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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Your 3 Most Annoying Bugs

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LeeBamber
TGC Lead Developer
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Location: England
Posted: 10th Jan 2012 14:33 Edited at: 14th Feb 2012 18:19
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Hi Guys,

It's been a while since the last official update, and although the latest beta improves a few things, one or two issues crept in. We have decided to hire an ace programmer to fix twenty of your most annoying issues, a small present for 2012 and a thank you for your patience as we gave birth to baby AGK.

I invite you to list your top three DBP bugs in this thread (from U77 release candidate) and we can have a good chat about which ones should make it to the top twenty, and in which order. I will maintain the top twenty at the top of this thread and keep updating it until we're 85% in agreement about the list. I can then commission our highly prized super coder to tackle them for you.

He does require that you can provide a zip file with a running code example showing the issue clearly in as few lines of code as possible, and that the issues are confined to the commands, and not the compiler or IDE. Unless they are show stoppers, the compiler and IDE issues can be tackled in a future round of fixes.

I have recruited Green Gandalf to help me assemble the bugs reported, which takes us nicely to nearly 20 reproduced bugs. Before we commit to fixing them, please argue amongst yourself if there are bugs here you don't think are top 20, or if a bug is missing you feel should be included (given the scope of this update).

Your Bugs
---------

1. GAMEFX COMMANDS : U77 kills the Shadow/Color feature when Fog is applied [FIXED]

2. HTTP REQUEST DATA - reportedly works on "some" sites, but have not been able to get it to do so
on all the ones I've tried. Looks like it is using HTTPS protocol
Reported by mr_d
[No zip!!]

3. Music playing - seems pointless and doesn't let you know when the track is finished
Reported by Santman.
[No zip!!]

4. System dmem available() http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=177732&b=15
Reported by =Prof=
[Zip provided.]
Clear bug - DBPro crashes.

5. Duplicate label error not showing up and just running..... this creates some horrible errors
that you may be looking for answers else where untill you realize oops! you accidently have 2 labels
the same
Reported by SMD_3D Interactive.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]
Comment by Green Gandalf: Clear bug.

6. Screen invalid bug
Reported by SMD_3D Interactive
[No zip!!]
(Might be the bug discussed here: http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=185459&b=15)

7. Limb new origin problem When you create a 3D model, and move the limbs, and set the new limb
origins, when you load the models into DBPro the limb origins reset back to the centre.
Reported by Pincho Paxton.
[No zip!!]

8. Create light maps crashes DBP : http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=192240&b=1
Reported by TheComet.
[New zip provided by Green Gandalf.]
Comment: this is a clear bug introduced around U7.4/U7.5 and is probably the reason the Help file example
crashes.

9. Instanced objects animations stop updating if the original source object is off screen
Reported by Matty H.
[Zip provided.]
Comment by Green Gandalf: this bug (or feature ) is certainly unhelpful. Interestingly, I tried using
clone object instead - and as far as I can tell the source object keeps animating when off-screen because
it is always in step with the cloned copy (unless you've actively changed one of their frames) when it
returns. This makes the behaviour of instanced objects even odder.

10. Fix object pivot collision problem If you comment the line with the fix object pivot command
the collision box will be also rotated (same problem when you use set object collision to polygons) and
collision will work. If you uncomment the line with the fix object pivot the object will get rotated but
not the collision box.
Reported by 1beginner1.
[Zip file provided by Green Gandalf.]

11. Compiler slowdown
Reported by Santman.
[No zip!!]

12. Set alpha mapping on bug
Reported by Santman.
[No zip!!]

13. Turn camera angle problems
Reported by: Chris Tate.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf using Chris Tate's code.]

14. Set shadow shading broken when shader flag used
Reported by Mistrel.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]
Comment: the attached zip uses code originally posted by Spooky and used to work perfectly.
However, the shader option no longer works. It seems to be broken somewhere between U7.7 and U7.7RC7.
Mistrel may be referring to additional problems on this thread:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=187876&b=15

15. Deleting cloned objects bug
Reported by Mistrel.
[Zip added by Green Gandalf.]
Comment by Green Gandalf: the symptoms of this bug seem to have changed - see zip file.

16. Create memblock from image bug
Reported by Mage and SMD_3D Interactive.
[Zip provided.]
Comment: the zip file shows the problem plus a messy workaround from me. Surely the workaround
shouldn't be necessary?

