Beaverhunter

Linking: Well so what am I suppose to do? I update CVS, compile as usual, get linking errors... Try what solved unresolved link problems before: remove->add. But not working. Finding where? What? \elconfig.c(107):void change_min_ec_framerate(float * var, float * value) \elconfig.c(1210): add_var(FLOAT,"min_ec_framerate","ecminf",&min_ec_framerate,change_min_ec_framerate,0,"Min eye candy framerate","If your framerate is below this amount, eye candy will use minimum detail.",LODTAB,0.0,FLT_MAX,1.0); Shadows: Yes... of course... as I said I tried every option available and changed to different shadow maps with no changes at all, except for very choppy shadow at lowest sizes... otherwise higher sizes just mean sharper edges on the "cube shadows"... as I said I have only had 1 proper shadow time that I have seen, and that is with same client that also got choppy shadows some hour later or so. And now I get choppy aswell so something isn't applying the correct shadow map size or something.

Newest CVS (27/4 - 07): 1>Linking... 1>elconfig.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _min_ec_framerate 1>elconfig.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _max_ec_framerate I tried to remove/readd all and such including rebuilds but at no different result.' Also bug in shadows: I get very cube like shadows, no detail at all even with 4096x4096 shadow map... I had one moment some day ago where I was stunned at that I saw how the leaves where shaped on the shadows but that was a one time only obviously, now and all other times I get very low detail shadows. (No matter settings in options)

Yes, of course, but I just meant that sometimes with the current technology we can choose from limit ourself to old techniques or we can go further and others have to follow. The user has to make a choice aswell, but I'm fully aware of your goal of keeping a wide spectrum of players, poor and rich, new to computers and gurus. Yes, the system has to adjust in better ways as I said, ideal would be to be able to set a fixed LOD level, that user can change in options. We got to reduce the particles in fire effect yes, the smoke is FAR too thick, it gives FPS drops and bad looks. Sorry, but 75 FPS limited by VSync at 75hz=D Using Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2,4ghz, 2048MB 800mhz DDR2, Geforce 8800GTS. But I'm aware of that everyone cannot go and buy these...

Not for me, 1.3.3 Beta here Oki, it was the el_private.h that was changed when I let CVS.zip overwrite my previous files. But I deleted it and updated CVS and I got an updated .h file, it seems to be fixed now.

Yes, effects/eye candy/good looks comes with a price, most of the time, as KarenRei has mentioned many times. 1. Eye candy is enable/disable feature. Low end systems can turn it off. 2. Eye candy system is suppose to adjust its LOD (Level of detail) based opon what FPS your getting on your system. 3. KarenRei seems to be working on improving this system. 4. I myself had to buy a new computer to be able to even run EL, I had 2.2ghz Celeron, GF FX5600. So I'm amazed that some of you can run it at all. (5. I now run at 75 FPS all times;D (including at fires and with 4096x4096 sized shadow map also FPS limited by VSync 75hz ) Conclusion: KarenRei seems to be working on it + 50 other things.

CVS update worked for me when you guys first reported it, but then I got same message as majestyk for a day or so maybe, then it worked next day. But alittle side note: On the new CVS, the EL version is reported as 1.3.0... not 1.3.3 as it should be. This applies to loading screen and #ver.

I was just going to post just this one, as I sit alot by the toadstools in SRM I see a plant there always having this effect, very clearly so I could get a better screenshot but that doesn't solve the problem. Maybe this is of interest: http://www.devmaster.net/forums/archive/in...php/t-4696.html A quote of interest: "Most rendering systems do not correctly handle intersecting transparent objects; as roel mentioned, depth peeling is the way to do this, but it is relatively slow and it is not easy to detect when it should be applied. Ordinarily z-sorting is enough and that is all that most graphics engines do. In other words, if your users make transparent objects intersect and don't split them into enough sub-components for z-sorting to work, it's their own fault " Which seems to mean that this guy is refering to major rendering engines actually using z-sorting, so maybe there is a solution for it that isn't that super CPU demanding. And that the win for fixing the problem period is futile as it becomes too big performance loss, with "depth peeling". Also this: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article883.asp Old and maybe you all have a clue about it allready but well, maybe a good read. And: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/list.asp?categoryid=129 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painter%27s_algorithm

Bad idea, Joker would only become a mobile scrapyard. Better prices from Joker might be an idea, or at least to skip the worst current prices. Also Roja is right, the ideal solution would be pretty much total random Joker-spawns. Knowing tons of spawns doesn't add to "gameplay". The idea of having a time limit on Joker is good, but 20-30 mins is too short, it should be 3 hours or a day.

