Tuesday Resume

Back Logger

As always after a short break, one returns to the land of emails and most urgent tasks. Fortunately not too much to deal with Tuesday, with the only timely task being a small bug fix to the number #1 Paid App On Google Play that is :) (well. in the UK Educational section at least) ;)

It was only a small bug which prevented Driving Test learners from knowing which picture question was correct and incorrect, now fixed and ready for Paul to sort out the logistics of preparing a new build and submitting to the stores.

AGK 108 Footnote

A quick note for AGK users is that we have corrected a fundamental issue with one of the early commands 'OpenToWrite' but it also means there is no longer forward compatibility between a 107 byte code file and the latest 108 player so any old apps would need to be recompiled. It's not super critical but if you find your apps showing decimals instead of integers when you use STR() command, you will know why!

Back To The Reload

Last time I wrote, I was on a pretty good path of getting the new system up to speed so it could write to the DirectX buffers, and managed to get a comfortable 120fps by adding just one segment per cycle.  As the editing speed will not need to be more than 60fps this gives me lots to play with.

As much as editing in the prototype is fun, I am keen to get this new system back in the main engine so I can give it a run around the track. Firstly though I need to add a system I have decided to call the 'Paradroid System' which is a technique of introducing new visual elements only when the camera brings them within scope, and removes them when they are entirely outside the same scope. This will allow the buffers to fill and empty as you move about (and critically, keep the memory footprint low).

Once I have that, I will add textures and shaders back in and then see where we are, which is hopefully a very large segment landscape!

Signing Off

The sun still shines outside, but there is work to be done and I've had enough BBQs to last quite some time.  I will leave the plants to enjoy the sun while I stay inside and enjoy the code!