Can someone test my game?

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29 comments, last by Tachikoma 12 years, 8 months ago

I get the same issue as your friend, just the sky, sound and the hello world text.

Intel i5 760
AMD Radeon HD 6800
4GB ram
Windows 7 pro x64


He also had a radeon. Possible that it's just a minor incompatibility with something I did in the code.
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[quote name='thePyro_13' timestamp='1314020451' post='4852283']
I get the same issue as your friend, just the sky, sound and the hello world text.

Intel i5 760
AMD Radeon HD 6800
4GB ram
Windows 7 pro x64


He also had a radeon. Possible that it's just a minor incompatibility with something I did in the code.
[/quote]

That might be a good lead. I forgot to post my computer specs.

It works for me and I am running

Intel i7
6 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M
My current game project Platform RPG
Your graphics card is pretty dated and only supports [color="#333333"][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Shader Model 3.0 and I think it only supports OpenGL 2.0. Also I would imagine 1GB of ram is not quite enough. Your computer does not support the minimal system requirements.[/font]
You're taking it easy dude! Are you aware of the fact that outside hardcore gaming ... this system is close to high-end?


Anyway, I need openal to make it work. Which is suprising, I was sure to have installed it... anyway, thumbs up for an installer.


Previously "Krohm"


[quote name='SteveDeFacto' timestamp='1314013855' post='4852236']Your graphics card is pretty dated and only supports [color="#333333"][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Shader Model 3.0 and I think it only supports OpenGL 2.0. Also I would imagine 1GB of ram is not quite enough. Your computer does not support the minimal system requirements.[/font]
You're taking it easy dude! Are you aware of the fact that outside hardcore gaming ... this system is close to high-end?


Anyway, I need openal to make it work. Which is suprising, I was sure to have installed it... anyway, thumbs up for an installer.



[/quote]

I didn't even know OpenAL needed to be installed for it to work. =/
Also this is not really a game yet. I'm just trying to fix a few bugs before I start making a real game.

[quote name='Koobazaur' timestamp='1314020693' post='4852285']
Oh i'm sorry my computer isn't good enough for your little game that apparently consist of a single mesh and a sky. Next time list the min specs before you start dismissing people who try to help you.


Don't take it that way. There is just nothing I can do to fix it. Thank you for trying it though!
[/quote]Knowing that it crashes on a machine that doesn't support it is still useful though - it's good practice to fail gracefully, produce a meaningful error to the user that their graphics card isn't useful, and perhaps a usful log file too.

(Would 1GB really be a problem? Bear in mind there's still swap space, which would mean a game might run slowly, but not crash? How much does your game need?)

http://erebusrpg.sourceforge.net/ - Erebus, Open Source RPG for Windows/Linux/Android
http://conquests.sourceforge.net/ - Conquests, Open Source Civ-like Game for Windows/Linux


[quote name='SteveDeFacto' timestamp='1314021551' post='4852288']
[quote name='Koobazaur' timestamp='1314020693' post='4852285']
Oh i'm sorry my computer isn't good enough for your little game that apparently consist of a single mesh and a sky. Next time list the min specs before you start dismissing people who try to help you.


Don't take it that way. There is just nothing I can do to fix it. Thank you for trying it though!
[/quote]Knowing that it crashes on a machine that doesn't support it is still useful though - it's good practice to fail gracefully, produce a meaningful error to the user that their graphics card isn't useful, and perhaps a usful log file too.

(Would 1GB really be a problem? Bear in mind there's still swap space, which would mean a game might run slowly, but not crash? How much does your game need?)
[/quote]

Base engine takes about 80MB but as you load textures, audio, and meshes things quickly expand. That demo takes about 500MB of ram and I assume if you include the OS there will be not enough memory to run the demo on 1GB.
Worked ok for me. It did take a little long to load up, I would open the window and show some loading text or something right off before loading everything else up.

Interested in Fractals? Check out my App, Fractal Scout, free on the Google Play store.


Worked ok for me. It did take a little long to load up, I would open the window and show some loading text or something right off before loading everything else up.


specs?

Also it takes so long because the mesh is not in the engine's native format. I can dump the entire scene to a binary file and load it in a blink of an eye but I've not polished that feature yet.

[quote name='Koobazaur' timestamp='1314020693' post='4852285']
Oh i'm sorry my computer isn't good enough for your little game that apparently consist of a single mesh and a sky. Next time list the min specs before you start dismissing people who try to help you.


Don't take it that way. There is just nothing I can do to fix it. Thank you for trying it though!
[/quote]

Steve, it's just the tone of your reply that ticked me off as completely dismissive rather than even mildly thankful. E-communication is tricky and maybe I was just misreading you.

In any case, saying there is "nothing I can do to fix it" is lazy and ignorant. It's your own damn engine - you can do ANYTHING to fix it. And even if you only want to support next-gen hardware, you SHOULD at the very least check device capabilities so you can:

1) Scale down gracefully, disable features, or in worst case scenario, display an error message and shut down properly. Never crash to desktop. That's the equivalent of a Starbucks rep punching you in the face when you try to order a coffee with soymilk when they run out of soymilk.


2) Log the exact error, and show it in an easy-to-copy-paste format to the user, ESPECIALLY in a test-version of your engine. This way:
a) The user can post the error and log on a support website to get feedback.
b) YOU as the developer, know WHAT went wrong.

You are assuming it's my graphics card that failed. But are you sure? Maybe it's a buffer overflow leading to memory access violation? Maybe it's an outdated version of a system DLL causing a crash? You dont know. And you cannot know, because you never check nor communicate the error.. And trust me, as your "engine" grows, this bugs will only get increasingly harder to figure out.

TL;DR - if you are OK with your TEST version of your engine crashing to desktop with no error to the user and no log to analyze, I bid you good luck with your future endavors because you're going to hella need it.


P.S. Also, before you go down the route supporting only next-gen hardware, make sure your engine actually HAS next-gen features. Which, from the description here and the video in the other thread, it clearly does not.
Comrade, Listen! The Glorious Commonwealth's first Airship has been compromised! Who is the saboteur? Who can be saved? Uncover what the passengers are hiding and write the grisly conclusion of its final hours in an open-ended, player-driven adventure. Dziekujemy! -- Karaski: What Goes Up...
and to that matter what is 'next generation hardware'?

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