Well another high octane day of development boxes being ticked. Rather than one of those nice blogs with pictures and things, here is a massive rant with lots of pearls buried inside. We integrated the LUA and DarkAI modules today (or rather last night thanks to Ravey Night Owl) so that we have the basis of shifting all hard coded AI calls into the LUA script and making things MUCH more flexible. We briefly investigated the Channel 3 headphone sound issue, but was unable to find the cause so Simon has a mission to find more information before a fix can be made. We might have found a new character artist for our team, so more on that when we have tested the water and have something to show you. Added three new fields to the Player Start marker called 'Regenerate Rate, Regenerate Speed and Regenerate Delay', I will leave the purpose a secret but I can tell you it has something to do with health. Added a slider to the occlusion system so you can control how many polygons are chosen for the occluder render, which MASSIVELY improves performance as you dial it down to the scene you are working on. More optimizations possible but it's great to know we can leave this in and have you experiment with occlusion to get a good performance balance. We will be keen to learn your results from this in the next build. We replaced the redundant LAYER: status bar prompt with EDIT: which now tells you which IDE edit mode you are in, such as FULL or INSIDE, where INSIDE is a special new mode which lets you place smaller entities inside larger entities such as buildings. Added more flinch to enemy limbs when shot, we will see if this looks okay, or real bad. No more water sound when you die underwater and respawn at the checkpoint or start position. Shadows no longer disappear when objects are occluded from the cameras perspective. New models caused some new occlusion issues, but they where quickly solved. Created a new very small test script for the AI work to be used with a new Combat prototype which will allow the rapid development of the character AI, and even non-character entity logic AI too.
Finally, we briefly looked at creating a PVS (potential visibility set) system from the occluder to remove all real-time occlusion calculations and gain even more run-time performance but it would have taken 100 hours to bake the PVS data, so we decided not to add that 'feature' for now :)
Thứ Tư, 30 tháng 4, 2014
New mobile apps for Docs, Sheets and Slides—work offline and on the go
Every year, phones and tablets get better, and more of you are starting to use your mobile devices not just to view, but also to create and edit content. And while the Drive app is a convenient place to store your stuff, we want to make it easier for you to quickly find, edit and create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on the go. Starting today, you can download new, standalone mobile apps for Docs and Sheets—with Slides coming soon. Need to find a spreadsheet? Go to the Sheets app. Need to create a document? Go to the Docs app. They’re all right there at your fingertips.
When you open the new apps, you’ll see your most recently edited files, which means less time searching and scrolling.
The apps also come with offline support built in, so you can easily view, edit and create files without an Internet connection. Now, if you have a brilliant idea for a best-selling novel while traipsing through the Amazonian rainforest (or you know, something more probable, like during flight takeoff)...no problem. You can jot down your idea in the Docs app on your phone, even when you’re offline.
You can get the apps on Google Play [Docs] [Sheets] and in the App Store [Docs] [Sheets]. If you don’t have time now, over the next few days you’ll be prompted to download the apps when you go to edit or create a document or spreadsheet in your Drive app. And of course, you’ll still be able to use the Drive app to view and organize all of your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos and more.
So enjoy the Amazon—we’re looking forward to buying that novel someday. And in the meantime, just remember: even if a crocodile eats your phone, your files are safe in the cloud!
When you open the new apps, you’ll see your most recently edited files, which means less time searching and scrolling.
The apps also come with offline support built in, so you can easily view, edit and create files without an Internet connection. Now, if you have a brilliant idea for a best-selling novel while traipsing through the Amazonian rainforest (or you know, something more probable, like during flight takeoff)...no problem. You can jot down your idea in the Docs app on your phone, even when you’re offline.
You can get the apps on Google Play [Docs] [Sheets] and in the App Store [Docs] [Sheets]. If you don’t have time now, over the next few days you’ll be prompted to download the apps when you go to edit or create a document or spreadsheet in your Drive app. And of course, you’ll still be able to use the Drive app to view and organize all of your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos and more.
So enjoy the Amazon—we’re looking forward to buying that novel someday. And in the meantime, just remember: even if a crocodile eats your phone, your files are safe in the cloud!
Thứ Ba, 29 tháng 4, 2014
See how Doodle 4 Google state winners would make the world a better place—and vote for your favorite
In February, we asked K-12 students across the country to doodle about the one thing they’d invent to make the world a better place—and we were amazed by their curiosity and creativity. For many students, environmental issues were top of mind, resulting in impressive and artistic doodles depicting water and air purification or turning garbage into flowers. Another common theme was really smart robots; they clean up garbage or help students with their homework. Others created possible solutions for solving obesity or eliminating world hunger. And we saw some thoughtful ideas around time travel and goggles that help you see the world from another person’s point of view so you can truly understand them.
From more than 100,000 creative ideas, we’ve selected the best one from each state with the help of our guest judges. Today, we’re celebrating the 50 state winners—little ones just six years old to high school seniors—at their schools from Fort Paine, Ala. to Moorcroft, Wyo., and from Anchorage, Alaska to Plant City, Fla. We’ll reveal the winning artists in front of their classmates, teachers and parents and, in some places, their local mayors or elected officials.
Now it’s your turn to cast a vote for your favorite Doodle. Starting today through May 9, you can go to the Doodle 4 Google site to help select one winner for each age group. On May 21, we’ll host all 50 state winners at our headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., where we’ll reveal the five age group finalists as well as the national Doodle 4 Google winner.
Then, for the first time ever, the national winner will get to hang out with our team in Mountain View and animate their doodle. You’ll see the spiffed-up version on our homepage on June 9. For now, don’t forget to vote!
From more than 100,000 creative ideas, we’ve selected the best one from each state with the help of our guest judges. Today, we’re celebrating the 50 state winners—little ones just six years old to high school seniors—at their schools from Fort Paine, Ala. to Moorcroft, Wyo., and from Anchorage, Alaska to Plant City, Fla. We’ll reveal the winning artists in front of their classmates, teachers and parents and, in some places, their local mayors or elected officials.
Now it’s your turn to cast a vote for your favorite Doodle. Starting today through May 9, you can go to the Doodle 4 Google site to help select one winner for each age group. On May 21, we’ll host all 50 state winners at our headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., where we’ll reveal the five age group finalists as well as the national Doodle 4 Google winner.
Software Occlusion Now Integrated
Lots of tweaks happened today, including Dave's completion of the CPU software occluder which is now working inside the main engine and culling objects left, right and everywhere. Added an extra control to SETUP.INI to control how many polygons are selected for the occlusion geometry which will help lower end systems use occlusion to suit their performance limitations. Also saw some good improvements to the weapons, making them feel a little better. My own work involved solving the issue of why the latest build did not run on some systems which turned out to be a stray debug DLL dependence, new code to control entity speed for non character entities so that the speed you see in the editor is the same as that in the game and perhaps my favorite completed item was the alpha slice in the editor which will remove the roof from buildings, and disable them from selection when the TAB is pressed to engage the mode which allows you to place tables and objects inside the entity building rooms. You will wonder how you managed before this extra little feature. Just zoom in, press TAB, select some furniture and start decorating!
Fixes from yesterday include enemy flinching and extra spurting blood when enemies shot, entity editing mode back into the F9 mode, strange 'grey screen' issue reproduced and fixed, muzzle flashes now line up with the gun no matter the FOV, improved fogging technique above (and below) the water line, reduced accuracy when shooting from the hip for default weapons and a few other minor tweaks to bring things closer to completion.
Due to a very insistent Ravey, I also added (actually re-instated HEADLIMBS field in the FPE) the head shot feature which will provide a X4 multiplier for any bullet that hits the head of any character. Combined with the new feature which recovers from iron-sight the moment you release the Right Mouse Button, you get a much better sense of combat. We also removed the ability to sprint and shoot at the same time, and when you put all these things together you get a much cooler game play experience. Obviously lots more to follow, but it's starting to take the shape of a serious FPS mechanism. Finally, we also fixed the annoying issue of running through the edge of the gate entity, so that now the physics shape lines up perfectly with the visible object geometry. A small but vital fix for this version.
We all have a myriad of tasks assigned for Wednesday, but my main task assigned will be the start of character ragdoll physics. I have budgeted a day but with the usual distractions it will probably leak into Thursday too, but the time has come when it becomes my sole task. The good news is that I have done ragdoll twice before for FPSC projects so third time should be a charm! I am not aiming for the full Monty ragdoll on this occasion, I will be looking to create a convincing 'fall over dead' simulation for situations when the enemy expires and falls up/down/off a hill, or over a crate or entity wall, or from a very high tower, or down some spiral stairs, or into the water, or in the middle of the sky. It's a lot to handle, but it should be fun to code and even more fun to test! If anyone wants to post some inspiring ragdoll YouTube footage to get my brain in the mood for some good ragdoll coding, post here and fuel the old fire.
Fixes from yesterday include enemy flinching and extra spurting blood when enemies shot, entity editing mode back into the F9 mode, strange 'grey screen' issue reproduced and fixed, muzzle flashes now line up with the gun no matter the FOV, improved fogging technique above (and below) the water line, reduced accuracy when shooting from the hip for default weapons and a few other minor tweaks to bring things closer to completion.
Due to a very insistent Ravey, I also added (actually re-instated HEADLIMBS field in the FPE) the head shot feature which will provide a X4 multiplier for any bullet that hits the head of any character. Combined with the new feature which recovers from iron-sight the moment you release the Right Mouse Button, you get a much better sense of combat. We also removed the ability to sprint and shoot at the same time, and when you put all these things together you get a much cooler game play experience. Obviously lots more to follow, but it's starting to take the shape of a serious FPS mechanism. Finally, we also fixed the annoying issue of running through the edge of the gate entity, so that now the physics shape lines up perfectly with the visible object geometry. A small but vital fix for this version.