Shadows On/Off: Nah, that shadow you see there is from a palm tree just a very few steps away. I use perspective 0.55 and yes I have noticed shadows acting weird on distance. They get stretched all over the place or change very rapidly, but as soon as Near Plane distance is reached it seems like it rerenders the shadows and they become what they should be like. Hmm well actually since last update I'm not seing that much darkness and I haven't been to any cave since a few CVS ago, but overall, outside there seems to be abit better, so maybe you got that one "fixed". I gotta check it out further though, I have been doing much other stuffs while playing EL last days so I haven't really been able to notice too much of the actual gameplay in detail. Thanks for good and quick answer as always.

Oki, a follow up on the shadow on/off problem: On: Off: Just by changing camera angle the shadow can disappear, same for particles at some degree.

Doh, well then there's your problem... every convert you do is futile when you remove it... you shouldn't go for a clean copy everytime, it's really no use to do so, CVS update program will take care of merging and informing you if update will affect your files you work on and so on. It's not a matter of CVS code really. Sure maybe there's some way to get around it but it seems very pointless to delete all files before getting updated CVS... If you have a big urge to delete all files then try to let that one file be left... or you can back it up to another folder and just copy it and overwrite the CVS version every time you update...

Hmm maybe I remembered wrong about how the official client really looks, because currently I can't get it to look "as bad" as I had in mind But well, the NEW_ALPHA and NEW_LIGHTING blends very nicely together, NEW_ALPHA increases detail on smaller scale (Like it is using Anti Aliasing) while NEW_LIGHTNING tricks the eye abit by using more natural lighting... Also, you might have noticed that roads actually cast shadows on the ground nearby, that is also gone with 3D Alpha Blending enabled. I haven't had a single crash with the new CVS so far... and it doesn't look bad either, except for the darkness problem, especially in caves. (This might be the weather too so maybe no problem at all left?) So if I was to decide I would say to include both these features. They are afterall pretty close to "final" and what is there more to test? They are just visual afterall, the only problem is that they aren't enable/disable features from the client.

Yes, I know that... Maybe it doesn't make sence to you but logic says that it's good to report faulties to the person actually working with the function... I can't just go to ent and say "do this do that" about "your" function... Just because it's old it means it should stay that way? Sure there is alot of work to get the shadows affected but still, at least you could document it somewhere. Yes, I guess it's the color change but the water goes from what ever color to pretty much white so it doesn't look too good, which is why I mentioned it. Bug reporting/fixing and listening to testers is a part of development... maybe you can't accept and understand that but well that is fact. So skip the "attitude"...

I had this too before, but then I just opened it, my compiler MSVS said "Oki, do you want to convert it to Windows end of file?" or something like that... I pressed yes and no more worries about it. Maybe it's different if you use Devcpp though? But you should be able to get past this. Hmm are you deleting all files before updating CVS? If not the lispsm.c should stay with "edited" status... So try to NOT delete the files before updating.

bluap: Yes, as KarenRei explained, it's your comp with it's HDD and Ram that is trying to get back at a running state after being idle. For example when idling alot and then maximizing your window again and then quickly move somewhere, you pretty much run! Yay, running in EL... But actually you walk, it just looks like you run because of "lag". Also if you are idling alot then coming back and changing map quite quickly, your most likely going to see a "Resync with server" message. This is all "normal". KarenRei: Invisible shadow: Well basicly it's a shadow of a palm that was visible pretty much 360º except for one angle where it dissappeared and other shadows were visible and so on, but not that one. It's not really a major problem but well maybe good to be aware of. Same thing seems to apply to particles sometimes. Bag of gold+Mother Nature: Oki, nice I'll check them out when they happen. Shadows Mapping: Ouch, that's quite bad... That ruins alot of the effect from the new lightning "spreading". Would be nice to fix later. Request in matter of time: 1. Is the darkness problem looked into? I have like 1 hour daylight, 2 hour evening, 3 hour pitchblack =/ 2. I have heard a guy playing on his Notebook (not very fancy hardware) but not seeing any real LOD changes no matter what situation he is in (He runs fine when not populated areas, but FPS drops alot when ppl come in). Is the FPS calculation still causing problems? A question: What patch made the objects and the whole world of EL much more sharp and good looking? I barely see any big edges and so on like on official client...It's like some kind of anti-alias but without actually using it:D Has rendering been improved?

