Frenetic Testing

[belthaczar]

I'm not anywhere near finished yet, but since it feels like the deadline is rapidly approaching I figured I should go ahead and get some feedback on this now:

Frenetic.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic.dmg.gz)

Arrow keys to move, space to jump. cmd+0 = fullscreen, cmd+f = frame rate. Pressing other random keys does various things. Not much to do at the moment.

Any comments would be appreciated. Especially if anyone has a suggestion for replacing the engine sound. The one I have now sucks. I'm not even sure what a spacey hovercraft engine should sound like.

[OneSadCookie]

trippy :)

100fps solid, 2x867, Radeon 9000

[sealfin]

Nice, 28-39fps on a 400Mhz G3.

[Skorche]

Solid 100fps on my G5, but the animation looks really jerky.

[belthaczar]

Solid 100fps on my G5, but the animation looks really jerky.

I'm not sure what could be causing that, especially if the framerate is constant. The best info I've found so far is from arekkusu near the bottom of this thread, Fast Frame Rates But Still Ugly (http://www.idevgames.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6750), which suggests that it might be a driver problem. What video hardware do you have? Is it still jerky in fullscreen mode?

[aarku]

Any comments would be appreciated. Especially if anyone has a suggestion for replacing the engine sound. The one I have now sucks. I'm not even sure what a spacey hovercraft engine should sound like.

I'd suggest listening to Star Wars Episode II for some inspiration for great engine sounds.

-Jon

[skyhawk]

actually, this looks EXACTLY like the problem FCCovett was having. I blame his timing mechanism. I have an uptime of 19 days. Anybody else it is jerking for, check your uptime. willing to bet it's the problem

[Duane]

looks great! very fun and addicting! (it distracted me from coding :mad:)

[BinarySpike]

Doesn't run here :???:

I'll look into it later but I'm busy...

[belthaczar]

actually, this looks EXACTLY like the problem FCCovett was having. I blame his timing mechanism. I have an uptime of 19 days. Anybody else it is jerking for, check your uptime. willing to bet it's the problem

Ah, thanks for the insight. I've uploaded a new version which will hopefully fix the problem. Could someone with crazy uptimes check it for me? Here's the link again:

Frenetic.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic.dmg.gz)

And here's what I changed. My timing code used to look something like this:

static float _time
UnsignedWide uwtime = {0, 0};
Microseconds(&uwtime);
float now = (float)UnsignedWideToUInt64(uwtime) / 1000000.0;
float deltaTime = now - _time;
_time = now;


I think (one of) the problem(s) was that I was converting everything to a float before subtracting, which wasn't working out so great for numbers that don't fit in a float. I changed the code to this, based on some posts in the apple mailing lists:


float getDeltaTime(AbsoluteTime *refTime) {
AbsoluteTime currTime = UpTime();
float deltaTime = (float)AbsoluteDeltaToDuration(currTime, *refTime);
if (0.0f > deltaTime) // negative deltaTime means microseconds
deltaTime /= -1000000.0f;
else // positive deltaTime means milliseconds
deltaTime /= 1000.0f;

*refTime = currTime; // reset for next call

return deltaTime; // the returned time is in seconds
}

[MarkJ]

*grumbles about rotrix* I could never properly figure out collision detection around the curve.. this looks like a torus though.

[Talkie Toaster]

Steady 60 FPS, on a 1.5 ghz PowerBook.

I noticed repeatedly pressing the shift key very quickly made me go at warp speed... I got going so fast it looked like I was going backwards!

[belthaczar]

I noticed repeatedly pressing the shift key very quickly made me go at warp speed... I got going so fast it looked like I was going backwards!

You can also keep pressing '=' to increase your max speed. If you do this and press '2' and rotate as you move forward, you will see why one of the potential names for this game was "Tube of Vomit".

[lightbringer]

I'm jealous! Good job so far.

EDIT: Actually, it's not that bad if the speed gets up to 70,000. I was expecting to have a seziure by then, but the colors on the track all blended together to form a whitish color...

[aaronsullivan]

Great work so far. Sounds like it was a good idea to post this before deadline. ;) The engine sound repeating and the short track didn't eventually lead to a mild headache though. :) Longer tracks and maybe a warning strip (colored track) leading up to the "boost hoops" might make it feel less luck oriented.

[Skorche]

It seems to be fine now actually. I'd normally just blame it on something running in the background, but this is a dual processor machine. :???: I'd just write it off as a fluke.

[belthaczar]

new version: Frenetic.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic.dmg.gz) (240K).

* changed the color scheme to something less annoying
* removed the horrible engine sound
* increased the track length (15s lap now)
* not-very-good collision detection with other cars
* added arrows leading up to the boost rings
* gradually making everything run slower

Aaron: are the arrows sort of what you had in mind?
Is the color scheme really better?

[aaronsullivan]

The arrows were exactly what I had in mind, functionally. Helps you see what's coming and fight to get to it, rather than get a lucky boost at the last second.

I prefer the color scheme, too. But, I imagine that can change from track to track.

Looking good.

[belthaczar]

New version: Frenetic.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic.dmg.gz) (270K)

Whats new:
* added confusing menu
* added a new track (though it's somewhat buggy because math hates me)

hmmm. It FEELS like I did a lot of work. Where did it all go?

