Increase your game's FPS tips
Increase your game's FPS, coding tips, game tips, mesh tips, etc, might help you out a bit, i know they all greatly affected the way i code VB games, vote if you want, hope it helps
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<p class=MsoNormal>Version .01a - update #1</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>A few tips to speed up your games frame rate a bit, it's amazing that some of this makes so much of a difference.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Just off the top of my head or taken from sources, maybe you agree maybe you don’t, they all work for me, and I've run into a lot of posts here on PSC that say "my frame rate is so low" etc so here's my two cents (that’s right no spell check :) )</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Thanks <span class=SpellE>psc</span> and everyone who has ever posted here, persistantrealities.com, vbspeed.com, tv3d, unreal <span class=SpellE>sdk</span>, ogre <span class=SpellE>sdk</span>, and everyone else in the world - Gandolf the Gui</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>if</span> you don’t fit into this category and I’ve forgotten to mention you than tuff luck</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>vote</span> or don’t it’s just here to help people out</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>this</span> is not actual source code so don’t say “it doesn’t compile”</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Do Loops:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>They are easy enough to understand and much easier and faster than timers.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>i.e.</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>do while 'the escape key is not pressed' or 'the level is still running'</p> <p class=MsoNormal>''</p> <p class=MsoNormal>loop</p> <p class=MsoNormal>very simple</p> <p class=MsoNormal>and always in your loop you need to have a do events, one and only one do events</p> <p class=MsoNormal>If you are making a single player game than you might want to think about capturing the user input and only executing your loop when input has fired, this method is death (bad thing) on multiplayer games</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>At the beginning of each loop reset your <span class=SpellE>TimeElapsed</span> Variable, with that you have an exact count and are able to do things like physics, motion of any kind, and many other things.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Truly much easier than a timer once you get the hang of it.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal>In-line vs. modularized code</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Crazy enough, but (as per vbspeed.com, and persistantrealities.com) inline code is faster than modularized code</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Variables</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>always</span> use option explicit and declare all variables and never use global </p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>always</span> declare your constants (but never as 16-bit <span class=SpellE>integers,varient,object</span> or anything non-32 bit)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Never...never...never use<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'as object' or 'as variant' or 'as any', amazingly slow</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Most of us have 32-bit processors a few might have the 64's let alone the $$$ for one</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A longs and singles are 32 bits, integers are not, wee, use longs and singles </p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>i.e.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>dim i as integer</p> <p class=MsoNormal>for i = 0 to 1000</p> <p class=MsoNormal>next i</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>should read:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>dim i as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>for</span> i = 0 to 1000&</p> <p class=MsoNormal>next i</p> <p class=MsoNormal>(no, the i after next .. "next i" doesn't change the speed of anything)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>**and**</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>VB has to treat all numbers as individual entities so declare your numbers!!!</p> <p class=MsoNormal>(<span class=GramE>yes</span>, you read me right, declare your numbers!)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Type<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Character</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Integer<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>No character</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Long<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>&</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Single<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>!</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Double<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>#</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>String<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>$</p> <p class=MsoNormal>//</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A=5</p> <p class=MsoNormal>B=5</p> <p class=MsoNormal>C=(A+B) * 2</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>vs.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>dim A as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>dim B as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>dim C as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>A=5&</p> <p class=MsoNormal>B=5&</p> <p class=MsoNormal>C=(A+B)*2&</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>With Variant (no Declare) : 3.5 secs</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Without Variant (declared as Long) : 1.9 secs</p> <p class=MsoNormal>//</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>dynamic</span> array fallout:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>should you use dynamic arrays, of course you should, should you keep appending to the <span class=SpellE>ubound</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>(<span class=SpellE>ubound</span>(<span class=SpellE>myArray</span>)) +1 for things such as projectiles and the like, the answer is no, iterate through your array, if an object in your array is past the state of usefulness i.e. has hit something, reuse it, remember, the larger an array the slower it is, if your character just spent 20 rounds and they are all flying through the air and he/she keeps firing, than yes, append to the <span class=SpellE>ubound</span>, iterating is slow when compared to appending constantly, but when you finally do have to iterate the array and now you’ve appended to it 100,000 times and poof your game just halts you’ll understand what I’m talking about.