Oki I got a few stuffs to report: 1. About the "found gold bag effect", I cannot completely tell if it actually appears 1 step infront of you or at the resources because sometimes there are things blocking the tile around the resource which may make the effect to appear at closest unoccupied tile? But however I don't like that the effect is not on the actual player, people will be mad about the effect at populated harvesting areas. "Why did you get my bag?!?" 2. As mentioned before, at some camera angles particles and shadows become invisible. I will try and capture this on a screenshot later but I don't see how a visual proof of it's existance can help much in fixing the "bug". 3. The light coming from magic spells/special effects/fire and so on, is only spread on areas not affected by objects shadows: Note how the area that is outside of shadow from the house is getting lit, while the shadowed area is just totally unnaturally unaffected. I also tried casting Shield spell which is a very light spreading spell otherwise... it didn't affect the house shadow at all. 4. The mother nature hit you effect is very very BIG... should be investigated and tested by more people, especially Roja.

If being abit idling and especially when going AFK, and having the client in minimized mode then you get: Premature start of weather effect! and Double stop of weather effect! (or alike) Also the thunder/lightning is FAR too frequent... when did you last have thunder like every 15/30 minutes as soon as it got abit cloudy? I haven't had any lightning IRL for like months... It's really annoying with the massive blinking some times... Also the lightning effect seems to affect only certain areas of the map, not the shadows, and alot of effects going on in the water, while the ground almost says same.

Hmm I gotta watch where it actually appears I guess, but it didn't seem like it was 1 step infront of the player. Doesn't it look more weird if there are like 5-10 ppl sitting quite close harvesting and someone else gets the effect on him/her? I would rather have the effect on the player that actually get it... or maybe better and more advanced... A trail that leaned/pointed towards the player char, like if it was taken from the resources and "sucked" up by the player. Is it the eye candy or the new lightning that is causing the massive light spread? I cast the magic spell Shield alot, and it's like lightning up the whole screen, if many were casting it it would be a disco or something=o

Bug in harvest events effects: On bag of gold found, there is what seems to be ¿"pick up bag"-effect? but this effect appears close to the resource not on/under the player. Also I have seen quite a few of the Mother Nature hits now and I kind of would say that it looks alot like someone getting a flame strike as punishment. Can't you try and mixture with the color of that effect? Maybe more purpelish, usually energy is painted purple, or from mother nature maybe greenish color? Edit: I have also noticed that the magic casting effects are quite big. This might make a problem when it comes to pking, pkers will probably turn eye_candy off just because it can decrease your field of vision aswell as getting very much light effects poofing up everywhere, which might be distracting. But of course if they find it distracting they could just turn it off... but well, just a thought. You seem to have alot to do KarenRei, are you okey with it or are you starting to twist your mind and wanting to shout "Can't someone else do it"? Your doing a good job. I can unfortunately not help much in coding at this stage, I don't even have got any instructions on how the commit function works? Do others work on same file get merged, overwriten? Are the things I commit automaticly added to CVS, and will be downloaded by someone who updates his/her CVS? How to make sure I don't mess something up for someone else? Is anyone checking the CVS so that no one commits a "bad deed"-patch? Sending passwords or alike?... Well many questions=D I can help in debugging though.

Sounds good KarenRei, your onto something I guess. But is the darkness also related to the weird inverted shadow effect? Btw, in caves it's really dark even if it's somewhat sunny outside. The darkness is not yet fixed no, even with new CVS. Not sure if the inverted effect is fixed, I haven't played that much yet today. But I doubt it is. There's quite alot to fix and test before the client release, at least so it seems. And the client release is suppose to be in about 3 weeks. We should make a new thread with a real "TODO" list. We should also get the "officials" into this, Roja and Ent should take part in testing and make a few decisions.

I'm using all these (in Release mode): NDEBUG;ELC;EYE_CANDY;WINDOW_CHAT;NEW_WEATHER;NEW_FRUSTUM;BUG_FIX_3D_OBJECTS_MIN_MAX; NEW_TEX;OPTIONS_I18N;NEW_ACTOR_ANIMATION;AUTO_UPDATE;COUNTERS;SFX;FONTS_FIX;COMMENT_BUFFER; AFK_FIX;CUSTOM_LOOK;CUSTOM_UPDATE;SIMPLE_LOD;USE_ACTOR_DEFAULTS;NOTEPAD;USE_INLINE;ZLIB; PNG_SCREENSHOT;MINIMAP;FUZZY_PATHS;MASKING;ACTOR_ALPHA;NEW_ALPHA;__SSE__;NEW_LIGHTING;ANTI_ALIAS Something missing or not needed? I'll try later maybe without the NEW_LIGHTNING then. I'm not sure if it's the lightning or something else but it looks very nice and natural lit outside at certain sun settings. When I try with it disabled I guess I'll find out if that's what causing this or not. I would still want to hear what's going on with 3d alpha blending and anti aliasing, are these just experimental? What are they suppose to enhance? Are they to be included in the release? Btw, skills and stats are hidden for teasing ppl:p Ppl can check them out other ways if they want.

