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1.6 Beta 4 on SDC

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1.6 Beta 4 on SDC

from GalCiv2 Forums

change log:

The biggest change in this beta is the optimzation work done on the ships.  You should notice improved framerates and improved loading times (the optimizations also accelerated the creation of ship thumbnails).  We had a save game where the framerate droped to 4 fps when we scrolled over sectors with ships, and with these changes it's now up to 28-34 fps.  Major kudos to Jesse (aka CodeCritter) for all the work that he put into this!  For those of you who like a little more  technical details, Jesse implemented a batching system for the ships, optimized the meshes for speed, and optimized the storage of the scene nodes.  If you want to check out your framerate, CTRL+F toggles the framerate counter on/off.

+ NEW: Added Starbase module to repair the starbase with Tech Requirement Advanced Hulls.  Will only show up if the starbase is missing HP, and can be 'installed' multiple times.  This module should not count towards the total modules.

+ CHANGE:  In the Ship Designer, when using auto-place to place a component, the component will use the current scale and rotation settings

+ TWEAK: You are no longer permitted to change your capital to another world, and bonuses for the capital city have been increased.

+ FIX:  Flushes resource manager’s resources when game exits
+ FIX: Fixed crash in invasion ground units
+ FIX: Fixed crash if memory does not allocate in ResourceGraphic
+ FIX: Fixed crash in ship design code if hardpoint data failed to load
+ FIX: Fixed bug where minimaps were not refreshing immediately when you started a new game
+ FIX: Added code to handle if you or your trading partner are in debt to fix flakiness with the money popup in the TradeWnd. 
+ FIX: Fixed bug in the function that calculates the morale of a colony to fix a longtime bug where your morale could permanently drop to 1%
+ FIX: Made it so that ships on the Governor minimap should show up larger when they are affected by the switch.  Also made starbases not show up on this minimap to reduce clutter.
+ FIX: Fixed typo in XML files that caused land and background textures in Invasion window to be black

UPDATE 5/21/07:  I am linking to a test build meant to address the memory issues, slowdown, and graphical glitches in this beta.  Please backup your existing GC2DarkAvatar.exe and Lib3D.dll files before extracting this zip file into your GalCiv2\DarkAvatar folder.  When making reports from this point forward, please be sure to state which version you are using.

UPDATE 5/22/07: I updated the link with a new test build that fixes the Governor screen lockup and makes the minimap stars bigger on Large and Gigantic galaxies so that they are more visible.

http://sd.stardock.com/carielf/da_1_6_b5_test2.zip



 

61,326 views 215 replies
Reply #126 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If it helps at all, I experienced the slowdown but not the graphical glitch.

Does anyone else think they might be two completely seperate issues?
Reply #127 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
finally got the latest beta (thanx to cari and support) so (b1.65test):

PM 1gz, 512Ram, Intel Extreme 2 64MB (ie the usual) has a similar slowdown on ships reported, but not the graphic glitch. as an experiment, i started with different races to see if the ship slowdown was specific to a race (it wasn't), then turned off various grahics options to see if that would help (it didn't, except a slight improvement when switching off ship textures - from 4frames to around 7 - context i can get 20-30fps when not zooming in on ships on me ancient and crappy intel chip. so, dunno. i'm up to date on drivers, the only thing i don't have is the latest directx9c (10/4/07, build 9.18.944) - is there anything in this that would make a diff?

evil
ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #128 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i just noticed that the constructers are not converting to mining starbases again

it also looks like the base is off center over the resource
Reply #129 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Played for about 4 hours straight with no crashes or slowdown on the latest beta and the only bugs I noticed were thick lines on the mini map through my influence kind of like the sector lines were showing through in some places more than they should and the money in the trade window would show the wrong numbers sometimes such as AI gives me 3000 bc but the input box shows 30, btw I really appreciate how it automatically gives you the amount they are willing to pay. Gigantic map common everything 9 opponents with my crappy 1g ram onboard gfx rig and I was still getting at least 20 fps with ships all over the place.
Reply #130 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It looks like we'll have to make the new graphics engine an option as it's going to be unlikely that we'll be able to figure out precisely why some people are having graphical glitches with it.
So users will ahve the choice between the new engine and the existing engine


the gc2 team are doing a good job keep it up we can wait.  

Reply #131 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

i just noticed that the constructers are not converting to mining starbases again

it also looks like the base is off center over the resource

daniellost,

Can you please send in a more detailed report about this with screenshots, a save game, and directions on how to reproduce this bug?

 

Reply #132 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Played for about 4 hours straight with no crashes or slowdown on the latest beta and the only bugs I noticed were thick lines on the mini map through my influence kind of like the sector lines were showing through in some places more than they should

Please make sure that they're not actually autopilot lines and if they aren't, please send in a screenshot and save game to [email protected] with a description of the bug. Thanks.

