I'm focusing on optimization with BrightRidge 7.0 and teh first thing is to convert the old adventure into the new AdventureGen 2.0 engine that the new adventure uses. That way the game will only be running one game manager system (it's switching between them now) and i can optimize just the new engine and hopefully make things faster and more stable. Whats good news is that the new "lego block" adventure system im using is very fast and flexible, and i was able to rebuild half of Act 1 from the original game in just this evening. Its working as well as i had hoped for building adventures. The other good news is that i built the lego blocks to be extensible. So i can go into one and improve it, and the game will accept the improvement without breaking anything (it's all object oriented). So the other part of what ill be doing once im using just the lego block system is optimizing each block. Anyways i hope that people are still able to play the new adventure while i work on these improvements, and thank you for all your support. And if anyone encounters bugs or crashes please let me know - it will help me snuff them out one by one EDIT: this evening i finished converting the first of 5 acts from the original adventure so its going relatively fast. As soon as the conversions done ill be optimizing the loops and memory.
I think i found a big part of the problem. There are some massive textures i inadvertently included in the build which means a lot of memory bloat. Im fixing this now and will upload a 6.1 fix to Apple as soon as possible EDIT: I'm uploading a new 6.1 build to the beta testing now. Im going to go through it tomorrow and make sure everything is OK, but here are the improvements + IMPROVED : Reduced texture memory usage by 25% + IMPROVED : Optimized shadow casting particles that didn't need it + IMPROVED: Reduced animation memory usage Hopefully this will add some stability, especially on 1gb ram devices which no wonder are struggling with the extra textures that were included in 6.0
Ok I just played the new build on an iPod 6gen and no crashes Thats good because one of the people who told me it was crashing was on an iPod 6gen, so the memory reduction helped. I have to fix one of the "lego" blocks but if all goes well i should upload the 6.1 fix to apple tomorrow night.
Just started playing Love & Tin, very good first impression. Just as expected Of course, I got some nitpicks as always, but that's really minor story details only so far. Will test for the crashes when 6.1 arrives and after doing Love & Tin.
Cool! BrightRidge 6.1 Beta is on the testing sitre if you want to try it. In my tests the memory performance is MUCh better - and example fonthe probelm, when i added in chicken legs to feed the dog, i incoudeded massive textures, which were not needed tp texture a small chicken bone. Several examples of that in 6.0 and i was using more than 20mb of un needed textures. They're gone or optimized now and that cuts down on the memory pressure, and the crashes. Im still thrilled about the object oriented AdventureGen engine. Its making the v7.0 work really easy to optimize the game, and prepare it for a procedural adventure
I got the beep that 6.1 is there just before I left the office Will give it a shot later, if I get crashes still. Quite enjoying the Love & Tin quest so far. Quite confusing, and I have no clue (yet) what it's all about. But I trust in your storytelling that all - or at least enough, nothing wrong with a mystery or two - will be explained in due time.
Thank you for all your feedback I played through 6.1 on an iPod 6 and no crashes. Im sure there will be some, but removing the 20mb of extra images i think brought it back closer in line with the memory pressure of version 5. thanks to you and Jack for helping me focus on the crashes. I submitted 6.1 because it's at least better than 6.0, hopefully it will be in review soon. In the meantime, here's a few iPad Air 2 screenshots They're medium res, antialiasing, AO, Double Textures on, and depth of field. It'll run at 12fps but if you bump down to low res you can run those effects faster, or turn them off and opt for medium res (although double textures doesnt speed things up or down, but it requires at least a 2gb device). I think i might add in quality presets - so one for speed, one for beauty, one thats super bare bones and one thats full 'crash your device' quality.
rrvirus has done it again Here's an amazing playthrough of the new adventure Love and Tin! It really makes me feel great to see the story from an outside point of view, what works, what doesn't - its great feedback I noticed a few bugs, and some of them, including reducing memory use by 25%, are in update 6.1, which is waiting for approval in the app store.
