Stuff Under the Header

10/06/2015

Slow down issues

Edit 1: Well that happened fast, I've got a patch for the game, don't get used to this though. On the sidebar are a set of new links. If you're downloading the game for the first time, you'll want to grab the full game download. If you're just patching, then you can grab the exe-only link. What's new for version 1.01? Chao has a new option you can set that's under the gameplay portion of the options menu. The first boss in Gate 3 has its jittery animation fixed. I decided to be nice and have the Gate 1 final boss drop a heart on the third time she's hit. I'm not down for changing boss fights at this point, but since she's a super early boss, I find this okay.

For some of you, the game is running incredibly slow. After doing some research based on what you guys are running on your end, here's what is going on, and this isn't going to be very good... for some anyway.

It seems games compiled in GameMaker 8.1 have issues with Windows 8, and specifically Windows 8.1, and even more specifically, if you're running Windows 8 - 64 bit. If you happen to be using that OS, there's a chance that the game will run slow for you. (It's not a for sure thing, some people running Windows 8 with 64 bit are unaffected.)

I did some more digging to see if there was a way to fix it. There are a few things that are possible that MIGHT work for you. One user posted here that he turned off V-Sync in DT3's option menu.
-Pause the game to open the pause menu.
-Go to Options.
-Graphics.
-Set V-Sync off.

This worked for someone, but only made things slightly better for another user.

Right-click the exe and set it to compatibility mode with Windows 7, or even Windows 8 if you're running 8.1. So far only one person (so far) has reported that the game does indeed have a slow down issue with Windows 10, but he said none of the compatibility options were working.

I'll be looking around for more possible ways to address this issue, as well as keeping up with what people are reporting. Note, if you have slow down and are commenting here or emailing me, let me know what version of windows you're using and your cpu.

Other weird slowdown issues that people have had with GM8.1 games in general. Unplugging or plugging in a usb controller may cause the game to lag intensely until you either restart the game (or in some cases, your pc.)

I have read that unfortunately some people (in similar issues with other games made with GM8.1) that there's nothing that could be done. There is one fix that is pretty much a fix it all solution. That would be porting the game over to GM Studio. About a year ago, I imported it into that and it was a huge mess. I won't be doing that, at least not right now. If I do decide to go that route and don't cross your fingers for this, it isn't a quick fix. That's quite a bit of work to port, as DT3 does use some of the depreciated functions. I'd also have to recode the sound system, or rather find a new way of doing sound since the thing I was using is not compatible with GM Studio and no one has remade that for it.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

firssssssssssssssssst

Hadriex said...

Ouch, porting to GM Studio would be quiet an undertaking.

Gpremier said...

Ow...i hate to cause you additional works with my problems...i appreciate the effort, but porting that game to GM studio will probably hellish with all the assets involved.

Thanks alot for having looked into this, but it's a regular problem, it will eventually be solved : either by a faster or a slower computer!

Anonymous said...

Grepremier: is upgrading to windows 10 an option for you? i think microsoft is offering that upgrade for free, and if you're already using windows 8 you might as well upgrade in my opinion.

plus windows 10 has the latest in security.

gpremier said...

Good news, i've been able to fix the problem!

Two things :

- I updated my Nvidia driver card, the old one were from one year ago. It got faster.
- Strange one : a plugged in xbox360 controller(a new one) not only didn't worked, but also slowed down the game! Once it was replaced by a PS2 controller(via a PS2 to usb converter), the speed came back to normal or almost normal.

That was quite a releif, as i was waiting for your game for a long time!

ZephyrBurst said...

Yep, unplugging or plugging in a usb controller seems to break some GM8.1 games until the pc is restarted. I researched the issue about a year back when I noticed it happening and saw that DT3 wasn't the only game affected. I saw no fix other than restarting the pc.

gpremier said...

That's really weird indeed. In my case, no pc restarting were done, but changing the type of controller for an older one fixed the problem.

In all cases, it's really cool to finally plunge back into your game! I finished the demo back then, so it will probably takes a while to get back where i was!

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to leave a comment here noting that the slowdown is not restricted to Windows 8. I'm running Windows 7 and the game is still running uber-slowly. I think it may be an issue with 64-bit systems in general (mine is 64-bit).

Haven't run out of fixes to try on my end just yet, but I just thought I should mention this to help with troubleshooting.

Looking forward to another excellent game, Zephyr.

ZephyrBurst said...

Ah okay, good to know. I hadn't had a windows 7 slow down report until yours.
I'm currently running Windows 7 - 64 bit.

I'm guessing it's related to graphics cards. I've heard of a way to get GM games to run completely off the cpu, so if I figure that out, I'll relay that here as I've heard that's another way to avoid this slow down issue.

Kurtis Haren said...

Figured I'd post my setup, to see if it helps narrow down the issue.

I've got Windows 10, 64-bit. ATI graphics card, not top-of-the-line, but good enough for games like Arkham Origins on high or running upscaled Gamecube and PS2 games on emulator. (Sorry, I can never remember the model name of my card.) Haven't tried my 360 controller yet, I was using a program to let me use my 3DS instead.

Anything helpful there?


On a separate note, been loving the game so far! Got to Cackletta, but died several times. Called it quits for the night, and forgot to save, sending me all the way back to right after the Bowser fight.