Oki, this is "bad"... this might be a serious bug: I'm not sure if you can see it because my screentaker didn't capture with the gamma setting so it's abit dark. 1. It's VERY dark on nights, why has this changed? 2. Under the trees the ground is lit! Like if its suppose to be shadow there but instead there is light, even though there isn't light where the trees aren't blocking. 3. Frame Buffer is off (on doesn't matter though). It has now happened a few times... It's like the light gets inverted. Shadows become bright and rest of the area is DARK. Update: Just encountered my first harvest effects. The Radon pouch looks oki I guess. The mother nature hits you seems abit harsh, very big flame coming, why would mother nature use flames? Ill check more though, only seen them once. Old "bug": Gamma setting affects your whole screen, even if you run in Windowed option, you get your whole display brighter, which can be annoying depending on what you do. Can't we add a "brightness" option instead that affects the lights and enviroment instead? Another thing: Maybe it's my system being too fast for it's own health, but on maploadings, I get a delay, maybe 2-3 seconds after it actually has 100% load in the blue bar. I have got this a few times before on official client too but only when it resulted in a crash after. Now I get it on every load.

KarenRei: Hmm well I just started some mins ago to use CVS client on real server, so I guess we will see what happens and I'm sure I will find some things I would like fixed, but more on that later. About the level of detail, after the FPS calc change it's not choppy or things anymore, so it should look just like you see it on Linux. Also on your "sides" list, you forgot that Learner did mention that he wants pickup effect only, not on drop. Roja: I could fix that but I you need more than the .exe to get the effects. You would need the textures, the .exe, SDL_image.dll, a "custom"/new Cal3d.dll and libpng12.dll. Perhaps also a newer version of SDL.dll, I had some problems with the old one before. Update: Ooh oki, you got all that fixed?

Yep, Troca is right, those should work. Check this out: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/to...e=1? If the FPS calculation is wrong by that much that it jumps between 30 and 60 FPS or 3 and 6... Then it's not a working algorithm=p About bag again: Please try and kill like 10-20 rabbits/beavers/rats and if you then not find it abit similiar to that the creature is somewhat exploding on death, then well..., time for glasses;D I still want the bag effect only on pick up. When it comes to summoning I have no chance of testing either, maybe you can get someone like Blodoks or Chaoogie or any of the top summoners in there. Cause of the test server being so not-up-to-date I barely have anything =p

About bag dropping: Well it's not about detail... Something in orange/red like colors flashing quickly in a sphere like shape... that is easily seen as an explotion, at least visually. I want the effect to look more like something really is going up in emptiness, pretty much like the old effect, not just something "for the looks". Timefunction: I'm sure there are some more exact time functions in Windows, don't really have time to search for it now but I can try later. I find it weird that you are somewhat sceptic of me really having 75 FPS and rely more on that calculation. I get same FPS in the FPS/benchmark program FRAPS, so it really is 75 FPS most of the time. Maybe you need to calculate it different? Are you really getting same framerate from el_idle as from EL normal FPS on Linux? The current "multiply by 10" solution for windows won't do, cause this can lead to when ppl are really suppose to get degraded LOD, they might not get it properly. Jump follow up: Well it was actually more you talking about having jumpy particles and such but sure I did mention that it didn't run very smooth, but that was at a 1 minute play or so, quickly checking the new CVS out. I'm gonna try to play with the CVS on real server some time soon, then I can encounter more of this and see whats going on and what things look like when actually playing the game. Other stuff: Are the summon effects implemented and working/tested properly? I saw screenshots of some effects of a few creatures, looks pretty nice but I would like to see more testing of it. Also, is it applied to summoning through stones too? Any progress on the flickering? That might be one of the biggest issues if not tracked down soon. Also someone should make it so that 3D Alpha Blending and Anti Aliasing cannot be selected at same time, they increase each others effect and make trees for example missing texture/surface along the "wireframe" building the 3d object. (The object becomes splited into pieces)