17. Texture backdrop problem with fog
Reported by Kezzla.
[Zip provided.]
Comment: looks like a clear inconsistency with fog handling between texture backdrop and color backdrop.

18. AddPCKToEXE compiler problem
Reported by CumQuat, =Prof= and many others.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]
Comment: not really within the present remit but is a VERY annoying/baffling issue for many users.

19. Cube map stages - DBPro behaves erratically or crashes when extra texture stages are used with the set cube mapping on command with shaders.

20. Get/save image bugs - DBPro handles image scaling inconsistently when get image/save image/sprite etc are used (may be more than one bug here). Symptoms seem to vary a bit on different OS - but inconsistencies have emerged in each case.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

21. Limb texture problems - set object texture doesn't always affect all limbs
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

22. load image/image exist problem - DBPro doesn't correctly detect certain image file types when they don't exist.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

23. rendercolortarget shader problems - when rendercolortarget is used DBPro doesn't correctly handle shaders which have multiple techniques with varying numbers of passes.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

24. set object specular problem - doesn't work with directional lights.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

25. sound volume problems - set sound volume behaves strangely on XP computers.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

26. DDS file memblock bug - make memblock from image gives nonsense for compressed DDS files.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

27. GameFX Help file example broken - the Help file code crashes when the media don't already exist (broken since U75, worked fine with U74).
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]
Comment: this is probably caused by the create light maps bug mentioned above (see item 8).

28. Multiple camera bug - non-consecutive cameras need an additional (possibly unused) camera before they will work.
Reported by Green Gandalf.
[Zip provided by Green Gandalf.]

Of the 28 bugs, we only have zips that reproduce the bugs for 21, so we are only targeting those issues with zips so far. If you feel one of the bugs without a zip requires closer attention, please provide me with the correctly numbered ZIP file to lee@thegamecreators.com. If the issue does not have a zip when fixing begins, there is no guarantee it will be fixed.

I have gone through the thread so far and discounted IDE and Compiler reports as this will be for a future update. I have also discounted reports that are logic errors rather than actual bugs/crashes in the commands.

We do need those zip files demonstrating the bugs, I have marked the list above on those items that still need reproducible zips.

We're not looking for feature requests, we're after those broken cogs and loose wheels in the command set that are making your project limp along in first gear. Thanks for your feedback!

I drink tea, and in my spare time I write software.
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mr_d
DBPro Tool Maker
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Posted: 10th Jan 2012 14:51 Edited at: 1st Mar 2012 13:36
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OK, I guess I'll get the ball moving (or the second ball, or something like that) with one that has been raised a number of times before, but doesn't seem to get anywhere.

HTTP REQUEST DATA - reportedly works on "some" sites, but have not been able to get it to do so on all the ones I've tried. Looks like it is using HTTPS protocol (or trying to connect to the secure port) all the time...

Just FYI, for those sites that it doesn't work for; using alternative methods (external DLL's etc.) works, so why can't it work natively using the built in command?

EDIT: Uploaded Zip file with an example

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gwheycs62egydws
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Posted: 10th Jan 2012 14:59
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HI

I would like to offer my services to test provided code

I am running 7.61 with many addition's

I can can compile and show how it should look like in my version
and people can compare it with how it looks in DBP U77

I know this thread is about 7.7

since I am running DBP 7.61
but one issue I have is when I add in media to be built into a file
it dose not take , as to the fact the media must be included out side
of the program , that was the only bug I had

there was anther thing I noticed with DBP rc7.7
the light level for an object was set low and had to be increased

thanks for reading

to move side ways - is to move forward
Since a Strait line gets thin fast
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Marco A G Pinto
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Posted: 10th Jan 2012 18:20
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Hello!

I could suggest that DBPro would accept icon images up to 256x256 with 24 bit colour and also the properties of the executables (such as version, etc) don't appear when we compile.

