Retro FPS

I really don’t care much for Windows 8, call me old fashioned, I don’t.

“Call Me Old-Fashioned…”

BUT…but… my preliminary testing on Windows 8.1 (code name “Blue”… ooohhh secret) has proved to me that its a major step forward!

giLE2D loads a “tad” slower on my test 8.1 system (which is the lowest end spec laptop I have, see below), but its much more sturdy!

The AGK frameworks for giLE2D run brilliantly, and the editor itself feels slick and natural!

Hopefully I will have some real performance metrics to show you this coming weekend. I am glad we decided to hold back release in order to test on a low spec, 8.1 machine.

System requirements will be updated at the end of the test run.

Braw!

TEST SYSTEM SPECS:
Gateway NV52L15u Laptop
AMD Quad Core A8-4500M @ 1.9 GHz
4 Gb DDR3 RAM
500 Gb HDD (SATA 2)
AMD Radeon HD 7640G Mobile (shared memory with system RAM, yeuch!)

Puny test system is a puny! Runs giLE2D nicely, though!

Well, in accordance with the requests I have received, we will be holding back on the giLE2D release until we fully test with Windows 8.1.

I also think that this is a good idea, just so that we are sure that giLE2D will run on Microsoft’s latest offering.

I had originally planned to just support up to Windows 8.0, then release a version that we know runs on 8.1, but with the imminent release of “Blue” on Friday, we will test giLE2D with the public release of the new OS.

I expect things to go well having looked at the core API changes and so the release of giLE2D should not be delayed more than a week or so.

We are now shooting for a release date of Friday, November 15th… stay tuned!

“Well, my friends, so far its gone very well! “

(Andre Linoge, Storm Of The Century, 1999)

I made a map in giLE2d with some 200 64×64 sprites in it.

I just basically dumped them all over the place and monitored the application. Here is what we got, with giLE2D being triple-clicked on, moved around, stretched, bent and beaten up:

Here is the scrolling test framework running:

To summarize:

CPU: 0 – 4%
MEM WORKING SET: 67,528K
MEM PEAK WORKING SET: 70,476K
MEM WORKING SET DELTA: 0K
MEM PRIVATE: 42,296K
HANDLES (PEAK): 512
THREADS (PEAK): 21
USER OBJECTS: 200
GDI OBJECTS: 187

Note the GDI handles, which I was afraid was going to run into the thousands… no problem at all! (good TWinControl design choice up front!)

Test System Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5 Sandybridge @ 3.3GHz
RAM: 8Gb DDR-3 1633MHz
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 560Ti, 1Gb RAM
HDD: Seagate SATA3 1Tb (not an SSD!)

Other systems will be exploited!

Later, I intend to run automation testing on it and go through two thousand iterations of all functionality in one session. I’ll let you know how we did!

Well, after being away for a week or so (some vacation, some hard slog), its time to start to wrap up the help files for giLE2D. Once I get the final layout done, its just a case of filling in the blanks, kinda like writing a book.

Also slated for this weekend is the first MAJOR stress-test for giLE2D, including high-sprite volume performance, load speeds, GDI metrics, triple and quadruple clicking when threads are running and all that other nasty stuff that could potentially break under very high loads.

Dum Dum Dum Dididi-dum!

Memory consumption and release will also be tested under load. While I always program with this in mind to the nth degree, nothing beats thrashing the shi… (you know what) out of the software to build confidence that the code is consumer-ready and consumer-strong.

Over the weekend I will post a bunch of results as and when they are available.

Should be fun!

Q: Bertrand, with regards to inheritance in OOP, do you think its overuse is endemic in today’s rush-to-market, bugs-are-good software world?
(Reginald Bosanquet, Under A Motorway Bridge, Cleethorps, UK)

Bertrands Clever Response:

Reginald, as a famous (and quite dead) UK newsreader, racconteur and DIY lay-person with a remarkable toupe, you of all persons unnamed must be aware of the fact that inheritance, for all its dogged and wily bifringent texture, is part of todays paradigm for making computer languages and code readable to even the most lay of lay-persons (plumbers, refuse collectors and other assorted ingots of this ilk).

However, its mis-use is indeed and, if I may be so rampantly timid, widespread and bewilderingly zygote.

Have we not remembered that other methods, such as writing the same class over and over again, with only minor changes in each, is a perfectly acceptable alternative?

It produces much more bloated code, just as major computer manufacturers would bloat us with their free and trial software installed in new computers! In a word, bloat. Bloat.

In short, and in long, and in any or any specific case or dimension to which you belong, I say here, and for the record, that inheritance, though fiscally necessary amongst the upper-class, is sheer niche posturing and phallic amongst us developers.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. I first made that line up when I was nine (years of age).

I hope that has not answered your question, Reginald, as I would like another opportunity to demean you by displaying my cleverness, undeniable illogic, aloof sneerfullness and generally superior grasp of interpersonal and logical dynamics to yourself and an admiring world.

LOLZ

Bertie.