We all have a myriad of tasks assigned for Wednesday, but my main task assigned will be the start of character ragdoll physics. I have budgeted a day but with the usual distractions it will probably leak into Thursday too, but the time has come when it becomes my sole task. The good news is that I have done ragdoll twice before for FPSC projects so third time should be a charm! I am not aiming for the full Monty ragdoll on this occasion, I will be looking to create a convincing 'fall over dead' simulation for situations when the enemy expires and falls up/down/off a hill, or over a crate or entity wall, or from a very high tower, or down some spiral stairs, or into the water, or in the middle of the sky. It's a lot to handle, but it should be fun to code and even more fun to test! If anyone wants to post some inspiring ragdoll YouTube footage to get my brain in the mood for some good ragdoll coding, post here and fuel the old fire.
Thứ Hai, 28 tháng 4, 2014
Things That Make A Coder Chuckle
I have been banned from posting videos and shots that do not compliment and preserve the integrity of the Reloaded brand, but sometimes you just have to laugh at in-development moments.
The task in question was a new flinch system which would show the limbs of the character twitch when shot, to give you some idea of which limb you struck with the bullet. It's very experimental, and it will be better than having nothing, and I am sure I know ten better systems to use instead but they all require weeks of fresh development which I don't have.
What you see above is the cruel result of me shooting each foot of the character and finally his upper leg. The quick test code to check the limb detection was to randomize the manual limb matrix on top of the animation data for the struck limb.
The bit which made me chuckle is that using the pistol means it takes several shots to kill a character, and during the fire right the enemies contorted into an array of hilarious postures including walking while one leg high in the air, lower leg completely missing, head bent back into the spine, both arms crossed at extreme angles, and every other mutation you can think of. I figured I would stop and blog this curious moment before I carry on and replace the test code with something sensible. It's times like this I wonder whether leaving this code in would produce a more popular product than deleting the hilarity and adding the rather predictable reasons we have come to expect from FPS games. Such is a day in the life of the games developer!
Plenty tweaks done already today, but will report a good list in Tuesday blog which we have racked up a few more items to show off :)
The task in question was a new flinch system which would show the limbs of the character twitch when shot, to give you some idea of which limb you struck with the bullet. It's very experimental, and it will be better than having nothing, and I am sure I know ten better systems to use instead but they all require weeks of fresh development which I don't have.
What you see above is the cruel result of me shooting each foot of the character and finally his upper leg. The quick test code to check the limb detection was to randomize the manual limb matrix on top of the animation data for the struck limb.
The bit which made me chuckle is that using the pistol means it takes several shots to kill a character, and during the fire right the enemies contorted into an array of hilarious postures including walking while one leg high in the air, lower leg completely missing, head bent back into the spine, both arms crossed at extreme angles, and every other mutation you can think of. I figured I would stop and blog this curious moment before I carry on and replace the test code with something sensible. It's times like this I wonder whether leaving this code in would produce a more popular product than deleting the hilarity and adding the rather predictable reasons we have come to expect from FPS games. Such is a day in the life of the games developer!
Plenty tweaks done already today, but will report a good list in Tuesday blog which we have racked up a few more items to show off :)
The latest chapter for the self-driving car: mastering city street driving
Jaywalking pedestrians. Cars lurching out of hidden driveways. Double-parked delivery trucks blocking your lane and your view. At a busy time of day, a typical city street can leave even experienced drivers sweaty-palmed and irritable. We all dream of a world in which city centers are freed of congestion from cars circling for parking (PDF) and have fewer intersections made dangerous by distracted drivers. That’s why over the last year we’ve shifted the focus of the Google self-driving car project onto mastering city street driving.
Since our last update, we’ve logged thousands of miles on the streets of our hometown of Mountain View, Calif. A mile of city driving is much more complex than a mile of freeway driving, with hundreds of different objects moving according to different rules of the road in a small area. We’ve improved our software so it can detect hundreds of distinct objects simultaneously—pedestrians, buses, a stop sign held up by a crossing guard, or a cyclist making gestures that indicate a possible turn. A self-driving vehicle can pay attention to all of these things in a way that a human physically can’t—and it never gets tired or distracted.
Here’s a video showing how our vehicle navigates some common scenarios near the Googleplex:
As it turns out, what looks chaotic and random on a city street to the human eye is actually fairly predictable to a computer. As we’ve encountered thousands of different situations, we’ve built software models of what to expect, from the likely (a car stopping at a red light) to the unlikely (blowing through it). We still have lots of problems to solve, including teaching the car to drive more streets in Mountain View before we tackle another town, but thousands of situations on city streets that would have stumped us two years ago can now be navigated autonomously.
Our vehicles have now logged nearly 700,000 autonomous miles, and with every passing mile we’re growing more optimistic that we’re heading toward an achievable goal—a vehicle that operates fully without human intervention.
Here’s a video showing how our vehicle navigates some common scenarios near the Googleplex:
As it turns out, what looks chaotic and random on a city street to the human eye is actually fairly predictable to a computer. As we’ve encountered thousands of different situations, we’ve built software models of what to expect, from the likely (a car stopping at a red light) to the unlikely (blowing through it). We still have lots of problems to solve, including teaching the car to drive more streets in Mountain View before we tackle another town, but thousands of situations on city streets that would have stumped us two years ago can now be navigated autonomously.
Our vehicles have now logged nearly 700,000 autonomous miles, and with every passing mile we’re growing more optimistic that we’re heading toward an achievable goal—a vehicle that operates fully without human intervention.
Thứ Bảy, 26 tháng 4, 2014
Belated Blog
Friday was mostly a day of 'further work' which included adding some helpful text to the download system to inform new users what to do with the dialog. More great progress on the software occluder and a video from Dave at the last hour shows just how cool it really is. I am going to postpone showing you guys any of this until it is in the engine I can reveal some real metrics and how much performance you can expect to gain in different scenarios. My own coding antics have been to strip out an AI module and create an integratable prototype so Dave can start the character AI work in earnest next week. It meant I had to remove my clever staircase, ladder, container and hard coded combat logic from the engine, but it also means we have a relatively blank canvas on which Dave can work his magic. Dave has been a games developer as long as I have, and his passion has always been 'games' creation, and unlike me, has continued to play all the best games over the years. He's the go-to guy for ensuring the game play is top draw and my work will hopefully allow him to focus on behaviors rather than the boring stuff like animation and movement. During the strip out of the AI module, I have left in the clever stuff that is still relevant which allows the characters to move and animate in a controlled way, so that foot planting is perfect and all the extra moves such as ducking, crawling, leaping over things combine animation and movement in a single system. It means when Dave's AI system wants an enemy to jump over a sandbag, dive for cover, throw a grenade and run like hell, it's just a few flags! We also sorted more player water interactions so that you can 'sort of swim for a bit', but slowly sink, then your head goes under water and you start to drown slowly. This will be the initial implementation until we explore water properly with underwater scenes, diving, exploring, e.t.c. A pretty packed end of the week and the following week should prove the best yet as occlusion goes in, DarkAI moves to LUA and LOTS more tweaks happen!!
Thứ Sáu, 25 tháng 4, 2014
Through the Google lens: search trends April 18-24
From Lupita topping the People 50 to LaMarcus dropping 46, it’s time to look again at the top trending items on Google Search.
The games we play
The NBA and NHL playoffs both kicked off in earnest this week, and searches for hockey and basketball topics lit up the scoreboard. In fact, the Chicago Blackhawks occupied a post in Google’s Hot Searches list every day but one since last Friday. The defending Stanley Cup champions are playing a tight (and, as of Wednesday, tied) series against the St. Louis Blues; they also drew controversy this weekend when stories emerged of the Blackhawks taunting Blues captain David Backes after a hit that got the Hawks’ Brent Seabrook suspended.
In the NBA, it was all about the big plays. Searches for the OKC Thunder’s Kevin Durant peaked after he made a ridiculous four-point play while (and I don’t use this word lightly) literally falling out of bounds on Tuesday. The last time Durant came close to this level of search interest was on January 30, after a 12-game 30+ point scoring streak. And the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge was on fire on the court and on Google, scoring more than 40 points in his team’s first two playoff games against the Houston Rockets… on the road—making him one of only three players ever to do so. On a more somber note, searches were also high for longtime sideline reporter Craig Sager, who revealed on Sunday that he has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Moving to the diamond, [pine tar] was the top searched topic overall on Wednesday after Yankees’ starting pitcher Michael Pineda was caught red-handed (and sticky-necked) using the substance, a violation of MLB rules, while elsewhere in the American League the Angels’ Albert Pujols hit his 500th career home run. And during Monday’s Boston Marathon (a trending topic both this week and last), Meb Keflezighi became the first American to win the race in more than 30 years, making him a “breakout,” with nearly 1,000% increase in search interest over the last year on Google Search.
Stranger than fiction
Alongside searches for Easter and Earth Day, there were a few unconventional celebrations this week. Dyngus Day, a Polish-American holiday taking place on Easter Monday and similar to Poland’s Śmigus-Dyngus and Hungary’s Vízbevető, was a top topic in search on Monday (O.K., so it wasn’t the top topic, but it was top of mind for many). Traditionally celebrated by boys throwing water over girls, in the U.S. Dyngus Day celebrations include parades, traditional foods and polka music. Whatever its origins, interest in Dyngus Day has been growing steadily the past two years since barely registering on Search in 2012.
