running in windowed mode; although the slowdowns still occur for me, they are almost unnoticeable.

if you can disable sound and you do disable sound (including music and everything)... does the lag disappear completely? if yes then "rocknes" (a NES emulator based on allegro) might have a similar issue :P

EDIT: yes, the counter stays at 60fps in a window =) but yes there is still lag (maybe ranging from 60.01 to 60.99fps ?), however as you mentioned it isnt anywhere near as horrible as it is in full screen.

screen scrolling in a window is pretty jerky but i can live with that :P

How is 329 relative to the older builds?

oO, you mean how is build 329 a old build? if yes then, i can only find build 167 (or whatever at shardstorm) that also has this in it... i can not find any builds for 2006...

all my 329 and 239 build posts are meant to be 323 builds -.- i just wasnt thinking clearly.

323 is the same as 319 in that the glitching is still there, did you release a 329? ooooh yess you did xD, testing now =P

EDIT: SERIOUSLY. I HATE THESE VERSION NUMBERS ! i fixed my last line so now i seem a little more logical and intelligent :P

fullscreen in 329 is only slightly worse then 323 is in a window...

irc or msn might be the way to go for this issue...

EDIT: oO in 329 the frame rate counter sits on 61fps now.

edit 2: grrrrr (how many edits and mistakes do i make?) ok, build 329 has the same issue but it seems to jump from 60 - 62 frames in a window, and sits at about 61 frames in fullscreen. windowed is better then fullscreen is and yea =p

So there was improvement, but the problem is not completely fixed?

uh, no not really any improvement at all... keep trying tho.

still on the hunt? >.> ill try to be more direct in the future with my responses ._." i sounded like a 6 year old.

Yeah, this is going to take a while 😞

Edit: Nevermind what I posted here before, now I have a major problem: I'm no longer experiencing any slowdowns on the latest build. It's available at www.cs.rice.edu/~ev/stuff/zc.zip; if it still doesn't work for you I'm afraid there's not much more I can do... koopa has mentioned he's experiencing sluggishness, so maybe he'll be able to take over from here.

404 not found :P

you have a ; semi colon on the end... downloading now.

the issue still remains.

- how do you use the sbig option in a window? i set it to 1024x768 in the config file and sbig = 1 then i make a shortcut with the -windowed command. (my method results in big fat borders around the game screen)

- who will have to contact koopa? me/you? (if no one can fix it or know what im talking about then i may need to video tape it.)

- to clarify, there is a issue with the video output... there is no lag with controls at all and my specs are in my signature.

- darkdragon deleting the config file and running it without pressing escape at all results in it running close to what it runs at in a window.

edit:

- darkdragon congrats =) windowed mode runs solid now =) but full screen still has the issue.

can you send me a debugger version of the latest? most of the screen lag is gone in full screen... all thats left is the spiking....

so, it runs smooth as silk till it gets about 1/3rd the way through the items scrolling then random severe spiking of lag occurs...

you HAVE improved the engine, games are almost playable now... it is indeed only whatever it is that is causing the spikes that is left.

i downgraded from the 94.24 nvidia drivers to the 93.71 drivers but have the same issue.

i'll try earlier video drivers if need be and see if it is a bug in the video drivers for the geforce 6600GT pcie 128mb jetway card.

Yeah, I have no idea what's causing the remaining spikes; it's definitely not the game logic, as that runs at about ~3 milliseconds per frame now, and that's on my craptop.

Testing indicates the spikes come pretty much at random, including once when ZC was comparing a boolean against true, so I'm almost certain the problem is not ZC's main game thread. I have a few more ideas to try, and will ask at the Allegro boards if they've ever encountered this issue.
My computer is odd in that sometimes I feel the spikes, and sometimes I don't; right now for instance I have to turn on the precise timing debug version I sent you to even know they're there.

In case you haven't already, try running ZC after closing any virus scanners that are running in the background, as I've found that they can add a great deal of sluggishness to running programs.

either. . .

A) throttle the game without using any hardware specific features (IE: throttle the game in software mode)

B) compile a build without the sound engine if possible.

edit: what makes us think its a rendering issue? :P maybe the issue is cause by another part of the program like the audio or scripting or some such thing? and where do i get builds from the previous year (2006)?

aside from PM'ing Koopa, how would i notify him?

The throttling is already done in software; most modern graphics cards don't refresh at 60 FPS anyway so throttling to the vertical retrace is not a viable plan.

After some more testing I'm 99% convinced this lag is not our problem. Disabling all of ZC's timer threads, including those used by the music, does not alleviate the problem, and the spikes even occur at times when ZC's game logic code is obviously not doing anything, such as in busy loops. These facts lead me to conclude that the problem is with Allegro, Windows, or our hardware.

I've posted a message on the Allegro boards asking if they have had any experience with this issue, though I wouldn't hold my breath for a timely or helpful response.

This bug is yet another piece of evidence for why ZC should eventually be ported away from Allegro; unfortunately, until that day in the distant future, there's nothing I can do. I'm reclassifying this bug as being In Limbo; if I hear anything from the Allegro guys I'll be sure to let you know.

move this to the "exterminated bugs" section?

im going to do a bit more testing, but it seems that this issue may have been resurrected oO. (my computer specs have changed so please re-refer to my signature)

584-windows.

edit: heres a quest ive edited in 584 which others can use to see if they can reproduce it. http://www.mediafire.com/?azdhy1upw3x

edit 2: it appears like before that only fullscreen is majorly affected. running in fullscreen has the some what sporadic lag (choppy framerate). in fullscreen the framerate jumps from 60 -> 61fps where as in windowed mode it runs at a solid 60fps.

I'm a bit skeptical because the timing code remains unchanged from the last build. I'll take a look but please first double-check that there is significant difference in performance between this build and the last, using the same quest, with the same ZC options, on the same hardware.