|
Post by kulu on Jul 25, 2016 13:24:42 GMT
Hello fellow developers I am planning to do a public beta for Caged Photon. Since Ive done as much as I can on my own. Im asking for help to find and test short comings that I may not have seen on my own. Please let me know what you think of this idea, and if you would like to participate. I will post a link to Caged Photon once I get feedback from everyone. Just to let you know. I am getting an average of 39 fps with bloom off, and 30 fps with bloom on, at a resolution of 1024 x 768 . These figures were gathered, with Fraps, on this system: intel i3 3.4 ghz, 6 gigs ram , geforce 9500 gt (512mb) the game is pretty much done. I just want to make sure it plays nice on different systems, and avoid nasty bugs. Thanks to everyone who commented on my Hungry Overlord game. I have learned alot. Happy gaming
|
|
|
Post by bartyrocks3 on Jul 25, 2016 13:49:05 GMT
When will you release the beta? I would be happy to test it.
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Jul 25, 2016 14:58:13 GMT
Im hoping to upload this week.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2016 5:44:05 GMT
Looking forward to it! From the trailers I've seen, it looks epic! How many levels are there? I remember you saying it was in the 400 MB range?
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Jul 27, 2016 10:27:08 GMT
There are about 10 explorable and interactive enviroments or levels. And a few cutscenes to move the story along.
It takes me about 2 hours to play from start to finish. But I designed the game to be an open world, and you can visit each enviroment multiple times, but there is some linear story progression later on for the sake of story telling.
The game is about 620 mb . But ive zipped it to 470 mb.
I hope the experience is entertaining. I think thats the best I can hope for.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2016 11:30:44 GMT
Wonderful! I really am looking forward to playing it and giving feedback. I liked the whole concept of the Hungry Overlord game you made, as it was pretty unique, and though it did have issues when you first made it, it really got better when all the feedback came in. Seeing how it takes you 2 hours to beat it, when YOU'RE the one who made it, I'm sure it will take all of us a good while to play it, and that's a good thing!
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Jul 27, 2016 13:22:20 GMT
Thanks for the kind words 3dradenthusiast. I hope I can continue on this game dev path for as long as I can.
And without the feedback on Hungry Overlord, I wouldnt have realised my sloppy use of particles, poly count and lights in 3d rad. This has helped me learn more about 3d rad and game dev in general. I also hope to help where I can later, so the community grows . There is potential in this group of forums.
|
|
hawk
Full Member
Posts: 69
|
Post by hawk on Jul 28, 2016 6:37:48 GMT
Kulu, regarding music I found a nice composer who does professional grade compositions, and gives it away for free, Its all good as long as you credit him somewhere. I've used it for some of my video projects as well. He has all sorts of themes from Cinematic to Pop, Horror to Jazz, Rock etc. www.scottbuckley.com.au/library/It will add that much needed auditory flare to your games, you mentioned in your previous thread that you can't afford a professional composer, who can?
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Jul 28, 2016 8:08:08 GMT
Thanks Hawk. I will give it a try. I was kind of concerned with the audio I used, as I have no training in music composition. I was just winging it. But if I find something I like , I will definately use it, and provide credits as well.
|
|
hawk
Full Member
Posts: 69
|
Post by hawk on Jul 28, 2016 9:19:05 GMT
Its great that you are trying to do it anyway, good things come to those who genuinely try. I'm excited to play this game, 10 open world levels are the most I've heard from a 3drad game.
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Jul 28, 2016 16:26:29 GMT
Cool Hawk. Will try my best to upload on weekend latest. But im taking the time, while I have time, to double check my game assets.But Im happy with the turnout. I hope its entertaining.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 5:44:45 GMT
Any updates on this?
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Aug 10, 2016 17:02:10 GMT
Hi guys. I have to ask for you to be alittle more patient . Im waiting to get data so I can upload. I dont have a dedicated internet line at home.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2016 5:34:14 GMT
That's ok! We all understand fully.
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Sept 13, 2016 16:39:28 GMT
Wassup guys. I just want to update my recent findings. I have recently tested Caged Photon on a geforce gt 620 (2gb). And the game ran longer and better , but it still crashed while loading the last level. I have found that this does not happen when I use only the 'default' shader for skinmeshes. Because of this I have decided to bring to attention that I think the 3d rad shaders might need some editing. This makes me sad because they are powerfull shaders, capable of conveying texture details in a briliant way. I want to try shadmars shader pack to see if the problem persists. But if there is anyone who knows shader code, I would like your opinion on my findings.
I am in the process of getting an internet line. Will post Caged photon next month some time. I cant wait to share this experience with you rad people. Keep pushing the power level.
Update on findings 2016/09/26
in my spare time I tried to view the shader (default and default fog) .fx files with the windows notepad program and changed the vertex shader from 2_0 to 1_1 then saved the .fx file , Then I also Overclocked my GPU (geforce 620 gt) to max ( just the clock speed and the memory , not the voltage ) with MSI afterburner .
then I tried running Caged Photon with all the original shaders ( not just the default shader ). And my results were a surprise. The game ran all the way to the end, without crashing . I dont know if its because I overclocked the GPU or if its because I changed the Vertex shader versions. I will do some more test this evening.
Quick Update on findings 2016/09/30
I have installed Shadmar's System shader pack. and wow, what a lovely set of extra shaders. I'm going to replace all skinmesh shaders with Shadmar's shaders. Also, changing the vertex shader version to 1_1 seems to have stopped the crashing, even on my geforce 9500 gt {512mb} , it didnt crash {with all original shaders , not just 'default' shader } .
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Oct 8, 2016 7:56:03 GMT
Quick update 2016 -10 -08
Thanks to the suggestion from Hawk , I am now in the process of replacing all the music in Caged Photon with selected music from Scott Buckley. I have also received suggestions from other indie devs on facebook to add more secret content. Ive addressed that suggestion by adding a whole extra level , and a couple more cutscenes , to further the message I want to communicate through this game.
happy weekend everyone!
|
|
|
Post by NicusorN5 on Oct 8, 2016 17:55:01 GMT
Any download links for the update?
|
|
|
Post by indiedev on Oct 9, 2016 14:11:30 GMT
nice find on the force v1 shader downgrade, don't stop until you get 60fps at 720p on the gt620!
|
|
|
Post by kulu on Oct 10, 2016 6:58:11 GMT
Okay Ive made up my mind.....
I'm just going to buy alot of data ( alot more than I need ) then I will try to upload the current version of Caged Photon. Im going to try this idea this week.
What I have done with the extra time
I have changed all skinmesh shaders to Shadmar's shaders ( Shadmar's shaders are awsome, especially the "bump_glossy_tile" )
I have replaced all music with music by Scott Buckley ( I hope the visuals live up to grand themes of Scott's music )
I have added an extra level
I have added extra cutscenes
I have edited many of the models , textures , and animations .
I have tested the game on nvidia 9500 gt (512 mb) and nvidia 620 gt ( 2 gb) . (few frames difference , was more stable on the 620 gt , but I have to add that my 9500 gt has a memory bus of 128 bit and the 620 gt has a memory bus of 64 bit , which makes a difference )
I have tried to address the crashing issue as much as I can ( altered the shader.fx files , and used the 4gb .exe patch, which just increases the virtual memory from 2 gb to 4 gb for the selected .exe file )
and I also made a new trailer , because I was kind of bored the other day.
will try and upload before the end of this week.
|
|
|
Post by indiedev on Oct 13, 2016 15:14:09 GMT
i'm curious how many fps you get when it crashes the last level?
|
|