Android Question Gameview / libGDX Help

wonder said:

Hi guys!!

I'll try to keep this as short and organized as possible.

My name's Bruno and I'm new to the forum, but I've been working with B4A for a while now.
This place has been a great resource for me, so first of all, many thanks to all of you for the tutorials and answers. You really helped me a lot. Also many thanks to Erel for creating such an amazing tool.



About The Project:

I'm currently creating a fighting game / beat'em'up engine called "Bulldozer Engine".
My goal is to build games like Streets Of Rage, Final Fight or Street Fighter with great responsiveness and speed. I'm using Street Fighter 3 sprites and a hi-res 16-bit-era style background in order to stress test the app.



This is the main module:

B4X:

Sub Main_Engine_Cycle_Tick

    cycle_number = cycle_number + 1

    '================================================================

    If First_Cycle = True OR counter >= Ceil(cycle_fps/sprite_fps) AND cycle_fps <> 0 AND real_fps <> 0 Then
             
                    counter = 0             
             
                    start_calc_fps = DateTime.Now
             
                    Do Until active_actor = number_of_actors
             
                            Animation                 
                                                 
                            active_actor = active_actor + 1
                                                 
                    Loop
             
                    If active_actor >= (number_of_actors - 1) Then
                        active_actor = 0
                    End If             
             
    End If

    '================================================================ 

    Scroll_Update

    Do Until active_actor = number_of_actors
         
                BG_Scroll_Test
         
                Actor_Orientation
         
                Body_Part_Location
         
                AI_Set_Destination
                         
                Player_Move
         
                AI_Move
         
                Check_Boxes
         
                Player_Colision_Detector
         
                AI_Colision_Detector
                                       
                AI_Interaction
         
                AtkStr_Control
         
                Display_LifeBars     

                active_actor = active_actor + 1
         
    Loop

    If active_actor > (number_of_actors - 1) Then active_actor = 0

    '================================================================

    If active_actor = 0 Then Bubble_Sort

    counter = counter + 1

    actors.Invalidate

    '================================================================

    If (cycle_number Mod 2 ) = 0 Then
        If cycle_number = 2 Then cycle_number = 0
        cycle_start = DateTime.Now
    Else
        cycle_end = DateTime.Now
    End If

    end_calc_fps = DateTime.Now

    '================================================================

    'Calculate Animation FPS 
        timestamp = end_calc_fps - start_calc_fps

    'Calculate Engine FPS
        cycle_time = (cycle_end - cycle_start)
        cycle_fps = Abs(Round2((1/cycle_time*1000), 2))

    'Calculate Discrepancies 
        fps_dif = (real_fps - target_fps)
        cycle_dif = (cycle_fps - game_speed)

    Auto_Adjust_FPS
 
    First_Cycle = False

End Sub

As you can see, I have the Animation Cycle separated from all the other modules, because I want the Animation to run at 24 FPS and the game engine to run at 60 Hz. These numbers are defined in Process_Globals:

B4X:

Sub Process_Globals
     
        'Engine Settings
 
            'ENGINE MODE OPTIONS
      
                Dim game_speed = 60 As Int              ' - Default: 60Hz
                Dim cycle_fps = game_speed As Float
                Dim target_fps = 24 As Int              ' - Desired FPS for optimal animation
                Dim sprite_fps = target_fps As Float    ' - Starting animation FPS

            (...)

At the end of the Main Cycle, I have a module called Auto-Adjust FPS which compensates the animation speed, in case the frame rate drops momentarily. This option can be set on or off with ease.



Now, my little big problem:

So far I'm even surprised with how much I've accomplished in only 4 weeks but yesterday I've encountered a big problem.

My (quite unfinished) game engine runs great on my ASUS tablet (ME173X) but runs very slow on all other devices that I've tested. I've uploaded reference videos for every device where I tested this app.

Even with all the modules disabled, leaving only the Animation, the engine still runs slow.

I guess the problem is that I'm using the lib GameView and for what I've been reading in other posts, I should be using libGDX because it operates directly with OpenGL.

If this is the case, I really need your guys help in order to "port" my app from GameView to libGDX.




DEBUG Videos:

ASUS ME173X: Perfect Animation and Speed

Sony Xperia P: Slow

HTC One M7: Slow

Samsung Galaxy S3: Slow

PC Emulator Andy: Unplayable


Here's a link to the app, so that you can test it yourselves.
http://www23.zippyshare.com/v/5998905/file.html

Thanks in advance for the help!

PS: Note that the HTC One is far superior to my ASUS tablet and still it runs slow.

Click to expand...

wonder said:

Hello Walter and thanks for your quick reply!!

I'm really glad you like the engine so far!
I'd be happy if you give it a try and tell me how fast does it run in your device, the link is at the end of the first post.

Indeed I should have started this game with libGDX, it feels terrible to encounter such a roadblock at this stage in the development.
I'm kinda lost now, I'm not sure what to do. I need to know if there's a way I can fix the current code and why is this (slowness problem) happening.

I'd like to have the first playable prototype ready before Xmas, so if indeed it has to be ported to libGDX I will certainly appreciate your help!

Click to expand...

wonder said:

Wow!! I'm glad to see it runs really fast!! Thanks for testing!!
Gameplay wise, how does it feel? The AI is a little bit dumbed down for test purposes.
My goal is to bring back the joy of the 16-bit SNES/SEGA era.


I want this engine to run on the highest number of devices possible.
What could be causing the speed differences?
Experts, share your thoughts.

Click to expand...

• Does libGDX also store the 2d sprites/bitmaps on a list?

• Does libGDX also has a Source Rectangle for 2D sprites/bitmaps?

• Does libGDX also has a Destination Rectangle for 2D sprites/bitmaps?

• http://www59.zippyshare.com/v/38962840/file.html