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Redundant coding: the last nail in the coffin</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Private declare function iLoveSocks( HowMany as long ) as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>iLoveSocks = HowMany ^ 45&</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End function</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Private sub blah()</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim A as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim B as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim C as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>a = iLoveSocks(1000)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>B = iLoveSocks(1000)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>C = iLoveSocks(1000)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>is utterly and completely wrong and will figuratively make a 60fps game run at 5</p> <p class=MsoNormal>It should read</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Private sub blah()</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim A as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim B as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim C as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim TempVal as long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>TempVal = iLoveSocks(1000&)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>A = TempVal</p> <p class=MsoNormal>B = TempVal</p> <p class=MsoNormal>C = TempVal</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>end sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>amazingly</span> quicker</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>use</span> temporary variables everywhere and anywhere that they can replace blocks of code</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>a</span> practical example:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim X As Single, Y As Single, Z As Single</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>X = Cos(Deg2Rad(angle)) * 50</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Y = Tan(Deg2Rad(angle)) * 50</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Z = Sin(Deg2Rad(angle)) * 50</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>can be optimized like this :</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim X As Single, Y As Single, Z As Single, RadAngle</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>RadAngle = Deg2Rad(angle)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>X = Cos(RadAngle) * 50!</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Y = Tan(RadAngle) * 50!</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Z = Sin(RadAngle) * 50!</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>When it's possible, precompute values for expansive operations and organize them in tables. This is usually used for the trigonometric operations Cos, Sin, Tan, <span class=SpellE>Atn</span> etc...</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim Angle <span class=GramE>As</span> Single</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>CosValue</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>720) As Single</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>SinValue</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>720) As Single</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>For Angle = 0 To 719 </p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>CosValue</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>Angle) = <span class=SpellE>Cos</span>(Deg2Rad(Angle / 2))</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>SinValue</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>Angle) = Sin(Deg2Rad(Angle / 2))</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Next Angle</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>This table is accurate at 0.5 degree. Then, to use it, you need to multiply the angle by 2.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>To have the approximation of the cosine of 45°, you need to use "<span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>CosValue</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>45 * 2)" and voila... you get 0.707.... </p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>amazingly</span> enough people will actually use 2 ^ 2 when hmm.... 2*2 and better yet, 2& * 2& is <span class=SpellE>soo</span> much faster</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Strings:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>hmm</span>... strings in VB are really slow, amazingly slow when compared to longs or singles</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>but</span>.. <span class=GramE>if</span> you have to use them than just remember to use<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Mid$, Right$, Left$, <span class=SpellE>Chr</span>$</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>they</span> are 3 times faster with the $</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>can</span> you do <span class=SpellE>realtime</span>, every frame, string manipulation and keep 60fps.... <span class=SpellE>omg</span>, no, no <span class=SpellE>no</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>what</span> does that translate to.. <span class=GramE>all</span> of you who want to do online multiplayer games...</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>don't</span> use strings for anything let alone packets, use bits for that, bit shifting and the like are amazingly faster than strings</p> <p class=MsoNormal>but........if you really have to use them......... use them client side only and then use string tables in resources if you don’t know how to use text graphics</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE>StrComp</span> <span class=SpellE>vs</span> 'String1=String2' .......persistantrealities.com</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Public Sub <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>TestOne</span></span><span class=GramE>()</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim strTest1 As String, strTest2 As String</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>strTest1 = <span class=SpellE>UCase</span>$("all j00r b453 r b3l0nG 70 U5")</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>strTest2 = <span class=SpellE>UCase</span>$("ALL J00r base R Bel0NG 70 U5")</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'//Compare</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If strTest1 = strTest2 Then</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>End If</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End Sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Public Sub <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>TestTwo</span></span><span class=GramE>()</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim strTest1 As String, strTest2 As String</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>strTest1 = "all j00r b453 r b3l0nG 70 U5"</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>strTest2 = "ALL J00r base R Bel0NG 70 U5"</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'//Compare</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>StrComp</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span>strTest1$, strTest2$, <span class=SpellE>vbTextCompare</span>) = 0 Then</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>End If</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End Sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>100% faster compares <span class=SpellE>weee</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>variable</span> length strings <span class=SpellE>vs</span> fixed length strings</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Private <span class=SpellE>VariableLengthString</span> <span class=GramE>As</span> String</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Private <span class=SpellE>FixedLengthString</span> <span class=GramE>As</span> String * 65526</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>For I = 1 <span class=GramE>To</span> <span class=SpellE>lngIterations</span> '//Run test</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'//Set an element in <span class=GramE>the<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>string</span> to the desired value</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Mid$(<span class=SpellE>FixedLengthString</span>, I) = "X"</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Next I</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>For I = 1 <span class=GramE>To</span> <span class=SpellE>lngIterations</span> '//Run test</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>'//<span class=GramE>Concatenate</span> a character to the variable length string</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=SpellE>VariableLengthString</span> = <span class=SpellE>VariableLengthString</span> & "X"</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Next I</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>1000 times faster</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>Compiler options.</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>The VB compiler has some optimizations that are somewhat hidden to the user. Indeed they are given in the "Compilation" tab of the Project settings, click </p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>then</span> on the "Advanced optimizations" button.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>There you see some unchecked boxes representing the different optimizations that are NOT applied by default. Normally you might be able to check them </p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>all</span>, without any problems in your application. And it can really improve the speed of your application especially for float computations.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Small <span class=GramE>example :</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim <span class=SpellE>i</span> <span class=GramE>As</span> Long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim A <span class=GramE>As</span> Single</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>For <span class=SpellE>i</span> = 1& To 10000000&</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>A = <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>Cos</span></span><span class=GramE>(</span><span class=SpellE>i</span>)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Next <span class=SpellE>i</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>In VB <span class=GramE>IDE :</span> 2.5 <span class=SpellE>secs</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=GramE>in</span> a EXE form but without enabled optimization : 2.0 <span class=SpellE>secs</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=GramE>in</span> a EXE with all enabled optimization : 0.02 <span class=SpellE>secs</span> !!!!</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>I think that this result is amazing enough to make you try it yourself.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>ohh</span></span> and always remove all of your "<span class=SpellE>debug.print"s</span> weird but it makes a difference in the compiled version let alone the <span class=SpellE>uncompiled</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal>True or not <span class=GramE>True</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>According to the findings on persistantrealities.com and other sites <span class=GramE>True</span> is faster than false, basically instead of coding:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dim <span class=SpellE>isTheSkyRed</span> as Boolean</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>If <span class=SpellE>isTheSkyRed</span> = false then</p> <p class=MsoNormal>‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ </p> <p class=MsoNormal>End If</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>You would write</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>If <span class=SpellE>isTheSkyRed</span> = Not True then</p> <p class=MsoNormal>‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ </p> <p class=MsoNormal>End If</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Or</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>If Not <span class=SpellE>isTheSkyRed</span> then</p> <p class=MsoNormal>‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ </p> <p class=MsoNormal>End If</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Both examples are faster than saying False, I went “<span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>hugh</span></span>?!?” the first time I saw that one too.