Graphics too fast
by Sean Taylor · in Technical Issues · 09/05/2005 (8:45 pm) · 11 replies
Hi, I'm still fairly new to Torgue, just been playing around in it and, as of late, I've noticed a huge difference in the engine. Everything is super, super fast! I don't know if I did anything because I haven't touched the actual engine script or messed with any properties outside the general ones for the demos that come with the SDK. I don't know if it's perhaps just my computer, because it's built to be fast, or Torque. Is there some way to limit the engine to how fast it runs? Or would it just be blazing fast for me always?
#2
09/06/2005 (2:50 pm)
What are your PC's specs.
#3
My specs are:
Proc.: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
Mem: 2GB ( 4x 512MB )
Video: ASUS GeForce 7800GTX
As you can see, it's built to handle large graphics load. But here's an odd thing, I recently downloaded one of the demos for Torque 2D, and it runs super fast as well on there... Two seperate programs running this fast, I think it has something to do with the hardware as well. As far as I can see when I play commercial games, everything is just fine and runs smoothly, the computer only has a problem with Torque for some reason.
09/06/2005 (3:02 pm)
To Mark: No, I'm not using a laptop, just a normal PC.My specs are:
Proc.: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
Mem: 2GB ( 4x 512MB )
Video: ASUS GeForce 7800GTX
As you can see, it's built to handle large graphics load. But here's an odd thing, I recently downloaded one of the demos for Torque 2D, and it runs super fast as well on there... Two seperate programs running this fast, I think it has something to do with the hardware as well. As far as I can see when I play commercial games, everything is just fine and runs smoothly, the computer only has a problem with Torque for some reason.
#4
09/06/2005 (3:21 pm)
Well try limiting how much memory the program can use(use google), and also limit it to one of the processors and try setting the priority to low. See if that helps. I assume your using Windows XP?
#5
So it sounds like they are timing the game speed to the refresh rate.
This is probably the same problem that you see with a lot of oldschool games running on newer hardware. i remember trying to run PoliceQuest I on a 486 computer... LOL too damn fast to play.
are there any resources showing better ways to regulate game speed? something like a gamespeed control even.
I dont personally think I need this, but it sounds like it might be the first thing Sean here should try implementing when playing with Torque.
09/06/2005 (5:24 pm)
Assuming this isnt a problem with your particular setup,So it sounds like they are timing the game speed to the refresh rate.
This is probably the same problem that you see with a lot of oldschool games running on newer hardware. i remember trying to run PoliceQuest I on a 486 computer... LOL too damn fast to play.
are there any resources showing better ways to regulate game speed? something like a gamespeed control even.
I dont personally think I need this, but it sounds like it might be the first thing Sean here should try implementing when playing with Torque.
#6
09/07/2005 (6:40 am)
64-bit processors handle values in registers and in memory differenty. Maybe torque hasn't been programmed with #defines for 64-bit, and whatever timing values it uses (eg. time_t variables) are 32-bit, thus making everything twice as fast (completely just speculation).
#7
09/07/2005 (8:34 am)
Just a WAG, but maybe the clock-detection code might have a bit of a bug when faced with a dual-core processor? Don't have the code handy, and I've never looked for it, but people have said it runs fine on single-core Athlon 64 CPUs, so its a thought.
#8
Not exactly relevant, save to say that "I don't think its the dual CPU thing"... at least not that particular dual CPU thing.
What DOES torque use for its timing info anyway?
09/07/2005 (9:08 am)
I heard about a dual CPU timing problem, but it didn't just "double the speed" or anything like that. I heard (from one of their high-level developers at an IGDA meeting) that EverQuest (#1 I believe) had a serious problem because they were using CPU cycle counting for their timing information. That's fine so long as you're on a single processor... but if your process is switched (by the OS) from one chip to the other... wow. Bad Things can happen. Apparently they were getting casting times of 30 minutes on spells that were supposed to take 5 seconds... that sort of thing. They were pulling their hair out for a while. Once they figured out the problem, they switched back to good ol time_t, and lived happily ever after.Not exactly relevant, save to say that "I don't think its the dual CPU thing"... at least not that particular dual CPU thing.
What DOES torque use for its timing info anyway?
#9
09/07/2005 (12:24 pm)
Yeah, it's not likely a dual CPU issue. Both my Windows and Linux boxes are SMP systems, and they run Torque just fine.
#10
09/27/2005 (11:32 am)
I finally did a reinstall and tested the demos and it seems to work just fine. So the problem starts when I recompile the engine. I noticed that Eclipse (yeah I'm using the TBE) gives some errors, but they have no info as to why they get marked as an error, and all of them happen on lines that have includes. In the same column of include files, some files are marked with an error while others are just fine that are in the same folder as the marked line. I don't know if it's the compiler or the engine but it's happening on line 89: #include "platform/GLCoreFunc.h" ; line 90: #include "platform/GLExtFunc.h" ; line 91: #include "platform/GLUFunc.h" ; and, line 91: #include "platformWin32/GLWinFunc.h" in the WinGL.cc file. I also get an error in the WinV2Video.cc file at line 10: #include "platform/3Dfx.h" . Like I said, the compiler gives no description as to why these lines are marked as errors. The last file oriented one comes from the file guiObjectView.cc at line 9: #include "gui/guiObjectView.h" . And the last error (or the first error picked up by the compiler) has a description, but no file associated with it: cPrecipitationmodifyStorm * In Function 'void . Any ideas as to why I'm getting these errors?
#11
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html
07/26/2006 (6:04 pm)
Get ths driver, it should fix ithttp://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html
Torque Owner Mark Storer
Having said that, I'd read in the past about certain laptops having timing issues that could double the speed of execution in PlanetSide. Are you using a laptop?