What the… powdered alcohol?! That’s what some people were thinking when they searched for [Palcohol], a powder that turns water into alcoholic drinks. It was approved by U.S. regulators earlier in the month, but this week the decision was rescinded. And when a 15-year-old boy caught a ride from San Jose, Calif., to Hawaii in an airplane wheel well, stunned searchers came to Google looking for images of wheel wells to understand how someone might survive such a feat—especially without the beverage cart.
The games we play
The NBA and NHL playoffs both kicked off in earnest this week, and searches for hockey and basketball topics lit up the scoreboard. In fact, the Chicago Blackhawks occupied a post in Google’s Hot Searches list every day but one since last Friday. The defending Stanley Cup champions are playing a tight (and, as of Wednesday, tied) series against the St. Louis Blues; they also drew controversy this weekend when stories emerged of the Blackhawks taunting Blues captain David Backes after a hit that got the Hawks’ Brent Seabrook suspended.
In the NBA, it was all about the big plays. Searches for the OKC Thunder’s Kevin Durant peaked after he made a ridiculous four-point play while (and I don’t use this word lightly) literally falling out of bounds on Tuesday. The last time Durant came close to this level of search interest was on January 30, after a 12-game 30+ point scoring streak. And the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge was on fire on the court and on Google, scoring more than 40 points in his team’s first two playoff games against the Houston Rockets… on the road—making him one of only three players ever to do so. On a more somber note, searches were also high for longtime sideline reporter Craig Sager, who revealed on Sunday that he has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Stranger than fiction
Alongside searches for Easter and Earth Day, there were a few unconventional celebrations this week. Dyngus Day, a Polish-American holiday taking place on Easter Monday and similar to Poland’s Śmigus-Dyngus and Hungary’s Vízbevető, was a top topic in search on Monday (O.K., so it wasn’t the top topic, but it was top of mind for many). Traditionally celebrated by boys throwing water over girls, in the U.S. Dyngus Day celebrations include parades, traditional foods and polka music. Whatever its origins, interest in Dyngus Day has been growing steadily the past two years since barely registering on Search in 2012.
What the… powdered alcohol?! That’s what some people were thinking when they searched for [Palcohol], a powder that turns water into alcoholic drinks. It was approved by U.S. regulators earlier in the month, but this week the decision was rescinded. And when a 15-year-old boy caught a ride from San Jose, Calif., to Hawaii in an airplane wheel well, stunned searchers came to Google looking for images of wheel wells to understand how someone might survive such a feat—especially without the beverage cart.
Thứ Năm, 24 tháng 4, 2014
Preparing the Ground For New AI
It was decided a while ago that a new person should be placed in charge of the scripting and AI modules, and that they should have a lot of time to stay on the subject as we refine the game play experience. To this end I am in the process of removing all the complicated super-clever AI code that did not really work and revert the system to something simpler than can be adopted by a new coder. I am also moving all the hard coded decisions such as whether a character is in PATROL or COMBAT mode into a LUA script which will allow end users to fully customize the experience. I may lose a few performance ticks using all this byte code logic, but I think it will work out for the best, both for the internal team and for the software overall. Step one is to reduce the character to two simple behaviors, which is to walk a patrol along an assigned waypoint and to attack the player when they get close enough. This will involve the introduction of quite a few LUA script commands to achieve, but it also means a myriad of permutations are possible once these basic behaviors are working in the engine. It's not a quick task, and Rick was happy to berate the whole team for not checking in more 'DONE' items on our internal spreadsheet from today but we are entering a phase of some large multi-day items now and so we will get days like these. The good news is that the result will be a very customization logic system for characters and pretty much any entity too!
Explore new careers with the first virtual Take Your Classroom to Work Day
For 21 years, Take Your Child To Work Day has helped kids understand what moms and dads do all day after they leave the house. And even if kids don't realize it at the time, it also serves an important role in helping youngsters learn about what kinds of jobs they could do when they grow up. Unfortunately, not all kids are lucky enough to get these opportunities.
Today, we’re giving kids everywhere a chance to “visit” some of the world’s most exciting workplaces. Working with Forbes, Connected Classrooms is hosting 18 virtual field trips to places like the Georgia Aquarium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Stanford National Lab and the Chicago Bulls locker room, using Google Hangouts. Professionals from all walks of life will discuss their day-to-day roles and how they got there, so students—regardless of budget or geography—can be exposed to a wide range of careers and get excited about their future.
The full list of events is available on Forbes’ site, but here’s a preview of what you can expect:
.gif)
We hope you’ll tune in at 6am PT for the first career hangout, and check out Connected Classrooms throughout the day for new, live field trips.
Today, we’re giving kids everywhere a chance to “visit” some of the world’s most exciting workplaces. Working with Forbes, Connected Classrooms is hosting 18 virtual field trips to places like the Georgia Aquarium, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Stanford National Lab and the Chicago Bulls locker room, using Google Hangouts. Professionals from all walks of life will discuss their day-to-day roles and how they got there, so students—regardless of budget or geography—can be exposed to a wide range of careers and get excited about their future.
The full list of events is available on Forbes’ site, but here’s a preview of what you can expect:
- Learn about careers in government with U.S. Senator for Connecticut, Eric Murphy
- Watch the behind-the-scene production of the morning bell ceremony at NASDAQ
- Hear how chef Keizo Shimamoto created the ramen burger sensation
- Get an inside look at running a magazine with Forbes editor Randall Lane
- See how YouTube celebrity chef, Laura Vitale, runs her own online cooking show
- Explore monster movie making with the Stan Winston School of Special Effects
.gif)
Thứ Tư, 23 tháng 4, 2014
Hitting The Ground Running
Work
Was so absorbed with the schedule, emails, tasks and delegation on Tuesday I completely forgot about blogging. I am here to rectify that a little and list out the stuff we have done in the last two days.
Changing the grass in Test Level is now instant, and no longer takes an absolute age. Added a MEDIUM technique to the entities to allow cheaper shadows along with the flash light effect. We extended the grass drawing range and made the grass fade out better so no more grass popping out of nowhere. The superflat terrain flag now handles the cheap shadow system properly allowing this method to be used for levels where terrain is not needed. It remains to be seen if we promote this feature to a slider/tickbox or keep it hidden in the SETUP.INI. The aspect ratio is now respected no matter what resolution you are running when in edit mode, which means perfectly circular cursors and scopes on rifles :) Fixed the issue of collectible weapons in standalone games not showing the guns when collected. The download system can now determine if an entity has been updated by the artist, and trigger the update to download automatically. Just log in each day, click download and if your purchased items have an improvement, they will be downloaded automatically. Added better interaction between water and entities so they bob about on the surface or sink to the bottom, no more jiggling about erratically. Added F10 reminder on the start-up prompt to show new users how to grab a screen shot from the Test Level session. The engine can automatically detect if an X file is NEWER than the DBO that represents it, and if so, replace it with a new one. This ensures the best performance via DBO and no further need to keep deleting DBO files after each update. Save standalone now remembers all settings in the root SETUP.INI allowing your executables to be exported just how you want them, no more manual editing each time. Skies, terrain and vegetation grasses lists now update each time you run Test Level which means you can buy a sky or grass choice, download it and then run the level immediately to try out your new item without needing to reset the software.
I also did half an hour looking into why the old DBP Free Version suddenly stopped allowing activation, which turned out to be a decent PHP version upgrade which messed up the security at our end. Paul came to the rescue and solved it in short order. New DBP users are happy once more!
Had a meeting today and refined the final list for the next version even further. We have isolated the most important features that the engine sorely needs and are working hard to get them working quickly. To give you a hint, it involves heavy coding of the AI, scripting, Windows 7/8 compatibility and a myriad of tiny yet essential tweaks to make the editing and playing of games enjoyable. Now we have a good upload system and a Game Creator Store administrator in place, expect to see items appear on the store in the coming weeks so don't be afraid to click the FPSCREATOR button in the bottom left of the IDE and visit our digital shop front, and keep an eye out for the free stuff!
Was so absorbed with the schedule, emails, tasks and delegation on Tuesday I completely forgot about blogging. I am here to rectify that a little and list out the stuff we have done in the last two days.
Changing the grass in Test Level is now instant, and no longer takes an absolute age. Added a MEDIUM technique to the entities to allow cheaper shadows along with the flash light effect. We extended the grass drawing range and made the grass fade out better so no more grass popping out of nowhere. The superflat terrain flag now handles the cheap shadow system properly allowing this method to be used for levels where terrain is not needed. It remains to be seen if we promote this feature to a slider/tickbox or keep it hidden in the SETUP.INI. The aspect ratio is now respected no matter what resolution you are running when in edit mode, which means perfectly circular cursors and scopes on rifles :) Fixed the issue of collectible weapons in standalone games not showing the guns when collected. The download system can now determine if an entity has been updated by the artist, and trigger the update to download automatically. Just log in each day, click download and if your purchased items have an improvement, they will be downloaded automatically. Added better interaction between water and entities so they bob about on the surface or sink to the bottom, no more jiggling about erratically. Added F10 reminder on the start-up prompt to show new users how to grab a screen shot from the Test Level session. The engine can automatically detect if an X file is NEWER than the DBO that represents it, and if so, replace it with a new one. This ensures the best performance via DBO and no further need to keep deleting DBO files after each update. Save standalone now remembers all settings in the root SETUP.INI allowing your executables to be exported just how you want them, no more manual editing each time. Skies, terrain and vegetation grasses lists now update each time you run Test Level which means you can buy a sky or grass choice, download it and then run the level immediately to try out your new item without needing to reset the software.
I also did half an hour looking into why the old DBP Free Version suddenly stopped allowing activation, which turned out to be a decent PHP version upgrade which messed up the security at our end. Paul came to the rescue and solved it in short order. New DBP users are happy once more!