Nullzone said to post my impressions. So here they are. Cool game. Very impressed with pretty much everything. Haven't played for long enough to offer any real "review", but first impressions is positive. A few crashes, but my phone and iPad are both a bit old. All those fancy effects probably use a lot of RAM. The overall look of the environment is as advertised, quite stunning, especially for mobile. Story is also interesting, has an organic feel to it so far, not just fetching stuff for people and running places. I am slightly bothered by how high those kids can jump. Breaks immersion because I just bounce around like an idiot. But that might just be me. Also, how come the girl's leg isn't attached to anything? When she does the attack, it just floats out of the skirt. Again, really impressive stuff for a solo dev project. Some seams show here and there, but it's cool.
Thanks for taking the time to post all this feedback Version 6.1 has been submitted to the app store and im waiting for approval. It fixes a lot of the crashing by reducing the texture memory usage by 25%. Some large un-needed texture crept in version 6 and that was part contributing to the crashiness so when the update is out please give it a look (it wont erase any of your saved places) I like that you describe the story as organic. thats kind of how it develops, im trying to kind of find the stories the land wants to tell. i am writing a new adventure for a new landscape and i have learned a lot so far and i think simple is best, with relationships with people and places in the game put first. I'm sure the jumping is polarizing But i have to jump. I am going to introduce some pretty lenient falling damage soon (with the option to turn it off) because id like to introduce some threat to certain climbs in the next game, which takes place in a much more vertical world) I buy most of my models and i loved the girl - its actually very hard to find girl models that are not wearing metal bras But her legs are not attached, so i just went with it and hope for some suspension of disbelief. If i sell enough copies to work on games full time (not probable but remotely possible) i have built the game with a component architecture that will let me upgrade individual parts without affecting the whole, so maybe i will get a custom girl model Thanks especially for trying the game. I just want to make worlds, and give people half hour chunks of enjoyment and escape in their day, and maybe eventually, if i am lucky to practice enough, a simple story with some emotional impact.
guys please do this: inside the game(not on the main menu), press the sun/moon button, go to setting, controls, uncheck the show joystick, drag lock and auto center view. it will totally step up the game experience and easier to control. have fun
Now now, you make me sound like some tyrant. Post your impressions or back to the stockade with you! Jokes aside, nice to see you found the time to hop by. And even better that you liked BR. @redribbon: I didn't try those yet - except for hide joysticks, looks even better this way, will give them a twirl later. Was too tired to play more yesterday evening, expect some more feedback on Love & Tin later today.
Ultra Grass crashes on Air1 Setting both Grass Density and Grass Distance to Ultra reproducably crashes BR on an Air1. Everything else is default. To be fair, there IS a big red warning about this Setting only one to Ultra, and the other to High works. With no Grass framerate is 30, both on low 25-27, and High+Ultra drops it to 15-21.
Just finished Love & Tin, very nice! Some REALLY impressive cinematics in there, I dare say you folks will love it. Sending more feedback to Robert via PM. Almost forgot: I left the quest with a lot more new questions, and no answers. The stuff Robert shows there is too intriguing to leave it at that, I really want to see more information on it.
its like having a totally a different way to control. when the joystick is visible, when you tried to move the camera left or right, it feels like there is a light delay, but when off its like very responsive.
Gave the control changes redribbon suggested a try: - Hide Joysticks: Nobrainer, looks so much better and more immersive without them. - Drag Look off: You can no longer hold down to rotate view. Instead you need to keep swiping to do so. Absolute killer no-go when you have RSI like me. And personally I find the "hold to rotate" more immersive, less distracting than needing several swipes. But that's personal taste, so whatever floats your boat - Autocenter View: tested for 15 minutes, didn't notice a difference. What does it do? Robert?
Good news on 6.1 - no crashes Played an hour or more with the 6.1 version. Did not have any ingame crashes so far, even when playing for over half an hour in one go. In other news, his majesty approves. Aka my kid adores the Gnome Hut you put in. Thanks so much for that, boy was he surprised
