Update on Performance?

Lime
#61

I find that video to be truly terrible misdirection - after all they compare their new best case scenario with the absolute worst case from the past. They acknowledge this, but who was genuinely doing this?

Put it like this, *currently* I can get roughly 30 fps animated 32x32 tiles on my 2nd gen ipod touch using my own code, of levels of any size (as in, I have the entire overland Zelda SNES map working fine), although speed ups are welcome, 'cos I am close enough to 30 fps that any game code slows it down!.

Where I think we’ll see the most significant speed boost are Lime levels that use physics, where objects off-screen must still be processed, but their visual side are culled by Corona.

Generally faster sprites? Sign me up!
Expecting genuinely amazing results? Not really… corona never really struck me as massively slow, but it boils down to the same problem that Graham has with Lime - people use it and corona in the laziest, quickest fashion possible, and naturally that always comes with performance hits.

Am looking forward to it, but I don’t expect it to revolutionise anything, since all you had to do to speed up tile engines was do your own culling anyway. [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90342[/import]

#62

Well, there are several important enhancements that are not described in the video. I don’t know what they are, but I’d give Ansca the benefit of the doubt and say it is more than just culling. Personally I’m really looking forward to what they’re releasing.

However, I agree 30fps is not amazing… I just hope they release the new “image sheets” soon. This will be the functionality required to easily get 60fps. [import]uid: 107380 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90344[/import]

#63

Oh boy…

Surely, (don’t call me Shirley) There is more inside the hood than just “culling”… but there is so much we can do in one lousy video tweet.

…

Maybe this links shows better performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

c



[import]uid: 24 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90346[/import]

#64

Tough crowd… [import]uid: 11904 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90347[/import]

#65

Carlos, if you show an uninspiring video don’t be too surprised to get the odd unenthusiastic reply :slight_smile:

I look forward to doing speed comparisions as soon as possible, and obviously I expect your ways to beat mine cos they won’t be written in Lua.

I love that corona is easy to pick up and use, but naturally there are benefits to be gained from (our) more optimised code, as opposed to going ‘here is a level, pretty please render it quickly!’. This is why I actually have a lot of sympathy for you guys and Graham - I don’t actually feel that corona is particularly slow in the first place, but often people have unrealistic expectations!

There, feel better? :stuck_out_tongue: [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90357[/import]

#66

Booo @rakoonic!!!

Corona improving everyday! More features and better performance. Hell yeah!!!

Sure I don’t need Lime I can write my own fast code and get around some performance issues too but Ansca rewrote the sprite library for your convenience and added some of the features some have been crying about too. I’m sure they squeezed as much performance out of it as possible and still made it easy to use.

So I only see this and all the great stuff Ansca is doing for the daily builds and the next big release a huge plus :slight_smile: [import]uid: 38820 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90361[/import]

#67

@glennbjr - that all sounds cool, but it wasn’t in the video :smiley:
I’m actually itching to try out my code with those cool animated sprites they show in it, any chance they could make it available??? [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90386[/import]

#68

@rakoonic

I think the comments you present don’t have any basis as that was merely a video to show what was coming. It’s not like they broke down every component of what is going on behind the scenes.

Until we actually see it and test it, flaming doesn’t do anyone any good.
Mr C - you are funny with your rick roll. I shall use caution the next time you put up a video :slight_smile:
ng
Let the show continue :slight_smile: [import]uid: 61600 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90406[/import]

#69

@nicholasclayg Well said. I agree.

I like it that we get to see what is going on behind the scenes. Ansca doesn’t have to post video glimpses of what’s to come.

@rakoonic You said, “I find that video to be truly terrible misdirection”. I couldn’t disagree more and your premature flaming is only going to burn yourself. Do I smell something burning :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, enough of my rant. This thread is wasting my time. I have more positive things to do like code my game :slight_smile:

Happy coding everyone :slight_smile: [import]uid: 38820 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90442[/import]

#70

Exactly how am I going to get burned from stating what I can achieve in Corona? Unless you don’t believe me, but that really bothers me not one jot :slight_smile:

Let’s not forget I was commenting purely on what is in the video and I re-iterate - it wasn’t impressive compared to what you can already do with reasonable coding knowledge.

The fact that people are defending Ansca for things NOT IN THE VIDEO (!), including Carlos, is utterly irrelevant to my original post, so if you are going to try to ‘correct’ me (or try to set me up for some future ‘I told you so!’), then at least stick to the facts please.