Had a meeting today and refined the final list for the next version even further. We have isolated the most important features that the engine sorely needs and are working hard to get them working quickly. To give you a hint, it involves heavy coding of the AI, scripting, Windows 7/8 compatibility and a myriad of tiny yet essential tweaks to make the editing and playing of games enjoyable. Now we have a good upload system and a Game Creator Store administrator in place, expect to see items appear on the store in the coming weeks so don't be afraid to click the FPSCREATOR button in the bottom left of the IDE and visit our digital shop front, and keep an eye out for the free stuff!
Go back in time with Street View
If you’ve ever dreamt of being a time traveler like Doc Brown, now’s your chance. Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in Google Maps for desktop. We've gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world.
Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil. This new feature can also serve as a digital timeline of recent history, like the reconstruction after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa, Japan. You can even experience different seasons and see what it would be like to cruise Italian roadways in both summer and winter.
Forget going 88 mph in a DeLorean—you can stay where you are and use Google Maps to virtually explore the world as it is—and as it was. Happy (time) traveling!
If you see a clock icon in the upper left-hand portion of a Street View image, click on it and move the slider through time and select a thumbnail to see that same place in previous years or seasons.
Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil. This new feature can also serve as a digital timeline of recent history, like the reconstruction after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa, Japan. You can even experience different seasons and see what it would be like to cruise Italian roadways in both summer and winter.
Construction of the Freedom Tower, New York City
Destruction in Onagawa, Japan after the 2011 earthquake
Forget going 88 mph in a DeLorean—you can stay where you are and use Google Maps to virtually explore the world as it is—and as it was. Happy (time) traveling!
Going solar with SunPower
Just because Earth Day is over doesn’t mean we’re done doing good things for the planet. Yesterday we announced our biggest renewable energy purchase yet: an agreement with our Iowa utility partners to supply our data center facilities there with up to 407 megawatts of wind energy.
Today, we’re taking another step towards a clean energy future with a major new investment. Together with SunPower Corporation we’re creating a new $250 million fund to help finance the purchase of residential rooftop solar systems—making it easier for thousands of households across the U.S. to go solar. Essentially, this is how it works: Using the fund ($100 million from Google and $150 million from SunPower), we buy the solar panel systems. Then we lease them to homeowners at a cost that’s typically lower than their normal electricity bill. So by participating in this program, you don’t just help the environment—you can also save money.
SunPower delivers solar to residential, utility and commercial customers and also manufacturers its own solar cells and panels.They’re known for having high-quality, high reliability panels which can generate up to 50 percent more power per unit area, with guaranteed performance and lower degradation over time. That means that you can install fewer solar panels to get the same amount of energy. And SunPower both makes the panels and manages the installation, so the process is seamless.
This is our 16th renewable energy investment and our third residential rooftop solar investment (the others being with Solar City and Clean Power Finance). Overall we’ve invested more than $1 billion in 16 renewable energy projects around the world, and we’re always on the hunt for new opportunities to make more renewable energy available to more people—Earth Day and every day.
Today, we’re taking another step towards a clean energy future with a major new investment. Together with SunPower Corporation we’re creating a new $250 million fund to help finance the purchase of residential rooftop solar systems—making it easier for thousands of households across the U.S. to go solar. Essentially, this is how it works: Using the fund ($100 million from Google and $150 million from SunPower), we buy the solar panel systems. Then we lease them to homeowners at a cost that’s typically lower than their normal electricity bill. So by participating in this program, you don’t just help the environment—you can also save money.
A home sporting SunPower solar panels
SunPower delivers solar to residential, utility and commercial customers and also manufacturers its own solar cells and panels.They’re known for having high-quality, high reliability panels which can generate up to 50 percent more power per unit area, with guaranteed performance and lower degradation over time. That means that you can install fewer solar panels to get the same amount of energy. And SunPower both makes the panels and manages the installation, so the process is seamless.
This is our 16th renewable energy investment and our third residential rooftop solar investment (the others being with Solar City and Clean Power Finance). Overall we’ve invested more than $1 billion in 16 renewable energy projects around the world, and we’re always on the hunt for new opportunities to make more renewable energy available to more people—Earth Day and every day.
Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 4, 2014
Ok Glass… Let’s celebrate Earth Day
Part of honoring Earth Day is celebrating the people who dedicate their lives to protecting our planet’s most vulnerable species. You’ll find one of those people in the tall grasslands of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, where Sabita Malla, a senior research officer at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is hard at work protecting rhinos and Bengal tigers from poaching. She spends her days collecting data about wildlife in order to track the animals, assess threats, and provide support where needed. Now, she’s getting help from something a bit unexpected: Google Glass.
Last year, WWF started exploring how smart eyewear could help further its conservation mission in the Arctic and the Amazon as part of the Giving through Glass Explorer program. Now they’ve brought it to Nepal to see how it could help monitor wild rhinos. Take a peek:
Rhino monitoring can be a slow process, especially in habitats with tricky terrain, but data collection is crucial for making the right conservation decisions. Most parts of Chitwan National Park are inaccessible to vehicles, so Sabita and her team ride in on elephants, and have been collecting health and habitat data using pencil and paper.
Now custom-built Glassware (the Glass version of apps) called Field Notes can help Sabita do her work hands-free instead of gathering data in a notebook. That’s helpful for both accuracy and safety when you’re on an elephant. Using voice commands, Sabita and other researchers can take photos and videos, and map a rhino’s location, size, weight, and other notable characteristics. The notes collected can also be automatically uploaded to a shared doc back at the office, making it easier to collaborate with other researchers, and potentially a lot faster than typing up handwritten notes.
This is just one example of a nonprofit exploring how Glass can make their critical work easier. Today, we’re looking for more ideas from you.
If you work at a nonprofit and have an idea for how to make more of a difference with Glass, share your ideas at g.co/givingthroughglass by 11:59 PDT on May 20, 2014. Five U.S.-based nonprofits will get a Glass device, a trip to a Google office for training, a $25,000 grant, and help from Google developers to make your Glass project a reality.
To learn more about Google.org's ongoing collaboration with World Wildlife Fund, visit this site.
Last year, WWF started exploring how smart eyewear could help further its conservation mission in the Arctic and the Amazon as part of the Giving through Glass Explorer program. Now they’ve brought it to Nepal to see how it could help monitor wild rhinos. Take a peek:
Rhino monitoring can be a slow process, especially in habitats with tricky terrain, but data collection is crucial for making the right conservation decisions. Most parts of Chitwan National Park are inaccessible to vehicles, so Sabita and her team ride in on elephants, and have been collecting health and habitat data using pencil and paper.
Now custom-built Glassware (the Glass version of apps) called Field Notes can help Sabita do her work hands-free instead of gathering data in a notebook. That’s helpful for both accuracy and safety when you’re on an elephant. Using voice commands, Sabita and other researchers can take photos and videos, and map a rhino’s location, size, weight, and other notable characteristics. The notes collected can also be automatically uploaded to a shared doc back at the office, making it easier to collaborate with other researchers, and potentially a lot faster than typing up handwritten notes.
This is just one example of a nonprofit exploring how Glass can make their critical work easier. Today, we’re looking for more ideas from you.
If you work at a nonprofit and have an idea for how to make more of a difference with Glass, share your ideas at g.co/givingthroughglass by 11:59 PDT on May 20, 2014. Five U.S.-based nonprofits will get a Glass device, a trip to a Google office for training, a $25,000 grant, and help from Google developers to make your Glass project a reality.
To learn more about Google.org's ongoing collaboration with World Wildlife Fund, visit this site.
Thứ Sáu, 18 tháng 4, 2014
Through the Google lens: this week’s search trends
What did you search for this week? What about everyone else? Starting today, we’ll be sharing a regular look back at some of the top trending items on Google Search. Let’s dive in.
From afikomen to 1040EZ
People were looking for information on Palm Sunday and Good Friday ahead of Easter; searches for both days were even higher than searches for the Pope himself. Turning to another religious tradition, with Passover beginning on Monday we saw searches rise over 100 percent for Seder staples like [charoset recipe], [brisket passover] and of course [matzo balls]. Alongside these celebrations, U.S. citizens observed another annual rite of spring: taxes were due on April 15, leading to a rise in searches for [turbotax free], [irs] and (whoops) [turbotax extension].
But what made this year different from all other years? A rare lunar eclipse known as the “blood moon,” when the Earth’s shadow covers the moon, making it look red, and which occurred on Tuesday. There were more than 5 million searches on the topic, as people were eager to learn more. (Hint: if you missed seeing the blood moon this time around, keep your eyes on the sky in October. This is the first lunar eclipse in a “lunar tetrad,” a series of four total lunar eclipses each taking place six lunar months apart.)
Say goodbye and say hello
This week marked the first anniversary of last year’s Boston Marathon bombing, and commemorations led searches for the term [boston strong] to rise once again. And just yesterday, we were saddened by the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian writer best known for his masterpiece “100 Years of Solitude”—not to mention responsible for high schoolers across the U.S. knowing the term “magical realism.” On a happier note, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton announced she’s expecting.
Entertainment that makes you go ZOMG
“Game of Thrones” fans—at least those who hadn’t read the books—were treated to a bombshell in this past Sunday’s episode when (spoiler alert) yet another wedding turned murderous. Searches for [who killed joffrey] skyrocketed as people struggled to process the loss of the boy king we love to hate. On the more sedate end of the Sunday TV spectrum, we welcomed back AMC’s “Mad Men,” which continues to provide viewers with plenty of innuendo, allusion and fashion to chew on—and search for—in between episodes.