Reply #133 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
the saved game has it correct but here is a screen shot of a constructer that is 2 moves from a resource i just ran it over

you will note the discription


Image Hosted by ImageShack.us


to repeat just run the constructer over the resource
Reply #134 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have a 5600 fx video card 256 mb and after reinstalling nvidia drivers 93,71 the game stop being as slow. with 94.24 build and the beta 160.02 build it was real slow. (it was slow to load a new game and slow to switch from screens and to make a turn )and of course the more ship you have on screen the slower the game
Don`t know way, just glad it work. graphical glitches still there to . I have a AMD 1.9 cpu and 512 mb RAM

Reply #135 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Does anyone with an Intel CPU have the graphical glitch?
Reply #136 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well I'm getting the graphical glitch, havent noticed slowdown (but wouldnt know if it was there or not) but I am on an AMD Athlon XP.
Reply #137 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Okay. It's just that after taking a look at the debugs posted here it seems that there aren't any comments from players with Intel CPUs about graphical glitches, but almost everyone with an AMD processor has mentioned it. However I should point out that the cross-section here is too small to be statistically significant.
Reply #138 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
My two cents... AMD processor here as well with Nvidia 7600GT. Graphics corruption on mine as well, but still looking for the mem fixes. Why, you thinking maybe it's an AMD thing?
Reply #139 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, it would explain why the same issue is seen on different video cards. One of the thing I learned about computing way back was the concept of GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) - now, if you consider that the CPU generates the input for your GPU, then what is rendered (the output) is only going to be as sensible as what was fed in.
Reply #140 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hey folks.

Im running the game with an Intel CPU and beside a dramatically increased frame rate, i didnt come across any graphical oddities whatsoever.

I do have trouble with the memory usage of the game though. I have to restart the bloody thing every 20 minutes, because it just wont save anymore.

Also, the test build didnt do anything for the better, but maybe thats because i didnt start a new game. Will start a new game when i have the time.

Specs

P4 3.2GHz
2Gb Ram PC3200
Radeon 9800pro 128mb
Audigy2
WinXP Sp2
1.5Gb pagefile

Anyhow, the new graphics engine rawks imho. Thanks for all the time and effort you guys put into developing the new betas. Keept it up.
Reply #141 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Swiffo, did you try the test build I linked to above?
Reply #142 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes, thats the one i meant "da_1_6_b5_test1.zip"
I will try it again with a new game, when i find the time to do so.
Reply #143 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Email sent its definantly not autopilot lines, it seems to be the influence boundaries getting out of whack and it moves when you zoom in or out.
Reply #144 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
DA 1.6 beta5 test 2
Gfx glitches still here. This is the only annoying bug I have ever experienced, from DL V1.0 through all the DA beta's.  Not one CTD or BSOD

The glitch can be seen on the first screen you get to see a ship. The select your civ screen.

I love the speed improvements with the latest beta. Please try and fix the issue and don't make it an option.

Have sent pic and debug err off to bugs.
 


Reply #145 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I also have an Intel CPU and do not see the graphical glitches or have slowdown.
Reply #146 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have just had an opportunity to try out Beta 4 tests 1 and 2. In both cases the graphic "spikes" glitch persists. Marvin Kosh might be on to something. I suspect that the graphics glitch may have something to do with an AMD processor (I know that in the past AMD processors caused graphics hiccups that were supposed to be addressed with the latest drivers - perhaps this is a new hiccup). In particular I wonder if there is some problem with AMD processors communicating with nVidia GPUs. By the way, nVidia does not seem to be releasing any new drivers for the GeForce 7 series. They seem to be concentrating on the 8 series. In particular, they don't seem to be in a rush with Vista drivers (I am still running XP thankfully). I think I know why - I went to check out the DirectX website recently - and Microsoft is working on a DirectX 10 and nVidia is working on a new GPU that is specifically for DirectX 10 on Vista. Seems that this is where all the effort is concentrating.

Would it be possible to make a "Test 3" version of Beta 4 that includes the graphic engine option toggle? There are two reasons for the request: 1 - It would be good to test if reverting to the old graphic engine resolves the "spikes" glitch. 2 - There are some features that I would like to test in Beta 4, but because of the graphics glitches, I don't run the game for more than a few turns.

Keep up the good work - it is great to have a development team that works this hard on improving a product long after the sale has been made.
Reply #147 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I just installed the Beta 4 also and I'm seeing those strange skewed/stretched graphics. As soon as I uninstall Beta 4 everything looks fine again. Very strange indeed!
Reply #148 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

We are still trying to determine exactly what is causing the graphical glitches because this could affect our future games as well.  It seems to be something to do with the version of the DirectX SDK we're using as well as AMD processors as when we use a newer version of the DirectX SDK, the glitch does not appear.

However, the version of the DirectX SDK that we normally use is the last one to support Win2k, WinME and Win98, so we would have to create 2 different versions of the DarkAvatar binaries and have the installer choose which ones to install.  So we are still trying to find a way to fix this without (a) sacrificing the optimizations and (b) without having to create two exe files.

It might help if those of you getting the graphical glitch check the AMD website for updates; if downloading an update from AMD corrects it, we can just add that to the readme and knowledgebase. 

 

Reply #149 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well I've been checking the AMD site for updates for my Athlon XP for years and there have been none so far... Just checked now and the same. To be honest, the last time I saw one was back in 2003/2004, and I think its a standard piece of XP SP2 now. AFAIK I'm running the latest DX9.0c for XP, nVidia drivers for my 7900GT and nForce2 drivers.
Nice to see the problem isnt quite as mysterious now though!
Reply #150 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
By the way, nVidia does not seem to be releasing any new drivers for the GeForce 7 series.


Well they already have a beta driver for the 7 series... I downloaded just today, but haven't installed it yet. Goes from 93.71 to 94. something. So, there is still support for the 7 series. Check out Nvidia's website and let me know if I'm wrong about this, but it's definitely worth checking out... it's a balloon ad for the beta, in the downloads area but not listed in the actual downloads.