[belthaczar]

new version: Frenetic.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic.dmg.gz) (276K)

* fixed camera bugs in bent torus track
* added a new course: sine loop

next update will include actual gameplay

[funkboy]

Gameplay would be good ;)

But the game is fun, yes. Looking good - but that confusing menu is most certainly confusing and scary to a developer :D

[JustinFic]

Real fun stuff! Some suggestions, besides gameplay:

- Possible to make the hit detection on the rings a little more forgiving? Maybe I just suck at getting them. I'd like to hit cars more often too.

- I'd like to see some cooler collisions: spinouts, sparks, etc.

- That menu is just weird. The style is cool but I'd suggest making it more obvious that it's a menu. Thought something bugged out on me at first ;p

- I like the sine wave course. Very vomit-inducing. How about a tangent curve course? :D

Keep it up, and get that gameplay in!

[aaronsullivan]

Great! I like that "Wahoo!" when you reach a certain speed. Collisions hurt my ears. :) Fun.

[ThemsAllTook]

Heh! Nifty menu. I like it, although anyone who's not a C programmer won't get it.

Also, there's a syntax error on line 6. :p

- Alex Diener

[belthaczar]

Also, there's a syntax error on line 6. :p


Doh! It looks like I'm going to have to re-do the entire menu anyway though, to make it more user-friendly.

Justin: Thanks for the feedback. I've made it easier to hit the boost rings, and am working on collisions right now. A tangent curve course wouldn't really work, because it isn't smooth (or continuous). Unless you meant something else than what I am imagining. If I have enough time, I'm hoping to add a helix and trefoil knot track.

[belthaczar]

Final version is out. I was coding right up to the last minute, so I didn't have any time to test, and there are two major problems:

1. The computer players are much, much, MUCH faster than you are. This means that is probably impossible to win a race. But it's the effort that counts right?

2. When you finish the race, the displayed text is garbled. It should read "press escape to go back to the menu"

:mad:

[belthaczar]

Here's a bug-fix version that is more playable than the contest entry.

Frenetic1.1.dmg.gz (http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/Nguyen.Phillip/Frenetic1.1.dmg.gz)

EDIT: updated to include helix course (less exciting than it might sound)

[JustinFic]

A tangent curve course wouldn't really work, because it isn't smooth (or continuous).

Exactly :) Make us drive through asymptotes!

[belthaczar]

Exactly :) Make us drive through asymptotes!

"Are we there yet? ... Are we there yet? ... Are we there yet?"

"You kids need to shut up while I'm driving through this asymptote. We're definitely getting closer."

"Are we there yet?"

[aaronsullivan]

Unless the rules have changed you should replace the "contest entry" version with this bug fix. The judges may not have looked at the game yet. :D

[aaronsullivan]

Good game! It needs a motivating factor. Unlock tracks, better car, or some reward for placing.

Did you ever try making the track semi-transparent? Sorting shouldn't be too tricky given the mathematical nature of the tracks. Anyway, pressing 1 to use wireframe is cool because you can see the track further ahead. Takes some of the sickness inducing effects away. :) Also, I sort of like flat shading on the track.

What might be really nice is only PARTS of the track being semi-transparent, so you can see what's coming in some areas; "Glass" sections of the track. Of course, having a less symmetrical track could be a lot of fun with surprising twists and turns; a little more drama to the race.

Also, a good music track could really help this game.

Great work for 21 days! Better than some uDevGames 2004 efforts.

[JustinFic]

"Are we there yet? ... Are we there yet? ... Are we there yet?"

"You kids need to shut up while I'm driving through this asymptote. We're definitely getting closer."

"Are we there yet?"

:lol:

"You kids better put your seatbelts on if you want to see infinity!"

"Yay! Pi over 2! Pi over 2!"

WHAM!

"That was fun! ... did we just go back in time? Where's my skin and internal organs?"

[iefan]

:lol:

"You kids better put your seatbelts on if you want to see infinity!"

"Yay! Pi over 2! Pi over 2!"

WHAM!

"That was fun! ... did we just go back in time? Where's my skin and internal organs?"

What are you guys yapping about? I am unfamiliar with these quotes you are producing.

[belthaczar]

What are you guys yapping about? I am unfamiliar with these quotes you are producing.

These are all quotes from the Bruckheimer action flick "Asymptotes II: A Little Bit of Infinity", starring Nicholas Cage as Dr. Cosine and Random Blonde Chick as The Random Blonde Chick. When Dr. Cosine receives an anonymous tip that there may be treasure hidden at the x-coordinate pi/2.0, he springs into action! But first he'll need some help! So he enlists 1-dimensional GPS expert The Random Blonde Chick to accompany him on his daring mission into the unknown. It doesn't take too long for the sparks to fly! And the danger flies too! Everything is flying! Watch your head! Coming soon to DVD!

[iefan]

Coming soon to DVD!

This sounds better than Time Bandits (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/). I must have it.

[Skorche]

This sounds better than Time Bandits (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/). I must have it.

The irony is that someone put a really good review of that movie on that page...

[funkboy]

Great game. I concur that transparency on the tracks at some points would help out immensely.

[Fruity]

Great game when you get used to it. If you're really lucky you might even get to win a race! :) It's nice to see how you motivate your players, telling them that placing 7th is good. :)

And the third track is literally making me sick and dizzy!

Can't wait to see further versions, if they'll come.. :)