The trailer for the highly anticipated film version of “Gone Girl” dropped this week—vaulting searches for [gone girl trailer] nearly 1,000 percent—as did a clip from another book-to-movie remake, “The Fault in Our Stars.” Between these two films we expect no dry eyes in June and no intact fingernails come October. At least we’ve got something funny to look forward to: as news broke this week that Fox 2000 is developing a sequel to the 1993 comedy classic "Mrs. Doubtfire," searches on the subject have since spiked.
And that’s it for this week in search. If you’re interested in exploring trending topics on your own, check out Google Trends. And starting today, you can also sign up to receive emails on your favorite terms, topics, or Top Charts for any of 47 countries.
From afikomen to 1040EZ
People were looking for information on Palm Sunday and Good Friday ahead of Easter; searches for both days were even higher than searches for the Pope himself. Turning to another religious tradition, with Passover beginning on Monday we saw searches rise over 100 percent for Seder staples like [charoset recipe], [brisket passover] and of course [matzo balls]. Alongside these celebrations, U.S. citizens observed another annual rite of spring: taxes were due on April 15, leading to a rise in searches for [turbotax free], [irs] and (whoops) [turbotax extension].
This week marked the first anniversary of last year’s Boston Marathon bombing, and commemorations led searches for the term [boston strong] to rise once again. And just yesterday, we were saddened by the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian writer best known for his masterpiece “100 Years of Solitude”—not to mention responsible for high schoolers across the U.S. knowing the term “magical realism.” On a happier note, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton announced she’s expecting.
Entertainment that makes you go ZOMG
“Game of Thrones” fans—at least those who hadn’t read the books—were treated to a bombshell in this past Sunday’s episode when (spoiler alert) yet another wedding turned murderous. Searches for [who killed joffrey] skyrocketed as people struggled to process the loss of the boy king we love to hate. On the more sedate end of the Sunday TV spectrum, we welcomed back AMC’s “Mad Men,” which continues to provide viewers with plenty of innuendo, allusion and fashion to chew on—and search for—in between episodes.
The trailer for the highly anticipated film version of “Gone Girl” dropped this week—vaulting searches for [gone girl trailer] nearly 1,000 percent—as did a clip from another book-to-movie remake, “The Fault in Our Stars.” Between these two films we expect no dry eyes in June and no intact fingernails come October. At least we’ve got something funny to look forward to: as news broke this week that Fox 2000 is developing a sequel to the 1993 comedy classic "Mrs. Doubtfire," searches on the subject have since spiked.
Thứ Năm, 17 tháng 4, 2014
Providing more CS professional development for K-12 teachers with an expanded CS4HS
For more than five years, we’ve provided free and inexpensive teacher professional development trainings in computer science education through Computer Science for High School (CS4HS). In this program, Google provides funding and support for experts to create hands-on professional development training in CS education for K-12 educators. The goal is to arm teachers with the knowledge they need to help their students succeed in the field. The program has already trained more than 12,000 teachers, and reached more than 600,000 students—and we’ve gotten great feedback over the years (a 95% satisfaction rate!).
It’s been a great success, but there is still much more to do. So this year, we’re taking the first steps toward extending CS4HS across the globe. We’re piloting CS4HS projects in Latin America for the first time—an area where computer science education is often mistaken for computer literacy (think word processing, typing, or changing settings on your operating system rather than robotics or coding a game). We’re also introducing eight new online workshops, so teachers no longer need to be located near a CS4HS event to get quality training.
It’s not just the “where” we’re expanding, but the “when,” as well. We’re now providing new resources for teachers to get ongoing, year-round help. Our Google+ Community page hosts Hangouts on Air with CS industry leaders, Googlers, and top educators on a regular basis. And we’ve added a new Resources page with online workshops, tutorials and information on computational thinking, robotics and more. Finally, if you happen to be in the neighborhood at the right time, sign up for one of our in-person workshops available around the world in these locations:
It’s been a great success, but there is still much more to do. So this year, we’re taking the first steps toward extending CS4HS across the globe. We’re piloting CS4HS projects in Latin America for the first time—an area where computer science education is often mistaken for computer literacy (think word processing, typing, or changing settings on your operating system rather than robotics or coding a game). We’re also introducing eight new online workshops, so teachers no longer need to be located near a CS4HS event to get quality training.
It’s not just the “where” we’re expanding, but the “when,” as well. We’re now providing new resources for teachers to get ongoing, year-round help. Our Google+ Community page hosts Hangouts on Air with CS industry leaders, Googlers, and top educators on a regular basis. And we’ve added a new Resources page with online workshops, tutorials and information on computational thinking, robotics and more. Finally, if you happen to be in the neighborhood at the right time, sign up for one of our in-person workshops available around the world in these locations:
The Last Dev Day Before Easter
Work
The final day of development before the long awaited Easter holiday weekend (well not really long awaited, I only found out about it two days ago). Basically means the team will disperse for a few days after today so I am looking to spend less time on blitzing features and more time ensuring we have a solid build so when we return all the code makes sense.
Dave surprised me this morning with a rather funny video, and represents his first day working on new scripting commands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFiC4skVXM&feature=youtu.be
One issue experienced in the current beta is the slow 'top down editor' part which is using the HIGHEST shader settings. The latest one now migrates the shader settings, and I have just fixed the 'cheap shadow' system so it works in this editor too. Took a few hours, and I still need to increase the texture quality, but it works and any shadow will create a sense of depth which is useful for editing. The cool thing is that because I am now using LOWEST settings, the editor feels much faster, especially when lots of animations and things are placed down in close proximity.
Spent the rest of the battling with the combination of LOWEST settings in the editor, cheap shadows and SUPERFLATMODE=1 which produced a number of very irritating results. Ran out of time to find the cause, but have made a note and will resume the battle in the near future.
New internal build sent to Rick for testing, SVN cleaned up and the team wrapping up their respective offices. Been a good few weeks development and I am looking forward to a chill now, and even more cool development on my return. I will be sure to pop in from time to time on the forums however to see what's happening with the continuing saga of BETA 1.006.
The final day of development before the long awaited Easter holiday weekend (well not really long awaited, I only found out about it two days ago). Basically means the team will disperse for a few days after today so I am looking to spend less time on blitzing features and more time ensuring we have a solid build so when we return all the code makes sense.
Dave surprised me this morning with a rather funny video, and represents his first day working on new scripting commands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFiC4skVXM&feature=youtu.be
One issue experienced in the current beta is the slow 'top down editor' part which is using the HIGHEST shader settings. The latest one now migrates the shader settings, and I have just fixed the 'cheap shadow' system so it works in this editor too. Took a few hours, and I still need to increase the texture quality, but it works and any shadow will create a sense of depth which is useful for editing. The cool thing is that because I am now using LOWEST settings, the editor feels much faster, especially when lots of animations and things are placed down in close proximity.
Spent the rest of the battling with the combination of LOWEST settings in the editor, cheap shadows and SUPERFLATMODE=1 which produced a number of very irritating results. Ran out of time to find the cause, but have made a note and will resume the battle in the near future.
New internal build sent to Rick for testing, SVN cleaned up and the team wrapping up their respective offices. Been a good few weeks development and I am looking forward to a chill now, and even more cool development on my return. I will be sure to pop in from time to time on the forums however to see what's happening with the continuing saga of BETA 1.006.
Thứ Tư, 16 tháng 4, 2014
Plenty V1 Tweaks Tweaked
Work
A good day today with plenty small fixes made which just polish the edges and make the software feel a little more compact and friendly. As this is a quick blog I will just reel off the stuff I did which includes a new superflat mode of 2 which will completely remove the terrain from the engine (entirely) so you can import your own ground or other floor surface. Added in some static floor entities and it worked a treat (and gave a monster speed up). Improved FPS Warning so it only strikes once the game loop is well established. Deleting zone entities in zoomed mode no longer leaves area zone marker in map. FPSCR will now only accept and load levels created exclusively in Reloaded, and will produce a warning for Classic FPM files. Flash light now works for LOWEST and MEDIUM shader techniques, and I have added a new MEDIUM shader technique for entities to allow a cheap flash light and a real flash light effect to be chosen. Amazingly, FALLOUT3 only used a proximity flash light rather than conical one! Ambient settings no longer lost when loading, saving and creating new terrains. When setting low shader techniques in test game, this choice is carried back to the editor so you can have faster editing experience (though it does not look as good from high up).
On top of this, usual forum checking and delegating and testing tasks for Dave and Simon which are making good progress in their own right. Dave just fixed the download system so it now uses a cool check-sum feature to ensure the download is 100% successful and also allows us to detect when an entity has been modified by the original artist and the software automatically updates it for you. Simon has solved the floating grass issues and made some performance improvements which he was in there :)
Thursday is the last official work day in the UK, so our combined plan is to crack on with our list of super-A critical items and giving us enough time to check in and test what we have before the Easter break. We've all worked like crazy people these last weeks and the break will do everyone some good, recharge those batteries and come back stronger (at which point we have to remember what exactly it was we we're coding) ;)
A good day today with plenty small fixes made which just polish the edges and make the software feel a little more compact and friendly. As this is a quick blog I will just reel off the stuff I did which includes a new superflat mode of 2 which will completely remove the terrain from the engine (entirely) so you can import your own ground or other floor surface. Added in some static floor entities and it worked a treat (and gave a monster speed up). Improved FPS Warning so it only strikes once the game loop is well established. Deleting zone entities in zoomed mode no longer leaves area zone marker in map. FPSCR will now only accept and load levels created exclusively in Reloaded, and will produce a warning for Classic FPM files. Flash light now works for LOWEST and MEDIUM shader techniques, and I have added a new MEDIUM shader technique for entities to allow a cheap flash light and a real flash light effect to be chosen. Amazingly, FALLOUT3 only used a proximity flash light rather than conical one! Ambient settings no longer lost when loading, saving and creating new terrains. When setting low shader techniques in test game, this choice is carried back to the editor so you can have faster editing experience (though it does not look as good from high up).