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>DirectX <span class=SpellE>vs</span> <span class=SpellE>BitBlt</span>, <span class=SpellE>setpixel</span> etc</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>for</span> those of you who <span class=SpellE>dont</span> know it as of yet, Direct X is just plainly much quicker than <span class=SpellE>BitBlt</span> and the like, .... <span class=GramE>if</span> used right :)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>if</span> you are going to do any kind of picture manipulation (2D,Renders,etc) in Direct X always make sure that your using one or more <span class=SpellE>backbuffers</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Visual Culling</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>if</span> your going to be doing any rendering to the screen(which is just about anyone who is reading this, by this point) than you need to understand</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>that</span> certain things need to take precedence over others in your game</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>what</span> is more important to render?:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>1. <span class=GramE>the</span> box completely out of the users view</p> <p class=MsoNormal>2. <span class=GramE>the</span> front of the users 3rd person mesh</p> <p class=MsoNormal>3. <span class=GramE>the</span> actual visual aspect of the users 3rd person mesh</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>well</span> of course the actual visual aspect of the users 3rd person mesh</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>make</span> sure that your not rendering anything that the user can not see, such an easy concept but rarely used by beginners</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Packets (multi-player)</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>as</span> I’ve stated earlier use bits for packets, that’s first of all</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>secondly</span>, keep it simple:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>does</span> everyone need to know that this particular user has a axe that looks a certain way, of course not, they just need to know that when they get</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>hit</span> with it, it takes off X damage.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>The same goes for two players half a world away from each other, they absolutely don’t need to know when the other one opens a door or jumps or almost anything for that matter, except global game changes, what’s changing in the field of view of the users character/camera is all that matters.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>in-game-loop</span> chat</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>remember</span> what <span class=SpellE>i</span> said about real-time string manipulation..... <span class=GramE>don’t</span> <span class=SpellE>don’t</span> <span class=SpellE>don’t</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>/ vs. \ weird stuff</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>apparently</span> / is much <span class=SpellE>much</span> faster than \</p> <p class=MsoNormal>*** update ***</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Also, the "\" and "/" are completely different operations. One is regular division, resulting in a decimal, and the other returns an integer. <span class=GramE>for</span> example: X \ Y = <span class=SpellE>Int</span>(X / Y)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>***update*** -much thanks to <a href="http://www.planet-source-code.com/vb/feedback/EmailUser.asp?lngWId=1&lngToPersonId=2274451481&txtReferralPage=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eplanet%2Dsource%2Dcode%2Ecom%2Fvb%2Fscripts%2Fshowcode%2Easp%3FtxtCodeId%3D57743%26lngWId%3D1"><span class=SpellE><!xmp>Gandolf_The_GUI</span></a></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>and</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>x</span> / 1 is much faster than <span class=SpellE>Cint</span>(number)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>40% faster</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Division vs. Multiplication:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>(persistantrealities.com)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Public Sub <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>TestOne</span></span><span class=GramE>()</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim <span class=SpellE>lngReturn</span> As Long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim Action <span class=GramE>As</span> Long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Action = 0.25 </p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>lngReturn</span></span> = 10 * Action</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End Sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Public Sub <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>TestTwo</span></span><span class=GramE>()</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim <span class=SpellE>lngReturn</span> As Long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Dim Action <span class=GramE>As</span> Long</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Action = 4</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>lngReturn</span></span> = 10<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Action</p> <p class=MsoNormal>End Sub</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>ohh</span></span> a mere 400% faster with multiplication</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>IIF vs. If then</p> <p class=MsoNormal>IIF is something like 70% slower</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>always</span> end your if statements with end if</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>i.e</span>. none of this: if x = Z then x = Y</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>always</span> expand it</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>process</span> and thread priority</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>does</span> it really matter if your full screen and at normal priority, crazy but true, yes</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>grab</span> a little process priority code and bump it up when your loop is running makes a difference</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>does</span> process priority matter when your in windowed mode, so much that it might boost your game 10fps or more</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>3D:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>when making a mesh realize what part of the mesh is going to be seen most and capitalize on that, what does low poly really mean, it means however many <span class=SpellE>polys</span> you can use and still keep 60fps <span class=SpellE>vsynched</span> with everything else in the scene, don’t let anyone tell you that it means 100 poly characters or anything else for that matter, balance it, if you really want to be cool about it either use 3 different complexity models for items shown dependant on camera distance (DOF depth of field), but the best way is to incorporate a LOD, Level of Detail, component to your render queue, look it up</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>can</span> your projectile mesh be replaced with a fixed graphic billboard, if so, do it</p> <p class=MsoNormal>(<span class=GramE>billboard</span> = a 1x1 plane with the normal always facing a reference point with a graphic texture on it)</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>1 single texture map vs. <span class=SpellE>multimaps</span>:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>in very many 3d programs, <span class=SpellE>maya</span>, 3dsmax, <span class=SpellE>milkshape</span> you can use something called <span class=SpellE>multimaps</span> and they end up making it much easier in the 3d program, but when you transfer your mesh over as mdl<span class=GramE>,x,3ds</span>, etc the materials start to pile up, basically if your program has to load 10 one MB <span class=SpellE>tex</span> files versus 1 two MB file obviously the latter is preferable, UNWRAP all your meshes and bake them out!