Is it intentional that you keep EXP between deaths? I had a losing streak on the Hammer Bros kill room, and ended up with a lot of skill points. Enough to max out my Gate 1 skills. Seemed almost a bit too generous, and I was worried I was exploiting something.

Kurtis Haren said...

Sorry, forgot to mention about my setup. I haven't experienced any slowdown in the game so far. I was hoping to narrow down what wasn't causing the issue.

Couldn't find an edit button for my comment.

Gpremier said...

Just finished the first world for the second game, it really makes me remember why i was waiting for your game to come out for so long! The challenge, without being a bunch of one-hit kill, is really welcome! I really was surprised by the 1st nightmare gate boss since it wasn't there in the demo, it was really cool!

Glad to see that some of my gameover insult made it in! It was weird to get insulted by my past self!

Oh and major lol for the 2hour playtime warning that played at the bottom of the screen! It happened right in the middle of the Cackletta boss fight, it was hard for me to focus on both at the same time!

Plenty of great things all around so far!

Alice said...

@Kurtis Haren I believe that the XP deal has actually been a mechanic since the first game. Don't quote me on that though because it's not something I paid much attention to.

ZephyrBurst said...

Yes, exp staying over deaths is intended. If you die a lot, the game has a bit of mercy by allowing you to be closer to skill tree unlocks.

Herbethe said...

Hello Zephyr, I'm stuck in the [BubTowerA4], I can't come up with Jerry without leaving Claire stuck because of the red wall in the way. (Sorry for the bad english, I'm using Google).:P

Unknown said...

The extra heart from Cackletta was a definite good choice, that basically eliminates any of the "early game too hard" complaints that I could think of, and encourages you to not just reset the whole fight if you get hit once.

On a side note and mostly unrelated, just wanted to say to you, Zephyr, that you've always seemed super nice and friendly and un-hateful in just about every way so I wanted to say thanks for making such cool games :3

Unknown said...

Bleeeeh i already rekt her and the fist nightmare gate so no need for me with this patch :P

Also I just want to say this game is AWESOMEEEEEEEEEE and u deserve an award for it :3

Oslash said...

if you port the game to GM studio would you consider releasing an android/ios version?
it would require gamepad support tho

btw: http://i.imgur.com/HNM4adM.jpg fail

ZephyrBurst said...

Ha, nice find.

To Herbethe. Think about what happens to the idle character.

Anonymous said...

Hi, everyone. I just beat 1 stage just after demo and it looks amazing. Much better than demo content. I love 2 hours gameplay warning which reminds me Earthbound. I choosed left stage and it was annoying one. But not annoying enough to change into assist mode. Thanks for putting info about no healing before boss. It's a bummer that there is no healing but I predicted that and bought 2 full health. Really great job. Onto the second stage. Also thanks for Death tip.

Herbethe said...

http://imgur.com/QXFMZ3Q I can get with Claire, but Jerry will be stuck :( And I can only hit this with the Holy Water http://imgur.com/SHEKzPa

Anonymous said...

Hello, I beat half of Gate 4 so far. Boy, they were hard. But there is a few questions bugging me:

1. How stun works? Cause I don't see any difference after putting 2 points into skills with it.
2. Is easy mode can be unlocked by certain number of deaths like it was someday written in the blog. There are moments where assist mode isn't easy enough.
3. Why direct and normal damage have the same red colour? It can be troblesome.
4.What are Awesome Points for? At first I thought they are related to the AP points but now I think it's not the case.

ZephyrBurst said...

Stun is the amount of frames that the enemy is stunned. It isn't really explained ingame very well. I think I'll add an NPC in Central City that explains how stun works. I'd rather not (at this point) have Jeremy stop the player yet again to explain another mechanic. He already stops the player a ton during the first 2 gates.

Assist mode is easy mode. I changed my ideas on easy mode sometime earlier this year. The idea being that I don't really want people using it except in those moments where they feel they've run out of options and just want to get past the obstacle they're on. Which is why it keeps you from gaining exp and picking up items, and also why it turns itself off on any map exit.

I wanted to have only, normal, elemental, and explosive type damage have differing colors. (These are the only 3 the player is subjected to) Direct damage is simply contact damage, and some enemies, like Podobos deal elemental (direct) damage. It would be weird to have more layers on that. That said, I COULD have direct damage use a different font.

Awesome points, like one of the npcs mention, are entirely pointless. They're just a silly number that counts up with nearly everything you. The rolling number effect being there to add to its silly arcade vibe.

ZephyrBurst said...

@Herbethe
Ah, you're stuck there. I'll give you a clue, a few maps back, an enemy hit one of those switches with its projectiles. (Maybe in that same map, I'll have a sign point that out.)
Also, holy crap, you're already on Ch.9!

Herbethe said...

Oh man, thanks for the help.

Anonymous said...

I agree it would be nice to have some indication of when you're receiving direct damage. It isn't always 100% clear what deals direct damage or not (especially with small summoned enemies that move very fast) and it would be useful to know when direct damage defense would help.

Is direct damage another type of damage on top of all the other types, i.e., all enemies deal a type of direct damage (normal, elemental, explosive)? I'm not 100% about that.