On top of this, usual forum checking and delegating and testing tasks for Dave and Simon which are making good progress in their own right. Dave just fixed the download system so it now uses a cool check-sum feature to ensure the download is 100% successful and also allows us to detect when an entity has been modified by the original artist and the software automatically updates it for you. Simon has solved the floating grass issues and made some performance improvements which he was in there :)
Thursday is the last official work day in the UK, so our combined plan is to crack on with our list of super-A critical items and giving us enough time to check in and test what we have before the Easter break. We've all worked like crazy people these last weeks and the break will do everyone some good, recharge those batteries and come back stronger (at which point we have to remember what exactly it was we we're coding) ;)
Thứ Ba, 15 tháng 4, 2014
BETA Launch Day
Work
After many weeks tweaking and testing, we released the new 1.006 beta onto the unsuspecting public, and the feedback so far is very good. We did a good job testing for stability and the performance improvements are experienced by almost everyone. Those still on HIGHEST settings will see the smallest benefit as we focused on LOWEST for the lower end systems.
Here is a shot of something I was messing with, getting the sky, fog and land color tint to match to create a different feel and style even though it's just plane old LUSH style.
I was planning dive straight into the remaining features of the software, but it was brought to my attention that a better strategy was to stick around the forums and assist in the early feedback of the BETA and help out where I can. I have decided this is a good policy and will continue this until Thursday PM. Friday through Monday is a bank holiday here in the UK, which means my team downs tools and runs for the hills for a much needed recharge. I also plan to see a few castles over the brief holiday, but will be back every evening to play FALLOUT3 and a few other games I have to catch up with, and of course checking into the forums and maybe doing some more tweaks.
All in all, the teams dedication to focusing on core issues and then PLENTY of testing has produced a solid version which I am happy to release today, and if we spend the next six weeks with the same laser sharp attitude to completing this product in a timely fashion, we'll be in a great place to then add all the cool features you have been voting for on the Vote Board. Once again thanks to all our pledgers for making this software possible, and we hope you've enjoyed the journey so far.
After many weeks tweaking and testing, we released the new 1.006 beta onto the unsuspecting public, and the feedback so far is very good. We did a good job testing for stability and the performance improvements are experienced by almost everyone. Those still on HIGHEST settings will see the smallest benefit as we focused on LOWEST for the lower end systems.
Here is a shot of something I was messing with, getting the sky, fog and land color tint to match to create a different feel and style even though it's just plane old LUSH style.
I was planning dive straight into the remaining features of the software, but it was brought to my attention that a better strategy was to stick around the forums and assist in the early feedback of the BETA and help out where I can. I have decided this is a good policy and will continue this until Thursday PM. Friday through Monday is a bank holiday here in the UK, which means my team downs tools and runs for the hills for a much needed recharge. I also plan to see a few castles over the brief holiday, but will be back every evening to play FALLOUT3 and a few other games I have to catch up with, and of course checking into the forums and maybe doing some more tweaks.
All in all, the teams dedication to focusing on core issues and then PLENTY of testing has produced a solid version which I am happy to release today, and if we spend the next six weeks with the same laser sharp attitude to completing this product in a timely fashion, we'll be in a great place to then add all the cool features you have been voting for on the Vote Board. Once again thanks to all our pledgers for making this software possible, and we hope you've enjoyed the journey so far.
Thứ Hai, 14 tháng 4, 2014
Almost Last Day Of Testing
Work
I get the impression that the version we are testing is also the version the 'everyone else' will be getting and I must say it's holding up to tests. Over 50 sequential clicks at Test Game button without crashing, no memory issues, faster performance across the board, many small tweak conveniently squashed, and who know what other small benefits. I think our trio did quite well this last few weeks, and a good formula for the future.
I 'could' list all the small tweaks, but as half of them where fixes for things that formerly worked, it's not going to make much sense as an isolated list. I can report general improvements across the board, and certainly some improvements in performance when you set the shaders to LOWEST.
I am most pleased with the stability and memory activity of the software however, which allows extremely prolonged sessions without worrying about memory fragmentation. Of course, plenty of more opportunities for optimization but as far as final builds go, I think this one is pretty special. The internal and core teams will be testing this for some of Tuesday AM and with a little luck we can release to the whole pledged world very soon after that. Wish I could provide some nice screenshots for you, but truth be told, the community are producing some awesome shots already I dare not attempt to challenge their authority in this matter.
Beyond the beta release, we make our plans to improve the next 'most needed' feature which is scripting and AI. We have a little of both right now, but we want to inject super-powers into both systems and get the game play as stellar as possible for FPSC Reloaded. In additional to the myriad of minor tweaks and fixes, our big feature for the next release will be A.I so place your characters in your levels now in anticipation of the hideously smart intelligence we will bestow on them in the next major release.
The whole team are pretty buzzed with the current beta and we hope you enjoy it too. If you have any comments on the version, you know where to post it. Until the next blog post, enjoy!
I get the impression that the version we are testing is also the version the 'everyone else' will be getting and I must say it's holding up to tests. Over 50 sequential clicks at Test Game button without crashing, no memory issues, faster performance across the board, many small tweak conveniently squashed, and who know what other small benefits. I think our trio did quite well this last few weeks, and a good formula for the future.
I 'could' list all the small tweaks, but as half of them where fixes for things that formerly worked, it's not going to make much sense as an isolated list. I can report general improvements across the board, and certainly some improvements in performance when you set the shaders to LOWEST.
I am most pleased with the stability and memory activity of the software however, which allows extremely prolonged sessions without worrying about memory fragmentation. Of course, plenty of more opportunities for optimization but as far as final builds go, I think this one is pretty special. The internal and core teams will be testing this for some of Tuesday AM and with a little luck we can release to the whole pledged world very soon after that. Wish I could provide some nice screenshots for you, but truth be told, the community are producing some awesome shots already I dare not attempt to challenge their authority in this matter.
Beyond the beta release, we make our plans to improve the next 'most needed' feature which is scripting and AI. We have a little of both right now, but we want to inject super-powers into both systems and get the game play as stellar as possible for FPSC Reloaded. In additional to the myriad of minor tweaks and fixes, our big feature for the next release will be A.I so place your characters in your levels now in anticipation of the hideously smart intelligence we will bestow on them in the next major release.
The whole team are pretty buzzed with the current beta and we hope you enjoy it too. If you have any comments on the version, you know where to post it. Until the next blog post, enjoy!
Thứ Sáu, 11 tháng 4, 2014
Thank Almighty Bob It's Friday
Work
Another good day, filled with a notable success. Not only have more fine tweaks gone in, but the best news of the day is that we managed to locate and plug a 40MB leak, which happened each time you click TEST GAME. It basically means your editing sessions got substantially longer!
As the monsters lurking inside the engine begin to get thinned out, we start to catch a glimpse of the game creator we all want. I am now assigning the whole team the challenge of locating and eradicating any remaining memory leaks over a double of Kb. Anything smaller will not harm you, but we will eventually get to them all, so we are focusing on the ones that cause your system memory to run out.
The internal plan is to release something next week, but this is not confirmed and it all depends on the results of the larger internal test we are conducting on the new version. We realize you have been very patient, and so we want to give you something worthwhile (and hopefully worth the wait).
My trilogy of coders are getting 'very' familiar with the whole engine, from the IDE, the DBP code through to the C++ modules that make it fast. We're almost at the point where anyone can jump in and code any part, which makes for a devastating core team on Reloaded. I am personally looking forward to the post BETA development when we get to have fun with LUA and AI, but focus will remain on this version and the mission is to ensure it's a solid and reliable version you can continue to create your levels with while we work on the logic side of things for you.
Another good day, filled with a notable success. Not only have more fine tweaks gone in, but the best news of the day is that we managed to locate and plug a 40MB leak, which happened each time you click TEST GAME. It basically means your editing sessions got substantially longer!
As the monsters lurking inside the engine begin to get thinned out, we start to catch a glimpse of the game creator we all want. I am now assigning the whole team the challenge of locating and eradicating any remaining memory leaks over a double of Kb. Anything smaller will not harm you, but we will eventually get to them all, so we are focusing on the ones that cause your system memory to run out.
The internal plan is to release something next week, but this is not confirmed and it all depends on the results of the larger internal test we are conducting on the new version. We realize you have been very patient, and so we want to give you something worthwhile (and hopefully worth the wait).
My trilogy of coders are getting 'very' familiar with the whole engine, from the IDE, the DBP code through to the C++ modules that make it fast. We're almost at the point where anyone can jump in and code any part, which makes for a devastating core team on Reloaded. I am personally looking forward to the post BETA development when we get to have fun with LUA and AI, but focus will remain on this version and the mission is to ensure it's a solid and reliable version you can continue to create your levels with while we work on the logic side of things for you.
Thứ Năm, 10 tháng 4, 2014
Thursday Triumphs
Work
Another good day so far of testing and tweaking, mostly playing detective with some rogue memory leaks. The biggest and best news from me is that I managed to reduce the start-up system memory usage by 190MB bringing it down to just 430MB with full terrain system. We also made some good strides on the store and also some key crash fixes which we found during extensive testing. Cannot do a big blog as I need to get right back in it. I am currently stepping through the test game in/out process to find out why it can leak anything from 500Kb to 65MB after a single test game session. This work has already yielded a fix which prevents anything greater than 4MB from being allocated during the test game set-up (at least the DIM stuff), and is just a case of tracking as much of this stuff as possible in the time remaining. All in all, progress goes well!