</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Again, you can use strings to identify just about anything such as the mesh title, name, texture name, file name, etc, if you’ve read through this whole thing than you know you’ll get the shame sign from me if you do, let alone a low frame rate.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If you need to know who “owns” this particular projectile or whatever, just use a <span class=GramE>number(</span>long) to do so, it might make your coding a bit harder but it will save a frame or 10 in the long run.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Walls, Ceiling, Floors:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>If I could ask the god of <span class=SpellE>BSPs</span> why you have to use boxes instead of planes for your walls, ceiling, and floors than I would, it is for this reason only that I don’t use <span class=SpellE>bsps</span> (there are others but I digress<span class=GramE>) .</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Use planes whenever possible it might be a little tricky for you to line them up correctly but in the long run, when you take a 6 sided box versus a 1 sided plane and multiply that by an entire level that might come out to 1000 or more <span class=SpellE>polys</span> (actually displayed at one time (culling, <span class=SpellE>fov</span>, <span class=SpellE>dof</span>) ) saved.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Foliage: a game maker and killer, everyone loves a lush scene except when it kills frame rates.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Use multiple 1x1 planes with scripted animated textures, rotated around, for plants, trees, etc</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Lights:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Does your mesh ever really need direct dynamic illumination, probably not, pre-compute your light maps for everything, and use a shadow plane for your character<span class=GramE>,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>for</span> we all know a 3d game is nothing without shadows, if you really must use dynamic lighting, remember that its extremely costly and only use it on objects visible to the user.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>At one time I had the thought that I could use one dynamic light to constantly be on the user character and to project the shadow for it as well.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>It worked, but at the cost of a base 5 frames per second, so I had to take that back from somewhere else, it ended up being the sound, and that ended up being bad so I went to the A.I. and lowered that, it is a perpetual balancing act, remember that.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Reflections:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>If you don’t know, reflections are done with multiple scene cameras, and multiple cameras means multiple rendering, but there is help, rather than halving your frame rate, only have the reflection camera render every 3<sup>rd</sup> frame or so, depending on your tastes, buffer it out and drop the resolution on the buffer and flip it back, you lose the perfect reflections, but you keep your player playing.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE>Ragdoll</span>:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE>Oou</span> ragdoll, soo cool, right, well if you didn’t know, any kind of physics, solid, sliding, cloth, softbody, and especially ragdoll, take an immense amount of processing power, the work around to this is absolutely not to use the actual mesh, yep, use invisible extremely basic meshes, or even better than that pure variables and math to do your interactions.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE>Keyframe</span> vs. Predefined bone animation:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE>Keyframe</span> animation is at this point basically very slow to use by just about any engine let alone one optimized for it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Use predefined bone animation and with most 3d character editors you can even assign what animations are blended together, easy as pie</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Bad Fog vs. Good Fog</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Can there be bad fog, yep, but only when it’s used wrong, fog is basically there to either set an atmosphere for a game or to exclude objects from the render, hint, hint, “boy <span class=GramE>its</span> foggy, but wow I’m getting a constant 60 frames per second” is what you balance against.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>And really, and I can’t express this enough, don’t forget to exclude the completely fogged in objects from the render.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Exponential vs. Linear, like anything, exponential is prettier but much more costly… balance.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Scripts:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Wow, I can script actions and A.I. and my game can just read it from external files, super cool, and <span class=SpellE>uuber</span> slow, scripts=strings=death, hardcode it unless the point of your game is to let the user mess with it, don’t be lazy.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Water:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Dynamic water, a big fat no, non-dynamic but visually appealing water, <span class=GramE>of<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>course</span>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Does your water need to ebb and flow, if so remember that the complexity of the “land” affects how good the water looks when it ebbs and flows, not the complexity of the <span class=GramE>water.</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Pretty waterfalls, yep, they’re great, but only if you use pre-rendered scripted animated textures with alpha channels on layered low poly planes, believe me, it looks just like you really used the crazy 3000 particles to do it, and no you can not do 3000 particles and still well, do anything.