Kind regards,
>Marco A.G.Pinto
---------------
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Wyldhunt
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Posted: 10th Jan 2012 19:19 Edited at: 10th Jan 2012 19:48
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My top 3:

1: GAMEFX COMMANDS : U77 kills the Shadow/Color feature when Fog is applied

2: Transparency oddness
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=187444&b=15


3: Mr Handy's post about halfway down re: trademark/version info
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&b=1&t=180294&p=2

Also, I'd like to make a more officialish request here that a new DX11 version of DBPro should be started. It could be a new branch in the source or a whole new program, but I think a lot of people would be thrilled to hear news that work on a DX11 version had begun. It would be a lot of work, but it would ensure the long term survival of DBP, and give us something to upgrade to once it had a stable release.
I'm not sure how this works, but I know that other game engine companies have found ways to implement DX11 in parts. In the beginning, you could enable DX11 mode via an ini option. It would give you one or two new commands to use. The list grew over time with updates. DX9 didn't need to be removed to make it work.
I've no idea if something like that could ever work with DBP.
Even just an announcement that you had a completely new version on the back burner would be great news...
Perhaps a super programmer may be helpful to getting the groundwork laid for the new version?
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Santman
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 00:28
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Well, for bugs I don;t actually have an enormous list. Actually, there's only really two but here goes:

1: Shadows stop working in the new update (but you said you're gonna fix that anyway)

2: "If music playing" - seems pointless and doesn't let you know when the track is finished (really, what does it do?). Got around this my way though with a timed jukebox style player built in, but the ability to even read the track length of an MP3 would be great as most people can work around that (I know that is quite complex though)

3: Dark Shader / DBPro shader. Some seem to work in DBPro exactly as they do in Dark Shader, others just don't. May be my error though, I'm not overly good with them.

That's about as much as I can say. TBH - the loss of shadows in favour of compatibility with the windows service pack was the biggest killer. What would be awesome though, would be the ability to run two programs simultaniously, and pass simple varibles between them, or the assign tasks to seperate processor threads (think player movement handled by one thread, background loading/map drawing by another). But that's not a bug or fix, just a wish.
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=PRoF=
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 00:41 Edited at: 11th Jan 2012 17:47
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I'd completely forgotten about this until I was checking back through my posts looking for something else...

system dmem available()
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=177732&b=15
This one's been around for a while; I used to use it in my debugging/reporting code. Would be nice to have it fixed if you're short of a bug for the list of 20

>edit<
To add attachment (Zip containing project demonstrating bug)


Bitmap Font Creator Alpha Out Now!

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SoftMotion3D
AGK Developer
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Location: Calgary,Alberta
Posted: 11th Jan 2012 01:54 Edited at: 11th Jan 2012 02:02
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the direct x version command used to check if 9.0c latest is installed if im correct doesnt work.... and for this to work dbp would need to be able to run an application without trying to initialize the 3d hardware off the start if its not present.

would be nice if an application could be made even just using blue gui or something and not needing direct x at all to run your app so you can properly check and install it if nessesary.

Just ideas....but my biggest bumm out is that people are usualy lazy and do not want to search for drivers and such and would be better if our dbp creations did the searching and installing for them.

The second one for me is the duplicate label error not showing up and just running..... this creates some horrible errors that you may be looking for answers else where untill you realize oops! you accidently have 2 labels the same...lol!

The third would be screen invalid i dont think is recoverable when you have vertex data locked on an object or a matrix existing.....crashes no matter what i do trying to recover from it in every possible way. Also screen invalid i can get to work for the most part on xp,vista but is complete crap with windows 7....seems unrecoverable

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Sasuke
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 01:56
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When you say buggy code for instance the timer() function is really buggy, but we already have a better timer with IanM's plugin. So things like that can stay broken or should they be included in this cause these days someone has made a plugin for everything.
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 02:45
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When you create a 3D model, and move the limbs, and set the new limb origins, when you load the models into DBPro the limb origins reset back to the centre of the model. Somebody made a plugin to fix the limbs, but it would be better if they were just fixed in DBPro.

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MrValentine
AGK Backer
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Playing: FFVII
Posted: 11th Jan 2012 06:15
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Function folding fails very often... will make a video soon...

Intellisense needs to allow continuous typing past the first space... again will make a video...

As mentioned above with DX installation for required version... SPP has this DLL on its site which runs a command to check if the user needs to install dx prequesites just ask me to clarify... I am yet to get it working...

Umm and also screen lock crash issue... umm some code and functions not highlighting though they work...

Can not think of much off the top of my head right now...

