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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Brigand is on Steam (Also I have questions)

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Brian Lancaster
10
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Joined: 20th Dec 2013
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: 14th Jul 2017 05:15 Edited at: 14th Jul 2017 05:15
I got lucky as hell. I've been working on this DBP project for 8 years and I got on Greenlight just in time:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/652410

Also, I need some help, since the DBP help files are so out-of-date:

1) Is it at all possible to shade a matrix? The commands are there, but they have never worked for me. I think I need to use normals, but not sure.
2) People with dual monitors are complaining about the cursor going off the side of the screen. Including an exclusive mode alternative exe seemed to help one person, but a second person said that even in exclusive mode, the cursor would go off screen.
3) Finally, this last one seems weird and I can probably fix it myself, but it seems that with a Radeon video card, the text in the text window keeps flashing. I don't really have a computer with a Radeon card to test this on, but before I find one, has anyone else experienced problems with Radeon cards?

Thanks for any help or info you can give me.
Chris Tate
DBPro Master
15
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Joined: 29th Aug 2008
Location: London, England
Posted: 15th Jul 2017 13:23 Edited at: 15th Jul 2017 13:24
1) Not possible. You'd have to replace the matrix system with a terrain system or tiled 3D plane objects.

The Matrix1 utilities plugin features a multi tiled 3D plane construction function which can be developed to behave like a hybrid of a matrix object and a terrain. If you really love using matrix objects, then you could consider using post rendering shaders to improve the look of the overal visual experience by compositing the camera view.

2) If the mouse leaves the window then use Position Mouse to return the mouse to its previous position in the window; if the window has focus. If it does not have focus, then leave the mouse position alone.

If there is no need to use the mouse cursor for clicking on items or user interface buttons; position the mouse cursor in the center of the window and hide the mouse cursor.

3) I can't help you there; but I would avoid using native 2D text commands; if you are using them; I would rather use text plugins made to improve on the native, or sprites, windows controls, and textured 3D objects with text, which perform far better and can be more consistent.

I have experienced something similar with print/text commands where some text flashes and gets displaced for some strange reason. I only use such commands for debugging. After using the tool for the past 5 years, I have found that drawing text onto textures for sprites or 3D objects is the best solution for performance and reliability.


Nice looking game by the way
Brian Lancaster
10
Years of Service
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Joined: 20th Dec 2013
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: 19th Jul 2017 05:03
Sweet. Thanks for the answers. The 2nd one will be most helpful for the newest patch I'll release in a couple hours.

As for the 3rd one, I finally lured someone over to my place with a computer that had the problem and I narrowed it down to changing the font color. Never change the font style in DBP. It messes everything up and slows everything way down. I learned that way back, but I didn't think it would cause problems in a window screen when the actual game is paused, but apparently it still does. The text looks a little blander, but at least everyone can play it now.
Chris Tate
DBPro Master
15
Years of Service
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Joined: 29th Aug 2008
Location: London, England
Posted: 20th Jul 2017 22:24
Quote: "Never change the font style in DBP. It messes everything up and slows everything way down"


Really. Font style as in italics/bold? Or the change of font (typeface)?

To be honest, I don't need DBP to draw text to the screen anyway, but this information is very useful.

Brian Lancaster
10
Years of Service
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Joined: 20th Dec 2013
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: 24th Jul 2017 19:02
Ya, I wish there was something in the manual about it. I wasted lots of time when I first started with DarkBASIC trying to make my game run faster than 20 fps, then I just removed all text formatting and it ran at a steady 33 fps.
Chris Tate
DBPro Master
15
Years of Service
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Joined: 29th Aug 2008
Location: London, England
Posted: 25th Jul 2017 15:03 Edited at: 25th Jul 2017 15:04
What happens when you use a third-party text plugin? Such as D3D Function Library by Cloggy: https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/69221
Or Advanced2D by Diggsey: https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/179096

Do their superior text output commands lead to the same result in relation to your problem?
Ortu
DBPro Master
16
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Joined: 21st Nov 2007
Location: Austin, TX
Posted: 25th Jul 2017 17:38
I use cloggy's precisely because the native text commands are so poor on performance.

Only thing with cloggy's is that you have to set up fonts and sizes during initialization, and not just freely adjust them as you go. You can set up a number of these and swap between them, and change color easily so its not a huge restriction, just takes a little more planning of your text needs.
http://games.joshkirklin.com/sulium

A single player RPG featuring a branching, player driven storyline of meaningful choices and multiple endings alongside challenging active combat and intelligent AI.
Brian Lancaster
10
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Joined: 20th Dec 2013
Location: Oakland, CA
Posted: 3rd Sep 2017 09:49
I would try Cloggy's but because the flashing bug doesn't happen on my computer and I can't really test it, I don't wanna try it out. A little less color from the menus is acceptable.
DARKHALO2K
20
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Joined: 4th Sep 2003
Location: UK
Posted: 11th Sep 2017 11:13
Best of luck with this. It's always good to see a DBP project with such ambition.
Mage
17
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Joined: 3rd Feb 2007
Location: Canada
Posted: 11th Sep 2017 23:54 Edited at: 11th Sep 2017 23:55
Bitmap font system if anyone is interested in using that kind of system without needing to reinvent the wheel.
https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/207584
DARKHALO2K
20
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Joined: 4th Sep 2003
Location: UK
Posted: 12th Sep 2017 21:44
Thanks for the link. That looks a little more polished than my current solution!

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