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Tiles:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A wonderful thing if done right in 2D or pseuto-2D games, if you don’t know what a matrix is read for a week until you dream about them, because if your reading your tile levels from the registry let alone <span class=SpellE>ini</span> files than I bet your scratching your head and wondering why your level loads so slowly.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>3D sound:</p> <p class=MsoNormal>No game needs CD quality sound, really, while 50 projectiles are coming at your character they <span class=GramE>wont</span> really notice the difference between a bit rate of 256 or 92 or 32bit audio vs. 8 or 16 bit.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>As a general rule, more low quality 3d sounds are always preferable to a very few very high quality 3d sounds.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Music is exactly the same, keep it low quality unless you actually have to.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Windows media player vs. direct sound <span class=SpellE>vs</span> <span class=SpellE>winMCI</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Windows media player = don’t use it</p> <p class=MsoNormal>Direct sound = easiest</p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>winMCI</span></span> = best but very complex to implement</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span class=GramE>A.I.</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>One of the most costly things about games, even more than polygon count, yep, if your going to use neural networks, genetic <span class=GramE>algorithms ,</span> A* path finding, or any of the multitude of A.I. out there, you just can not be liberal with it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If a computer controlled character will only end up dying after 10 seconds of game time does it really need to be able to die well and do college level calc 3 hmm I don’t believe so.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Use it where it is necessary.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Questions that I’ve been asked:</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Can I do my math / sound / etc in a separate thread to increase my frame rate?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Can you get VB to run stable with more than one thread, if you can go for it, if you can’t don’t, will it make a difference, nope</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>What is the main way to increase my frame rate?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If you only do one thing from what I’ve written here, it should be to eliminate redundant coding.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Should I use module level variables (private), sub level variables (dim), or public variables?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>From what I’ve seen if you can put everything into one module (bas) with a sub main, and create your form at runtime(windowed) or just do full screen it is really going to help speed things along, it will also make your coding a headache though.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Remember, inline is faster.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Is there an easy way to make animated X files in my favorite 3d animation program?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Not really, they all have the X exporter, some better than others.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q: Should I use <span class=SpellE>vSync</span> or not?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Develop your game without it, and if you can get your frame rate higher than the standard 60 than go ahead and implement it, just keep in mind that some people out there use a refresh rate of 110 or above, can your game pull that off, why even ask, implement code to switch the users refresh rate to 60 when your game starts, use <span class=SpellE>vsync</span>, and set it back when they exit, they’ll never know, and your game will run super smooth on just about anyone’s decent or better system.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Why can’t I even use the standard teapot primitive in my BSP project, I get errors.</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Do you think any of the high-end games of today use <span class=SpellE>BSPs</span>, if you do your wrong<span class=GramE>..</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Can VB really make games as fast as C++</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>They both get compiled into ASM, but VB <span class=SpellE>f’ks</span> around a bit too much to make it tight ASM, with some of the things that I’ve previously stated you can tighten it up a bit (declared numbers, etc).</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If I use inline <span class=SpellE>asm</span> in <span class=SpellE>vb</span> will it make a difference?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If you can write your own ASM than why are you writing this game in VB in the first place?</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Can I apply a <span class=SpellE>photoshop</span> like filter to my render <span class=SpellE>backbuffer</span> each render pass to get whatever effect?</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Yes and no, yes in the fact that if your using a DX9 script to do it pre-flip than yes, if your using just about anything else, nope, not even the super cool motion blur, script or bust.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Q:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Witch is better, user types or single variables</p> <p class=MsoNormal>A:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Single variables are quicker, but unless you want your game to be 10 years in the making at the gain of 1/100 a frame a second than just use user types, just remember to type them as 32 bit variables.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________________________________</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Like I’ve said before, this is all just opinion and <span class=GramE>conjecture,</span> it works for me, believe it or not.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>If you think that you have better ideas on any of this than I completely welcome you to write your own article on it, in fact that would be great, let alone leave your opinions here.</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>Thanks<span class=GramE>,.</span></p> <p class=MsoNormal>G</p> <p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class=MsoNormal>P.S.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Just about everything I know about all of this I learned or started off on the, well one of the feet, here on PSC, yep, I’m addicted.</p>
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