Cheers Lee was wondering if I/We could send you guys a prezzie too ^^

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gwheycs62egydws
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 06:38
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@LeeBamber

I've got a thought to put forward

you have spent many hours working on DBP and will spend many more hour

I'm willing to give $20 towards your efforts in updating and upgrading
for me right now that the best I can do

If I can start turning out games
then I will be pointing more people towards using DBP
I figure I'm about a year away from producing
but I would be a lot farther away if I had to use any thing else out there

my only request is that DBP can still run in windows xp
I know one day xp will be out but as long as possible would be nice

what do other think about my thought ?

to move side ways - is to move forward
Since a Strait line gets thin fast
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Santman
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 09:09
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OMG - I totally forgot - the biggest, most annoying bug of all - if you use REM commands through your program (which I do often) then the compiler gets the line number of any errors more and more wrong. At the moment any error returned is anywhere from 75-110 lines out for me, which can be a nightmare to find if it's a generic error or something silly like a typo. The effect is especially compounded by functions as I use lots of small functions and the line with the error can often indicate a totally different function.
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Quel
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 09:40
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I know IDE bugs aren't needed here right now, but sign up this one on some small paper somewhere, because it practically makes your life a nightmare if you don't code flawlessly from beginning to end: the official IDE has a big problem finding the line number of errors when using included code files.

-Mental Hybrid: A unique heavy story based shoot'em ~40% (primary project)
-CoreFleet: An underground commander unit based RTS (canned) ~15%
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Scene Commander
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 12:32
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Not really a bug, but RC7.7 needs to be brought in line with all of the expansion packs. I'm not sure about all of them, but it certainly doesn't work with Dark Imposters which needs to be addressed.

http://jimjamsgames.yolasite.com
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JackDawson
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 12:37
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I have to agree with Quel on this one. It doesn't handle finding errors well at all. Trying to find the error is a REAL problem most of the time.

Thank you Lee for working on the bugs bro. Your the man !

"Life is like a box of chocolates.. eat it before it melts."
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TheComet
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 13:04
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I only have one bug:

1) The command create light maps crashes DBP : http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=192240&b=1

TheComet


Timeplan : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmuAKJolqASndEVYOWMxb3l2OWV0UkV1anRSczZScHc
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chafari
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 13:16 Edited at: 11th Jan 2012 13:17
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In addition to the mentioned bugs, I have noticed that U77 is much slower than U74. I'v got a dungeon example code that makes a dungeon with boolean operation....that is not the best method I know, but this code makes the dungeon in 4 seconds with U74, and U77 takes 22 seconds with the same code. At first, I couldn't guess what was wrong in the code,as I got just black screen. After several try, I just wait to see what compiler says, and after 22 seconds it was working right, but no one will wait so long for a game to start.

What I like best, is playing with vertexdata, and for my models, I use to make lots of triangle to build objects. I found the same problen, and I'm not sure the real quantity of object we can make, but a code that works perfect in U74 that works in 10 seconds or so, in U77 just crash....so I'm using again U74 waiting for a miracle. If someone want to test this code.....it works in 5 second in U74.... you can test it to confirm what I say.



Cheers.

I'm not a grumpy grandpa
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LeeBamber
TGC Lead Developer
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 14:06
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Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback so far. Just to steer you in the right direction, put yourself in my shoes when writing your suggested bugs. One liner throw away statements about something that does not work means I have to first figure out what the issue actually is, then write a program in the hopes of reproducing it, and only then do I see what the problem is. That can easily take 1 hour per bug, and I only have a few hours each day. Now that does not include the actual fixing, testing and uploading part

Lets set some simple guidelines (rules). I will only add an item to the list that has a zip file containing a project that runs and shows me the issue (cannot use third party commands). It must not be an IDE or compiler issue at this stage. It must clearly show a bug, not be an elaborately disguised feature request

All your feedback is relevant, and we'll get to them for sure, I just want to filter the items so we get a clear list of reproducible issues that can be fixed quickly and released to you.

I drink tea, and in my spare time I write software.
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Matty H
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 15:00 Edited at: 11th Jan 2012 15:03
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Hi Lee,

Instanced objects animations stop updating if the original source object is off screen, it's possible I am missing a flag or a command, if not then could this be fixed.

You can render huge armies etc using my imposters plugin but they need to share animation data to run at a good speed, same as crowds in sports games etc

Attached simple program highlighting the problem.