Another good day so far of testing and tweaking, mostly playing detective with some rogue memory leaks. The biggest and best news from me is that I managed to reduce the start-up system memory usage by 190MB bringing it down to just 430MB with full terrain system. We also made some good strides on the store and also some key crash fixes which we found during extensive testing. Cannot do a big blog as I need to get right back in it. I am currently stepping through the test game in/out process to find out why it can leak anything from 500Kb to 65MB after a single test game session. This work has already yielded a fix which prevents anything greater than 4MB from being allocated during the test game set-up (at least the DIM stuff), and is just a case of tracking as much of this stuff as possible in the time remaining. All in all, progress goes well!
Thứ Tư, 9 tháng 4, 2014
Wednesday Test and Tweak Day
Work
With much performance improvements under our belt, we are at a phase now where testing takes front seat, which means making random levels until something bad happens.
This is something I ended up with while trying to trip up the engine, and thought I would take a holiday snap while I was standing there thinking.
Some great fixes today, including a physics fix, the player no longer hurts performance after a death and restart, other small improvements related to performance and final visuals. You can once again take snapshots with F10 and it seems to run very well on a variety of low end systems now. Phew!
On the IDE side, we have been working hard on getting the Store download system complete, so you can sync your purchased assets with the local library and start using Store based artwork. We have pretty much re-written the store front-end and have tried to make the client side back end as seamless as possible. Right now you just click DOWNLOAD from the FILE menu, press another button and wait. Minutes later you have all your store items on your computer :) We're putting the finishing touches to that this week.
Of all our internal alpha testers reported in so far on the latest version, only one had any remaining issues with stutter (or sluggish frames) and I am awaiting a better description or hopefully a video showing the issue. It does appear though that we have crossed over into a sweet spot and the trick now is to keep that intact while expanding the software further.
Plan for Thursday and Friday is test like it's going out of fashion. Only small tweaks now, no feature additions and plenty of paranoia as we click every button and try every combination to seek out those pesky show stoppers.
With much performance improvements under our belt, we are at a phase now where testing takes front seat, which means making random levels until something bad happens.
This is something I ended up with while trying to trip up the engine, and thought I would take a holiday snap while I was standing there thinking.
Some great fixes today, including a physics fix, the player no longer hurts performance after a death and restart, other small improvements related to performance and final visuals. You can once again take snapshots with F10 and it seems to run very well on a variety of low end systems now. Phew!
On the IDE side, we have been working hard on getting the Store download system complete, so you can sync your purchased assets with the local library and start using Store based artwork. We have pretty much re-written the store front-end and have tried to make the client side back end as seamless as possible. Right now you just click DOWNLOAD from the FILE menu, press another button and wait. Minutes later you have all your store items on your computer :) We're putting the finishing touches to that this week.
Of all our internal alpha testers reported in so far on the latest version, only one had any remaining issues with stutter (or sluggish frames) and I am awaiting a better description or hopefully a video showing the issue. It does appear though that we have crossed over into a sweet spot and the trick now is to keep that intact while expanding the software further.
Plan for Thursday and Friday is test like it's going out of fashion. Only small tweaks now, no feature additions and plenty of paranoia as we click every button and try every combination to seek out those pesky show stoppers.
Thứ Ba, 8 tháng 4, 2014
Sat Down For 2, Stayed for 5
Work
Meeting day today so not much time left for serious coding. Made our shortlist for what goes into the BETA and what goes into version after that. Team working well and already discovered a 19MB leak in the GPU memory caused by real time render targets not being freed. Added code so just needs testing Wednesday to see if it worked.
I spent my 5 hours preparing the version for the build. Stutter fix went in, that was five minutes, then spent an hour on the aforementioned GPU leak fix but then spent over 3 hours on getting the characters to skip rendering into the shadow system when using cheap shadows (as they only project one pixel which is not much use). Alas after many frustrating hours, no matter what code I disable or tweak, the characters would NOT go away. Decided to change tracks and return to this one.
I am planning to do some final tests, make a new demo and release to the internal alpha testers in the hopes I have (a) not broken anything and (b) made things a little better and less stuttery for some testers. Here we go...
Meeting day today so not much time left for serious coding. Made our shortlist for what goes into the BETA and what goes into version after that. Team working well and already discovered a 19MB leak in the GPU memory caused by real time render targets not being freed. Added code so just needs testing Wednesday to see if it worked.
I spent my 5 hours preparing the version for the build. Stutter fix went in, that was five minutes, then spent an hour on the aforementioned GPU leak fix but then spent over 3 hours on getting the characters to skip rendering into the shadow system when using cheap shadows (as they only project one pixel which is not much use). Alas after many frustrating hours, no matter what code I disable or tweak, the characters would NOT go away. Decided to change tracks and return to this one.
I am planning to do some final tests, make a new demo and release to the internal alpha testers in the hopes I have (a) not broken anything and (b) made things a little better and less stuttery for some testers. Here we go...
Thứ Hai, 7 tháng 4, 2014
timeGetTime Revealed
Work
Even though I had no power in the house until late evening, I did have the foresight to charge my mobile and my Ultrabook, plus top up my UPS to get some extra hours. Using these temporary stores of electrons, I proceeded to confirm the theory that timeGetTime() is broken. And it was!
It seems you are NOT GUARANTEED to get 1ms granularity when you call timeGetTime() and trying to get this information from the official documentation was like pulling teeth. After much ado, I discovered the granularity can be as rough as 10-15ms which means your physics would essentially freeze for 15ms before stepping to the next count. Insanity I know! Anyhoo, long story short, I replaced this with QueryPerformanceCounter() and QueryPerformanceFrequency() and presto, I got my fine grain timer working in the microsecond range (i.e. 1 millionths of a second). As soon as I added this, all stuttering I was able to produce on a low end laptop and a high end gaming rig completely disappeared.
For kicks, I had also charged the Windows Surface Tablet (so I could surf the net during my emergency power session) and put the latest version of the demo on it, dialed out some (well most) of the features and was able to get a full screen 1024x768 scene running at 33 fps, complete with rendered animation and all the back-end. Bear in mind this has a GPU score of just 112 and I managed to get a frame rate that allowed me to run around smoothly. Shocking I know, especially when you consider my previous run only got as far as 2 fps. Naturally, I would have to do a SERIOUS amount of hacking and slashing to get Reloaded to run on such a device, but it shows the feat is 'possible'. Whether this is something to community wants to see is another matter, and we have already got early grumblings from at least one community members that 'enough is enough on performance' and that we should be adding features now. I am pretty sure this is a minority view, and perhaps highlights one of the difficulties of coding in a democracy :)
Despite no power and little team comms, I achieved a substantial fix today making Monday a pretty good day. Also getting some nice reports from the internal alpha testers so all the signs are good for a great next beta. Have a meeting Tuesday morning so time for an early night (as soon as these emails are dealt with).
Even though I had no power in the house until late evening, I did have the foresight to charge my mobile and my Ultrabook, plus top up my UPS to get some extra hours. Using these temporary stores of electrons, I proceeded to confirm the theory that timeGetTime() is broken. And it was!
It seems you are NOT GUARANTEED to get 1ms granularity when you call timeGetTime() and trying to get this information from the official documentation was like pulling teeth. After much ado, I discovered the granularity can be as rough as 10-15ms which means your physics would essentially freeze for 15ms before stepping to the next count. Insanity I know! Anyhoo, long story short, I replaced this with QueryPerformanceCounter() and QueryPerformanceFrequency() and presto, I got my fine grain timer working in the microsecond range (i.e. 1 millionths of a second). As soon as I added this, all stuttering I was able to produce on a low end laptop and a high end gaming rig completely disappeared.
For kicks, I had also charged the Windows Surface Tablet (so I could surf the net during my emergency power session) and put the latest version of the demo on it, dialed out some (well most) of the features and was able to get a full screen 1024x768 scene running at 33 fps, complete with rendered animation and all the back-end. Bear in mind this has a GPU score of just 112 and I managed to get a frame rate that allowed me to run around smoothly. Shocking I know, especially when you consider my previous run only got as far as 2 fps. Naturally, I would have to do a SERIOUS amount of hacking and slashing to get Reloaded to run on such a device, but it shows the feat is 'possible'. Whether this is something to community wants to see is another matter, and we have already got early grumblings from at least one community members that 'enough is enough on performance' and that we should be adding features now. I am pretty sure this is a minority view, and perhaps highlights one of the difficulties of coding in a democracy :)
Despite no power and little team comms, I achieved a substantial fix today making Monday a pretty good day. Also getting some nice reports from the internal alpha testers so all the signs are good for a great next beta. Have a meeting Tuesday morning so time for an early night (as soon as these emails are dealt with).
Thứ Sáu, 4 tháng 4, 2014
Presenting Present
Work
More stuff goes into the engine today including full screen mode for standalone executables and further improving tweaks. I also managed to reproduce the stutter and then exaggerate it to see it in all it's ugliness. It turns out that the physics module is NOT to blame for this, and is more to do with the something around the SYNC command. I am currently researching the improvements DirectX made to the 'Present' command as we currently use the antiquated COPY method, and it sounds like the better system is FLIP and FLIPEX which apparently uses less memory and is much more efficient. The potential gain is zero stutter and slightly faster performance all round so wish me luck as I go back to school with DirectX :)
More stuff goes into the engine today including full screen mode for standalone executables and further improving tweaks. I also managed to reproduce the stutter and then exaggerate it to see it in all it's ugliness. It turns out that the physics module is NOT to blame for this, and is more to do with the something around the SYNC command. I am currently researching the improvements DirectX made to the 'Present' command as we currently use the antiquated COPY method, and it sounds like the better system is FLIP and FLIPEX which apparently uses less memory and is much more efficient. The potential gain is zero stutter and slightly faster performance all round so wish me luck as I go back to school with DirectX :)
Thứ Năm, 3 tháng 4, 2014
New Debug Features in Reloaded Core
Work
In order to really understand what is happening out there in the real world, I have added some new debugging tools into the engine executables including the ability to switch off chunks of the engine to see which parts are causing the highest slowdowns. I have also added some extra information in there such as the graphics card name, the DirectX version and the DirectX Refresh Rate being used to control the VSYNC interval.
