If you only see auto for the refresh rate in Win98, then the drivers don''t enumerate the refresh rate in the display modes. This makes it extremely difficult for me to fix the problem. I cannot just choose an arbitrary refresh rate, since I wouldn''t know if the card/monitor supported it. In windowed mode you cannot choose neither bit depth nor refresh rate, since it takes what the desktop is using.

I didn''t change the mouse, could be that you were getting stuttering framerates due to another application running in the background.

Say, reana1? Does the DirectX samples that come with the SDK work in fullscreen mode for Win98 on your machine? What version of the SDK do you have installed?



__________________________________________________________
www.AngelCode.com - game development and more...
AngelScript - free scripting library

Excellent! One bug down, one to go.

You''re right, I didn''t pay attention to the exact function name. The same function exist in DX8, for a future version of Tower I will include that test when choosing depth buffer.

Though, in this case I suspect that the result would be the same, that the validation would pass but not the creation. It is indeed a strange problem, it should work but doesn''t. Oh, well, I guess that is what makes game development so interesting

I wanted to do customizable controls from the beginning, but then I ran out of time and inspiration to work on the game so I decided to release it with fixed controls. Now that I have found the inspiration again (although the time is still short) I may take the many suggestions that I received here and implement (customizable controls included).

I first want to fix the Win98 lockup problem though. But it seems that I will need help to do that, since I can''t test it myself.

Regards,
Andreas


__________________________________________________________
www.AngelCode.com - game development and more...
AngelScript - free scripting library

quote:Original post by WitchLord
If you only see auto for the refresh rate in Win98, then the drivers don''t enumerate the refresh rate in the display modes. This makes it extremely difficult for me to fix the problem. I cannot just choose an arbitrary refresh rate, since I wouldn''t know if the card/monitor supported it. In windowed mode you cannot choose neither bit depth nor refresh rate, since it takes what the desktop is using.

Do I need to update my display drivers? Are these old?
gfx.Description: NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200
gfx.Version: 4.13.1.2832
I generally only use Win98 for my old games. So it''s may have been a while since I updated, but I don''t think those are real old.

quote:
I didn''t change the mouse, could be that you were getting stuttering framerates due to another application running in the background.

That''s probably the case then.

quote:
Say, reana1? Does the DirectX samples that come with the SDK work in fullscreen mode for Win98 on your machine? What version of the SDK do you have installed?

I haven''t done any developing on Win98. So the SDK isn''t installed there, but I should be able to run some of the samples there. I have the DX Summer Update 2003 installed in Win2K. Then just the latest enduser DX for Win98.

Tadd
- WarbleWare

Jolle: Thanks for checking. I could try updating the drivers, but I''m guessing that isn''t be the problem (since yours are up-to-date).

WitchLord: I was able to run some of the SDK samples, but not all of them. Many just exited saying something like "unsupported device or adapter". The ones that worked (in Samples/C++) include:
Demos/Donuts4
Direct3D/HLSLWithoutEffects
Direct3D/VolumeTexture
Direct3D/Cull

These (among several others) didn''t work:
Direct3D/FishEye
Direct3D/DolphinVS
Direct3D/Water

I looked at some of the source code. Donuts4 doesn''t appear to do anything with RefreshRate. The other samples in Direct3D use some common files in Samples/C++/Common/ to enumerate and change modes. So looking there might give you some help I guess. I couldn''t find anything, but I''m still a DX noob. Have you asked in the DX forum? Seems like if this is common problem someone would know there (or be able to look over your code).

Tadd
- WarbleWare

Thanks for giving the demos a try.

Win98 simply doesn''t enumerate the refresh rates so that can''t be my problem I think.

I''m starting to think that the problem lies elsewhere in the code, but I don''t know. I think I''ll write a stripped down demo that only creates a fullscreen device, shows it a few seconds and then goes back to windowed mode and close down. That way I''ll be able to isolate the problem better, and even let you guys see the source code if needed.

I have asked in the DX forum, but it seems it is not a very common problem. I''ll keep trying, I''m sure I''ll find the cause soon enough.


Andreas

__________________________________________________________
www.AngelCode.com - game development and more...
AngelScript - free scripting library

Few direct3d games come out. Great work.

Can you give a review about your engine.

Review? You mean like a list of features?

• Skinned animation with up to three bone matrices per triangle
  
• Multiple shader effects using pixel shaders, or reverting to multipass if PS isn''t available
  
• Complex dynamic music adapting to situation
  
• Dolby Surround Sound 5.1
  
• Per pixel lighting with soft shadows using shadow volumes and penumbra wedges
  
• Endless terrain, rough terrain data loaded from data, with noise laid over it to add detail
  
• Vegetation randomly placed based on terrain type and level
  
• A lot more...
  

Oh, these are the features that the engine doesn''t have

Actually the game pretty much shows everything the engine is capable of at the moment. But it is a starting point that I will expand upon with each new game I write. I''m very happy I decided to do it this way, already with this small engine I''m discovering bugs (because of differences between drivers and cards, and operative system) that would be much, much more difficult to fix if I had a complex engine of modern level. With this engine the next game I make it will be much easier since all the boring stuff is already made, such as file loading, menu management, setting up the device, input, sound, etc.

I just need to find this bug that makes the game lock up on Win98.

Regards,
Andreas



__________________________________________________________
www.AngelCode.com - game development and more...
AngelScript - free scripting library

I decided that to release the 1.5 version to the public. After all, I did manage to squash on of the bugs that you helped me find.

I still have to verify the bug in Win98. There is a chance that I managed to get rid of it, as I''ve rewritten parts of the code for setting up the device and window. So if anyway could be so kind as to test it for me I would be very thankful?

The complete list of changes made since version 1.4 is:

- Changed the way the graphics device is created at the start of the game
- The game is now visible in the task bar even when switching to another application in fullscreen mode
- When pressing ALT+TAB the application is minimized if in fullscreen mode
- The config.cfg file is created at initialization if not already available
- The tower rotates towards the moving blocks a little faster
- The user can now select refresh rate, which may help on some systems
- The depth buffer format D24X8 is chosen before D32
- It is now possible to chose fullscreen resolutions that do not have 4:3 ratio
- At first run the game tries to start in windowed mode, and if that fails reverts to 640x480 fullscreen mode
- The mouse now follows the windows cursor
- The game correctly pauses if the window looses focus

A big thanks to everyone, and especially Reana1, Jolle, and nonpop for being so patient with me and trying the various beta versions. Anytime you need help, just drop me a line and I''ll do what I can.

Regards,
Andreas

__________________________________________________________
www.AngelCode.com - game development and more...
AngelScript - free scripting library