The workaround is to hide your source object but keep positioning it in front of the camera

Thanks.


EDIT: I understand it's important to stop updating animations if the object is off screen, but maybe not if it has been instanced

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=PRoF=
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 17:49
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@LeeBamber:
I have amended my post above to include a zip file demonstrating the problem.


Bitmap Font Creator Alpha Out Now!
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TheComet
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 20:42
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The command create light maps crashes DBP in U77, but runs perfectly in U74. We have deducted that it's a compiler issue, meaning that if someone compiles the code using U74 and sends the executable to me, it runs. If I compile the code using U77 and send it to him, it doesn't run.

More info:

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=192240&b=1

[Attached project]

TheComet


Timeplan : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmuAKJolqASndEVYOWMxb3l2OWV0UkV1anRSczZScHc

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1beginner1
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 20:45
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Hello, I ran into a bug with collision when using "fix object pivot". Made a small sample program to show the bug. If you comment the line with the fix object pivot command the collision box will be also rotated (same problem when you use set object collision to polygons)and collision will work. If you uncomment the line with the fix object pivot. The object will get rotated but the collision box not. I get the bug on a windows 7 64bit with U77 RC7 and windows xp 32bit 7.61 only tested on those two.

Orignal thread of bug (ps. First posts are about sparky collision)

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=193058&b=1

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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 11th Jan 2012 22:43 Edited at: 11th Jan 2012 22:46
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Including files in your final exe is now annoyingly hard. All of the files in your folder used to attach automatically. Now you have to pick them all which takes so long that I don't post exe's anymore. I tried Wildcards and they don't work.

ADD
*.jpg
*.png


Doesn't work.

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1beginner1
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Posted: 12th Jan 2012 18:31
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The command "MAKE OBJECT Object Number, Mesh Index, Image Number"
is saying in the help file

Quote: "
The mesh is used as the root limb for the 3D object and the image is used as a texture for the object. You do not have to specify an image value, but such models will appear white when displayed. The parameters should be specified using integer values.
"


But when you don't specify and image number the code will not compile. Tested only Windows 7 64bit U77 RC7.
The command will work when you put also a number for the image value. It is not neccesary that the number exist as an image.
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TheComet
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Posted: 12th Jan 2012 18:52
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Use:

make object <obj> , <mesh> , 0



TheComet


Timeplan : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmuAKJolqASndEVYOWMxb3l2OWV0UkV1anRSczZScHc
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Todd Riggins
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Posted: 19th Jan 2012 00:40
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The Sound and Music volume has always bugged me and I'm surprised that I don't hear more people bring the issue up. Hopefully it's just not me at least.

I had posted this issue in this thread in the Bug Report section:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=175929&b=15&msg=2144073#m2144073

For me, around the volume level 35-40 I can no longer hear sound. So I googled around and found this link:
http://www.dr-lex.be/info-stuff/volumecontrols.html

which explains that the ideal volume follows an exponential curve. So, somewhere on the internets, I found some code to help me test it out where I changed and coded the set volume dbpro commands to use this:



Now I can hear and change the sound volume smoothly through the 0-100 volume range. The bug report post link above has the full code I used to recompile dbpro with.

Would this not be more ideal to adjust the sound volume with?

Do people here really hear sound around the 1-35 volume range?

ExoDev.Com - A Game Development Tools Website! Featuring: XBOX360 CONTROLLER LIBRARY
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Santman
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Posted: 19th Jan 2012 18:21
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Hey Todd,

I have to say, I've never had that issues. My current project allows the user to alter the volume between 100-0 freely with the keyboard, and it's audible right down to a value of 1. That said, I have a 5.1 surround speaker set-uo so hearing stuff is generally not an issues. It may also be your sound drivers that's an issue, or even perhaps the output settings through Windows itself (goto "CONTROL PANEL -> SOUND -> PROPERTIES" for your sound device, then check the tone, levels and enhancements tabs - it may be that window's is muting off some sound).

Why not make a simple program that does the sound normally where you can't here it below 40, then a setting to change it to the way you can, then upload it here and maybe myself and some others can try and see if we get the same result?
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=PRoF=
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Posted: 19th Jan 2012 18:30
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I've also experienced the sound issues Todd Riggins was talking about. I worked round the bug by handling the volume as a percentage with 0% being volume 30 and 100% being volume 100


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Todd Riggins
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Posted: 20th Jan 2012 00:34
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@ Santman,

I have current drivers.