It's been solid tweak and test all day, and a good deal of time in the internal forum understanding exactly what is happening on the testers hardware. I have roughly half the testers up to 60 fps under certain conditions and I am working on the other half. Hardware ranges from cards that score just 450 points on the GPU up to 5000! We have yet to decide what the minimum threshold should be for GPU power. I am also starting to collect CPU power scores as well, which might play a role in my performance analysis.
I have also recommended the internal coding team download and start learning the latest NVIDIA NSIGHT debugging tool which will help us drill down into the very heart of the engine to discover those hidden gremlins. As you can see, it's all performance work today :)
In order to really understand what is happening out there in the real world, I have added some new debugging tools into the engine executables including the ability to switch off chunks of the engine to see which parts are causing the highest slowdowns. I have also added some extra information in there such as the graphics card name, the DirectX version and the DirectX Refresh Rate being used to control the VSYNC interval.
It's been solid tweak and test all day, and a good deal of time in the internal forum understanding exactly what is happening on the testers hardware. I have roughly half the testers up to 60 fps under certain conditions and I am working on the other half. Hardware ranges from cards that score just 450 points on the GPU up to 5000! We have yet to decide what the minimum threshold should be for GPU power. I am also starting to collect CPU power scores as well, which might play a role in my performance analysis.
I have also recommended the internal coding team download and start learning the latest NVIDIA NSIGHT debugging tool which will help us drill down into the very heart of the engine to discover those hidden gremlins. As you can see, it's all performance work today :)
From Lake Tanganyika to Google Earth: Using tech to help our communities
Today we're joined by Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots program. In this post, Dr. Goodall shares her thoughts on how today’s technology can enable more people around the world to make a difference in their communities. Join Dr. Goodall for a celebratory Birthday Hangout on Air today at 11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT. -Ed.
When I first set foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1960 to study chimpanzee behavior, I carried with me notebooks, pencils and a pair of second-hand binoculars. I was, at the time, a young woman with no scientific training, but had a strong passion for learning about animals in Africa. In later years I founded the Jane Goodall Institute, dedicated to preserving the habitat of chimpanzees and other animals worldwide.
Today, the mapping technology available to all of us is completely changing the potential for animal and environmental research. My trip in 1960 would have looked quite different today. You have much more power at your fingertips, and you don't even have to leave your home. Tools like Google Earth let you visit the shores of Lake Tanganyika with just a few keystrokes. And in Gombe, local villagers are using Android smartphones and tablets, in conjunction with Google Maps Engine and Earth Engine, to monitor changes in the forest habitat that affect chimpanzee populations. Technology makes it so easy for people to find and share information and to understand the world around them. And once we understand, we can start to foster positive change.
That’s one of the reasons we started the Roots & Shoots program to connect young people with the knowledge and tools they need to solve problems in their communities. The projects undertaken by these young people help them learn important science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills while developing real leadership capabilities. Today, Roots & Shoots is launching a new community mapping tutorial for young people to help them use digital mapping technology to identify and address needs in their community. If you’re an educator, we offer online professional development to help you fit our youth leadership model into your classroom and curriculum. You can sign up for the Roots & Shoots MOOC to learn more.
Today, on my 80th birthday, my wish is for young people around the world to think about the ways you can use technology to learn more about the wonderful world we share. Then, to take action, and inspire others to do the same. You have the power to do so much more than I did in 1960, to spark change I could only imagine back then. And you can do it no matter where in the world you are.
When I first set foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in 1960 to study chimpanzee behavior, I carried with me notebooks, pencils and a pair of second-hand binoculars. I was, at the time, a young woman with no scientific training, but had a strong passion for learning about animals in Africa. In later years I founded the Jane Goodall Institute, dedicated to preserving the habitat of chimpanzees and other animals worldwide.
The author connects with a member of the Kasakela chimpanzee community in Gombe.
Photo courtesy of JGI.
Today, the mapping technology available to all of us is completely changing the potential for animal and environmental research. My trip in 1960 would have looked quite different today. You have much more power at your fingertips, and you don't even have to leave your home. Tools like Google Earth let you visit the shores of Lake Tanganyika with just a few keystrokes. And in Gombe, local villagers are using Android smartphones and tablets, in conjunction with Google Maps Engine and Earth Engine, to monitor changes in the forest habitat that affect chimpanzee populations. Technology makes it so easy for people to find and share information and to understand the world around them. And once we understand, we can start to foster positive change.
The Jane Goodall Institute engages local communities from Tanzania, Uganda and across Africa to collect data on forests, wildlife and human activities using Google Android handheld devices.
Photo courtesy of JGI/Lilian Pintea.
That’s one of the reasons we started the Roots & Shoots program to connect young people with the knowledge and tools they need to solve problems in their communities. The projects undertaken by these young people help them learn important science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills while developing real leadership capabilities. Today, Roots & Shoots is launching a new community mapping tutorial for young people to help them use digital mapping technology to identify and address needs in their community. If you’re an educator, we offer online professional development to help you fit our youth leadership model into your classroom and curriculum. You can sign up for the Roots & Shoots MOOC to learn more.
Roots & Shoots groups from Uganda, Tanzania, and Republic of Congo share their projects.
There are more than 8,000 Roots & Shoots groups in 136 countries. Photos courtesy of JGI.
Today, on my 80th birthday, my wish is for young people around the world to think about the ways you can use technology to learn more about the wonderful world we share. Then, to take action, and inspire others to do the same. You have the power to do so much more than I did in 1960, to spark change I could only imagine back then. And you can do it no matter where in the world you are.
Thứ Tư, 2 tháng 4, 2014
Internal Testing Heat
Work
Another quick blog from me. Another day of developer graft as we continue ticking off little fixes between us, and the biggest decision was to postpone some Store integration work in favor of more performance tuning of the engine. We have some early results back and although half our test systems report super smooth and silky 60 fps on low-end hardware, we are getting reports of dreadful fps on what looks like mid-range systems. Very odd. Thursday will be about running multiple performance tests in parallel as we drill down to the root cause of performance drains from system to system. The good is that the core team are starting to see some nice smooth zero-stutter performances, we just need to convey those results to the other test systems now which means understanding them inside and out.
I had suspected the CPU power was the crucial factor, but this seems not to be the case at this early stage. My favorite gremlin is the 'shaders on low-end cards' as the major cause of all performance drains, but we will soon see if this is so as we augment the engine with some aggressive debugging options and extra logging features to really get to the bottom of where the gremlins are hiding!
Another quick blog from me. Another day of developer graft as we continue ticking off little fixes between us, and the biggest decision was to postpone some Store integration work in favor of more performance tuning of the engine. We have some early results back and although half our test systems report super smooth and silky 60 fps on low-end hardware, we are getting reports of dreadful fps on what looks like mid-range systems. Very odd. Thursday will be about running multiple performance tests in parallel as we drill down to the root cause of performance drains from system to system. The good is that the core team are starting to see some nice smooth zero-stutter performances, we just need to convey those results to the other test systems now which means understanding them inside and out.
I had suspected the CPU power was the crucial factor, but this seems not to be the case at this early stage. My favorite gremlin is the 'shaders on low-end cards' as the major cause of all performance drains, but we will soon see if this is so as we augment the engine with some aggressive debugging options and extra logging features to really get to the bottom of where the gremlins are hiding!
Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 4, 2014
More Stutter Work
Work
Aside from the usual tweaks and fixes to make the game creation experience feel a little more together, the last remaining major task for this beta saw some more work, which is of course the 'strange stutter situation'. Just when you think you have fixed it, the issue is reproduced elsewhere. We have done some more work on this today and my final task was to create a small demo for some internal testers to see if we have finally resolved it. The demo requires that it runs at 60fps (or whatever the refresh rate happens to be) but once achieved you get super smooth and silky performance with zero stutter.
We believe the stutter originates from the scaling of the physics universe, and given the not unlimited scope of a 32-bit float you can imagine at the ragged end the accuracy starts to suffer. We have a few ideas more on how we can make a difference in this regard but for now we have used an alternative approach.
Wednesday will also see some work on the store, and the system which brings store items into the main software. Hopefully we have the resources to complete this, AND resolve all aspects of the stutter problem before the next beta release!
Aside from the usual tweaks and fixes to make the game creation experience feel a little more together, the last remaining major task for this beta saw some more work, which is of course the 'strange stutter situation'. Just when you think you have fixed it, the issue is reproduced elsewhere. We have done some more work on this today and my final task was to create a small demo for some internal testers to see if we have finally resolved it. The demo requires that it runs at 60fps (or whatever the refresh rate happens to be) but once achieved you get super smooth and silky performance with zero stutter.
We believe the stutter originates from the scaling of the physics universe, and given the not unlimited scope of a 32-bit float you can imagine at the ragged end the accuracy starts to suffer. We have a few ideas more on how we can make a difference in this regard but for now we have used an alternative approach.
Wednesday will also see some work on the store, and the system which brings store items into the main software. Hopefully we have the resources to complete this, AND resolve all aspects of the stutter problem before the next beta release!
Đăng ký:
Bài đăng (Atom)