Topic: Script dependant on game's FPS...is this a good solution?

[Knox]

Code: Adventure Game Studio

1. //in the driving map room.asc:
2. function on_key_press(int keycode)
3. {
4.      if (IsKeyPressed(375)) //LEFT TURN  
5.     {
6.       setTurnTimerValue(0);
7.       if (bLeftKeyHOLD == false) carDrive_LEFT(eManual, 0);
8.     }
9. }
10. // in my driving module:
11. void setTurnTimerValue(int iMode)
12. {
13.   if (iMode == 0) //Left
14.   {
15.     if (fDrive_Angle == 210.0 || fDrive_Angle == 30.0) iTurnTimer = 17; //NW or SE                
16.     else if (fDrive_Angle == 330.0 || fDrive_Angle == 150.0) iTurnTimer = 20; //NE or SW                      
17.     else
18.     {
19.       iTurnTimer = 0;
20.       return;
21.     }  
22.   }                                      
23. }
24.  
25. function repeatedly_execute()
26. {
27.       if (!bAutomatic) //Manual
28.       {
29.         //TURN MANUAL
30.         if (IsKeyPressed(375)) processQuickTurn_Left(1);
31.         else
32.         {
33.           iHoldKeyPressLeft = 0;
34.           if (bLeftKeyHOLD) bLeftKeyHOLD = false;
35.         }
36. }
37.  
38. #define KEYHOLD 15 //in the .ash
39.  
40. void processQuickTurn_Left(int iMode)
41. {
42.   if (iMode == 1) //Manual
43.   {    
44.     if (iHoldKeyPressLeft >= KEYHOLD)
45.     {
46.       if (!bLeftKeyHOLD) bLeftKeyHOLD = true;
47.       //value of iTurnTimer is set in the room, at "on_key_press"
48.       if (iHoldKeyPressLeft < iTurnTimer)
49.       {
50.         rotateCar_TAP(-30.0);      //script that rotates the car by 30 degree increments
51.         iHoldKeyPressLeft++;
52.       }
53.     }
54.     iHoldKeyPressLeft++;
55.   }
56. }
57.  

As a solution I was thinking of using scorpiorus' script http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=42836.0 to detect the game's FPS, and if during the driving sequences the FPS drops to a certain amount, have the iTurnTimer values changed on the fly so that everything works as it should on slower computers.

Is that a good idea, or is there a better way?

[Khris]

[Knox]

[Knox]

Any ideas?

[Jakey]

Maybe I don't fully understand what is happening in the script but it doesn't seem correct to have "iHoldKeyPressLeft++;" possibly incrementing twice during a single call of "processQuickTurn_Left". Probably should add a return or else statement somewhere, so only one of the two executes each call.

But of course, this is very likely not the cause of your problem

[Knox]

Yeah, thats not really the problem. Everything works fine on my faster computer, but on my laptop the timing of the turning is "off". Ill try to see if I can find a different way of doing the turn. I still dont know why fps is messing with the timing script (shouldnt the turn just be donw slower on a slower maching?)

[Andail]

What you say about the fps is rather puzzling.
Have you used the debug function to get your fps displayed on your screen while playing? If not, please do so and report back what you see.
As Khris said, the game shouldn't run faster than 40 fps even if you played it on Deep Thought, unless you manually set it to do so.

[Knox]

Hmm...well could it have something to do with the keyboard press sensitivity? The script calculates how long the key is pressed down, maybe different keyboards have different sensitivities and that's what's causing the turn-timing issuea on different computers?

Ill get a clip on youtube to show what's happening.

[Frito Master]

Hmm...well could it have something to do with the keyboard press sensitivity? The script calculates how long the key is pressed down, maybe different keyboards have different sensitivities and that's what's causing the turn-timing issuea on different computers?

Ill get a clip on youtube to show what's happening.

I don't think should affect it, I can run it on my computer and slow lap old lappy if you want to see if I have that problem.
Either way thats wierd.

[Monsieur OUXX]

Why are there two "iHoldKeyPressLeft++;", the first one ebing conditional, and the second one occurring all the time?
at the moment I'm searching for a flaw in your timing design, but I can't put my finger on it: You seem to make both angle increments and timer increment rely on the frame being rendered, so it should be correct.
I do believe that when the framerate drops, AGS skips not only the rendering of the slow frame, but also the execution of the associated script. I hope I'm right.


EDIT: I think I might have an explanation :
- Consider that when the framerate drops to 35, a timer of 15 to 20 frames is equivalent to almost one half second (500ms).
- A half second is a rather huge time gap, and is more than enough to confuse the player (if he sees the car at a certain angle, and stops pressing the key, but the script still locks down the key for 500ms, and makes the car turn further).

You have 2 solutions :
- Either you reduce the timer's interval to check the car's state more often (but still update the sprite only once in a while, when needed)
- Or you should redesign the script in order to make it check that the car has reached the target angle rather than checking that the timer has expired. The timer expiration should be used only to match the current angle to the time elapsed, and THEN the sprite should be based on the actual angle. That second solution needs more thinking.

[Knox]

Man, I see! Ok I'll try both solutions and post what happens...it makes sense, very clever!
Thanks