I have code posted in this post that I given above
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=175929&b=15&msg=2144073#m2144073

If I did have a problem with my sound card, then ALL other games and applications would be effected.

The C++ code that I recompiled into the dbpro source works perfectly for me.

I do have the SoundBlaster Audigy 4 soundcard. Mabie it could be an issue with creative soundcards with how Lee programmed his volume control algorithm?? Dunno. What kind of sound card you running?

@ PRoF

Thanks for confirming that. I don't feel so alone from this issue anymore

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CumQuaT
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Posted: 20th Jan 2012 01:12 Edited at: 20th Jan 2012 01:16
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The most annoying bugs in the DBpro IDE that I have are as follows:

- The group uncomment button skips lines sometimes (the group comment button works fine)
- That annoying "Could not execute - Failed AppPck" or whatever it is error that happens one in every 30 or so compiles (the disappears as soon as you try compiling again)
- Autocomplete of nests doesn't work well with indentation. For example, if I type DO then hit enter, it'll create the LOOP for me, but if I then type REPEAT inside the DO LOOP and hit enter, it won't always automatically put the UNTIL for me.
- The F5 compile and run shortcut won't work if any of the properties fields are in focus, rather than the code window.
- When the compiler hilights the line of code that has hit an error, it actually hilights the line before it. You get used to just looking at the line after it, but it's annoying.
- I would love it if referencing asset number zero didn't hit a pre-execute bug, but instead came back as an asset not found. For example, using something like this:

Crashes the program. It would make my life much easier if it just returned a zero.

There's also no auto-indentation as in Visual Studio, which would be great if it could be in there. I know you're not after feature requests, but it's a REAL setback for someone like me working on Malevolence because I insist on keeping neat code.

Thanks for offering up this chance to give feedback, Lee. Much appreciated by us poor souls!


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Santman
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Posted: 20th Jan 2012 18:17
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Todd,

I don;t use a sound card, never have done. My computers are all built by myself, so I generally take great care in choosing a decent motherboard, and I've never had issues with just using onboard sound. The motherboard I have now (although slightly outdated) is the nForce 710a. Never had any sound problems, so must be some kind of incompatibility with that hardware - DEF ONE FOR THE LIST THEN, save other people having issues with programs created.
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DarkLord5656a
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2012 00:47
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iv been haveing a problem with getting the menu screen loaded
it wont show up its just blackscreen.
my menu
for my 2d game

let the darkness privail

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CumQuaT
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Posted: 22nd Jan 2012 04:01
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Wrong place to be posting that, mate.


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16 BIT
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Posted: 23rd Jan 2012 10:41
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After re-setting the display mode to another resolution, the

mousey()

command returns wrong!

No matter what resolution has been re-set, the mousey() returns about +20 more result...

I'm still not sure if this is a bug or my laptop fails...

----Intel Core I7, nVidia 540 M, WIN 7 HOME---

There are 10 kinds of people, one of them knows binary and the other does not
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MrValentine
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Posted: 23rd Jan 2012 10:51 Edited at: 12th Feb 2012 17:45
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I agree with 16 BIT ... I am working on my app and when.I hide show my window the TEXT command acts all weird and does not position correctly... might try for a screenshot and code at some point...

EDIT

Eugh typos on phone

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16 BIT
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Posted: 23rd Jan 2012 16:36
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It is definetely a bug. When In windowed mode that mouse pointer y position is always correct.

I can't believe we're talking about the mouse y... Made me remember the old qbasic forums with INT 33h...

P.S. There is a very fast way to restore all assets those when destroyed by display mode re-setting. But that mouse bug inhibits that... Very annoying. really!

The application exits with error if you use 'set window on/off" commands more than one time... I'm not sure if this is a bug...

There are 10 kinds of people, one of them knows binary and the other does not
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16 BIT
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Posted: 23rd Jan 2012 22:26 Edited at: 24th Jan 2012 22:54
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Never Mınd... This code works just fine!


There are 10 kinds of people, one of them knows binary and the other does not
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CumQuaT
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Posted: 24th Jan 2012 06:05
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Please make sure to put your code into a code block using the code tags. Makes for less scrolling!


