Game speed : 40FPS or 60FPS?

[Monsieur OUXX]

OK so this is a weird questions but hear me out :
- AGS games are 40FPS by default
- That's probably a legacy reason (point n click games didn't require to have fast or fluid animations).
- But nowadays, let aside the aesthetic reason ("it's prettier") is there a reason that would make me favor 60FPS?

Some example I'm making up on the spot: "it's better for compatibility/ easier to sync on mobile devices" or whatever.

[NicolaGs]

A lot of LCD monitors have a default refresh rate of 60 Hz, so if you want to use the V-Sync to get an optimal smoothness (e.g. for pannings), a setting of 60 fps should be the best match.

[Monsieur OUXX]

A lot of LCD monitors have a default refresh rate of 60 Hz, so if you want to use the V-Sync to get an optimal smoothness (e.g. for pannings), a setting of 60 fps should be the best match.

Good point. Is V-Sync setting still a thing when D3D9 is selected?

[NicolaGs]

With D3D, I clearly see the difference in smoothness for a quite fast vertical scrolling with or without V-Sync enabled. On my setup, at least...

[Gurok]

A lot of LCD monitors have a default refresh rate of 60 Hz, so if you want to use the V-Sync to get an optimal smoothness (e.g. for pannings), a setting of 60 fps should be the best match.

Good point. Is V-Sync setting still a thing when D3D9 is selected?

V-Sync has been available for Direct3D since 3.4.0 (maybe even 3.3.1? Can't recall when it made it in), and before that via a plugin. The property is read-only at runtime, but settable via WinSetup.

As for me, I design games to run at 24 frames per second. I don't have any animations that need to run faster than this -- most of my animations are 8 FPS. It might be nice to have a slightly smoother mouse, but everything else is fine. I chose this frame rate because animations fit neatly into it. It's very easy to do something on 2s, 3s, 4s, etc. It's also the speed at which most film animation runs.

[Monsieur OUXX]

Thanks for your feedback.

I keep hearing about V-Sync in let's play Videos and stuff but I've never really known what it's for. I don't play modern games, you see

[NicolaGs]

I keep hearing about V-Sync in let's play Videos and stuff but I've never really known what it's for. I don't play modern games, you see

The fact is that on the screen, all the pixels are not displayed at the exact same time. There's a slight delay increasing between the top and the bottom pixels...
This leads to a tearing effect, especially visible when a fast movement is displayed (e.g. fast horizontal scrolling) : the image seems divided in horizontal segments that are shifted...
This is usually linked to a difference between the screen refresh rate and the source (video/game) fps.

Example :

Spoiler

[imgzoom]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Tearing_%28simulated%29.jpg[/imgzoom]

[close]

The V-Sync forces the video card to synchronize the display of all the pixel of one frame, hence providing a "solid image" and smoother movements...

[Monsieur OUXX]

OK but then what would be the connection between the 60fps of the physical screen, the vsync and the fps if my game?
Like, what would happen if I turn on vsync in a 40fps game on a 60fps screen?

[NicolaGs]

I'd say it highly depends on your hardware / drivers but V-Sync should only do good.

For instance, on my system, with a screen refresh rate of 60 Hz, and with my current game project @60fps, I've got tearing effect anyway... (without V-Sync). With V-Sync, the scrolling become smooth...
So :
- tearing effects generally occurs when video source and display rates don't match,
- even if video source and display rates matches, you can have a tearing effet,
- V-Sync improves the situation, for all refresh rates

Also good to know : using V-Sync caps the video source (here : the AGS game) at the screen refresh rate...

So, in your situation : you may or may not see any tearing effect and you may or may not see the benefit of V-Sync, depending on your video card and driver (maybe there's a V-Sync system already running... I saw that with some Linux Desktop renders). But players of your game could see, on their system, what you don't...

If you want to test it :
- create a room with a big width (e.g. 320x800 for a 320x200 project ; do chose a background with various details, like a photo ; if the picture is too homogenous, this test won't work),
- program a horizontal scrolling from one side to the other (a movement with an increment of 1 pixel and a Wait(1)),
- set the fps of the game,
- see if the scrolling generates a tearing effect,
- try with and without V-Sync

[Monsieur OUXX]

OK. I'll run tests.
Do you think it might help if the game's FPS is a multiple of 60PS (e.g. 30FPS)

[Ilyich]

Also the mouse movement would feel noticeably more responsive at 60FPS - that's probably the biggest obvious advantage.

[NicolaGs]

OK. I'll run tests.
Do you think it might help if the game's FPS is a multiple of 60PS (e.g. 30FPS)

For film source, indeed, it helps. So I guess it's the same for all kind of video source...

As Ilyich says, the mouse movements will seem stuttering @30fps and smooth @60fps...

[Monsieur OUXX]

OK