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NickH
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Posted: 26th Jan 2012 19:26
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I'll have to have a think about this, but I'm sure half the people on here would say "Most of DarkPhysX!" is one big bug, and should be fixed! I've used it a lot, and it's only 50% of what it could've been. Yes I know this has been said already, but...

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gwheycs62egydws
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Posted: 26th Jan 2012 22:24
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@NickH

yep your right on that
one part of D.P. that would have been nice is to pick the color
of the liquored , the documents it was shown that it would be worked on
only in the video and one compiled exe was it shown in green
but it shows as blue and no other color can be picked

one other bug that has been around for some time
is the "sync mask" command was not made user frendly

after looking at some one else quick fix I cam up with my own
it will work but I still have no idea on it's correct settings

function MaskS(Ca as dword,Cb as dword,Cc as dword,)
Mask=Ca+(Cb*2)+(Cc*4)
sync mask Mask
endfunction

MaskS(1,1,1)

this takes care of 3 cameras 0,1,2

if more cameras are needed then it go's 8,16 depending on what the camera is
to match

to move side ways - is to move forward
Since a Strait line gets thin fast
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Santman
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Posted: 29th Jan 2012 02:59
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Hi Lee,

If you get a minute (I know, it's unlikely) can you check this post of mine please?
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=193774&b=1&p=0
I dunno if it's a bug or what, and if you want I can provide you a link to download the zip with all the files, including the fully working pre-compiled backup, but it's about 100meg with all files so didn't include here. I posted this here as this problem will literally stop development until I can get the my frame rates back to normal, and I have no clue. I;ve tried everything apart from re-formatting wondows, and I REALLY don't want to do that!!! :-(

I'm also actually having what I think is a genuine big also - with set alpha mapping. My project has 50 "invisible" clouds that drift over the play area, casting down shadows - these 50 are generated by cloning 5 set models, then randomising their scale dimensions, and setting their alpha mapping to 0%. It works fine, except one, and sometimes two clouds always appear opaque black. I've no idea why. I;ve tried everything, including an instruction to make the offending cloud 0% every cycle of my code loop, it makes no difference. I've moved the clouds to varying heights so they don;t overlap, no difference. I evan added in a debug mode where you can look and move anywhere with the mouse, generated a small sphere in front of the camera, then collision detect the clouds to see which object is the problem - although this is normally the first one, the others seem random. I've tried all settings for the clouds (I use alpha mapping a fair bit) but to no avail. Occasionally, all the clouds will render invisible.

Would you like the code???
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Morcilla
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Posted: 29th Jan 2012 10:05
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@Lee,

Great to see some movement here.
Now that the Ultrabooks are bringing back into the market the Windows PC platform, perhaps we could see a little reborn in the area.

Once the DBPro issues are solved, it would be nice to see DGDK updated as well, so we can count with it for another couple of years.

Best regards

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Santman
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Posted: 30th Jan 2012 18:53
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RE my previous post - I should perhaps point out that the alpha mapping problem is not new - that has always been there, and I am using the 7.5 upgrade (I think - the newest one from the homepage link on the site, whatever that is) so the u77 beta MAY have fixed this, but as it killed the shader shadows I took it off again.
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Takis76
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Posted: 31st Jan 2012 23:57 Edited at: 18th Feb 2012 12:00
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For me , one complain I had in the past and I never saw it fixed or improved was the main text out functions.

1) All built in standard text out functions was very slow and the frames per second was killed and I used third party plugins to have my frames not killed. (I think this is not a feature not a wish , because standard text function is not something new).

2) In open files for write it must be an option to avoid to save the chr$(13) on the file all legacy basic language have this the semicolon ";" symbol voids the chr$(13) to be added automatically in the file output.

For example



hello.txt Output:

hello
world



hello2.txt Output:

hello world

The most annoying bug #2 for me , in not a feature or wish all legacy basics support this.

3) The IDE do not returns the correct error line of code. For example your project have 50 different sourcecode files and you have error in some line of your 13th file in the project. The IDE do not directs you some times in the error if for example is a close nesting error or missing "endif" (It direct you at the end of the file) or returns the error number in the soure file but with the sum of all 13 files in the project.
What will happen if I have 50 different sourcecode files in a huge project with 10000 lines of codes in each sourecode file?

Many times I had a missing parenthesis error or some open nest error and I was looking where my open nest was to close it exactly in the place , but I never found it and the IDE direct at the end of the specific file not at the error, even the close nest error was 1000s lines above.

This also happen when some : separator symbol was missing.

The error number result was wrong or the sum of all source code files in the project from this file and above.

The community gave a solution to create one huge single source code file project, I didn't like this. (This solves the error number reporting).


If you beleive the 3rd one is about IDE technical issue and will not corrected now in this round, so the first 2 above are very important for me (at least) and when we arrive to the second round of bug hunting about IDE and compiler, I have other bugs to report.


Thank you very much and I am very happy about this bug hunting...
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Wyldhunt
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Posted: 1st Feb 2012 05:45
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Quote: "Lee Bamber said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback so far. Just to steer you in the right direction, put yourself in my shoes when writing your suggested bugs. One liner throw away statements about something that does not work means I have to first figure out what the issue actually is, then write a program in the hopes of reproducing it, and only then do I see what the problem is. That can easily take 1 hour per bug, and I only have a few hours each day. Now that does not include the actual fixing, testing and uploading part

Lets set some simple guidelines (rules). I will only add an item to the list that has a zip file containing a project that runs and shows me the issue (cannot use third party commands). It must not be an IDE or compiler issue at this stage. It must clearly show a bug, not be an elaborately disguised feature request

All your feedback is relevant, and we'll get to them for sure, I just want to filter the items so we get a clear list of reproducible issues that can be fixed quickly and released to you."


Just a quick note that most of these reported issues will never be looked at because no one is reading Lee's instructions.
Include a ZIP of the broken code and do not bother reporting IDE issues.

I can't include a ZIP because I don't have DBPro installed right now. I advise everyone who can write DBPro code to edit any faulty posts so that the bugs can be considered and repaired.
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Santman
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Posted: 1st Feb 2012 20:22
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Ok, am I the only person who simply isn;t prepared to upload months of hard work to a public site to be stolen by everyone else? Perhaps if you guys want a zip with code....provide a way for us to do it without exposing our work to everyone else! And as I pointed out, my project comes with media that would be needed to see it working, and that exceeds the size of the file limit.

I STILL can;t use DBPro properly at all due to the slow down issue, and I've now completely reinstalled DBPro from a fresh download, AND restored my PC back to before the problem happened. IT'S LITERALLY STOPPING MY PROJECT DEAD - how much more of a bug can you get!?!?!?!?! Lol. And my other thread (see above) has shown I'm not the only person seems to have encountered it before!!!
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MrValentine
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Posted: 1st Feb 2012 20:32
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WoW SANTMAN... FTP¿

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=PRoF=
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Posted: 1st Feb 2012 20:46
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@Santman:
Don't submit your code, submit a smaller snippet which demonstrates the issue simply and concisely.


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Santman
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Posted: 1st Feb 2012 22:47
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Lol. Sorry, wasn't meaning to rant, but I'm very infuriated - at the moment I can't do anything because of this extreme slow down problem, and I've no idea why or how to fix it as I've no idea what caused it.

But my point is valid - the alpha mapping problem is legitimate and random, but no code snippet would work as it would also need the associated procedures and files to work properly I think (as well as all the additional code used to set up the scene, camera's etc, defining variables, setting up data arrays - bearing in mind the problem is random and I've no idea why it's happening - it could be almost anything so I suspect only seeing the entire code running would benefit). However, I have extracted the main cloud code and attached here in a zip as suggested.

A little setting up for the code: the clouds are 5 directx objects (flat planes of cloud shapes - each one cloning a random set model at the start) that are randomised each time they are renewed, with data including drift speed held in an array. The problem is, the clouds mainly appear invisible as they should, however randomly one or more appears solid, opaque black. Sometimes all are invisible. The object(s) that does not appear black is random, as is the object model cloned. The only constant is that if one model or more models appears solid black, then that model(s) ALWAYS appears solid black, no matter how many cycles it runs for or which model was initially cloned. Oddly, the first cloud, model 9010, is nearly always solid black but not every time.

I even set the main code loop to set the alpha mapping of every cloud every cycle, which made no difference. Good luck.

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