Am I aware there is more going on than the video shows? Of course, but I see no point in speculating on this. My only guesses where on what was in it. I am sure Ansca will continue to do great things and I look forward to new things, and I can’t wait to get it all into our upcoming games.

I used to work in Director, so I appreciate the openness of Ansca, and their ability to rapidly update the software and introduce bug fixes (luxury!). However, a fan boy I am not, so don’t get all angsty when I simply point out something ‘awesome’ is in fact fairly mundane. I do look forward to new and faster graphics, but getting a tilemap running slighty quicker than I have it now really isn’t high on my list of must-have features.
In eneral the only thing I’d really like are dynamically generated images and better performance on android. Really I find Corona to be mostly up to the challenges I set it.

Really I’m failing to see why I gained such negative comments or the accusations of flaming. I more than explained myself, and repeatedly made positive comments about Corona. I expected better from ehat has been generally a very helpful forum. [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90566[/import]

#71

I hate to derail further, but now you’re personally insulting people (see: last line of previous)… rakoonic, I think the problem is that your original comment came off as negative, and superior/jaded sounding.

It read like “whatever, good programmers like me can already do this and I get great performance so who cares.”

Positive reinforcement is a good thing - we like it when Ansca shares with us what they’re working on. People are excited not just about the content of the video but of the additional plans too that the team have acknowledged. Each individual step might not be life-changing, but at the end of the day it’s only making Corona more powerful, and even easier to use. How can any of us complain about that, even if the contents of the videos don’t magically solve all of Corona’s issues.

My opinion: you’re trying too hard not to be a “Corona fan boy” (as you put it). These are the official Corona forums, we are here because we love Corona and love the awesome games it enables us to make and the even awesomer games it will enable us to make in the future. Yet from my experience people around here aren’t usually shy about calling out Ansca on issues of actual importance when they come up from time to time. I can’t see how this would possibly qualify as one of them.

I give my honest opinion only because you asked for it; if I don’t have something good/constructive to say I usually try not to post it - a rule that might have applied well to your first post (not exactly sure what your point was), frankly.
Anyways, not really interested in arguing it, just giving a bit of requested feedback on how I thought you sounded in my eyes. [import]uid: 87138 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90911[/import]

#72

@Revaerie - if everyone had worded their posts like yours I’d have no problem with opinions - we are all entitled to them and I enjoy reading them. I haven’t descended to direct insults (I don’t follow where you get the last line of my previous post was an insult, it is an unhappy stating of the obvious).

I’m not a fan-boy, true, but I *am* a ‘fan’. I wouldn’t be using the software otherwise (and yet again I wonder why in my posts people deliberately ignore the positive things I’ve said)! I see your point about people being prepared to complain about genuine issues, but implying I have no right to put my point of view across because you feel it isn’t one of them is absurd. I find lots of the complaining about the speed issues to be equally absurd, and my posts make it clear why - much of what people are begging for is already possible :slight_smile:

Does it make me elitist because I can write better, more efficient code? I don’t see why. I’m not the best coder in the world, far from it, but I can do a few things, none of which is brain surgery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNPmhBl-8I) :slight_smile:

As for the point of my post, it was fairly clear - people all agog at something amazing which isn’t really. I’m not going to argue ‘free speech’ or anything like that because I’m well aware that the ability or right to say something doesn’t automatically mean you should. It really was a case of me feeling the need to bring people back to earth. Go back and read the first 3 posts before mine for extreme gushingness. I don’t say people can’t say it, but if I am in the mood, I may well refute it. Which I did :slight_smile: [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90958[/import]

#73

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22YWYAtcyEA [import]uid: 38820 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 90980[/import]

#74

I just want to say I’m very impressed with the latest daily builds with the increase in sprite and physics performance. I’m having very fast steady stable performance without any hiccups on my Android phone which by the way is a Galaxy S. [import]uid: 38820 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 91244[/import]

#75

I built my own level builder with all the tiling features I need, everything working fine other here so I cant see what the problem is with Lime, my best guess is it try’s to be a one stop shop for many environments thus its not optimised for Corona.

Making a level builder is much better in my eyes, make it specific for your game, then when commuting or whatever you can build maps and save them to the device in tables to be later retrieved. Creating a level builder also makes you build a better game engine, improved my OOP a lot. When yours games done just swap the assets, bang you have another game.

add item, remove item, rotate item, repeat in x/y direction nth times, snap to grid, scroll, save. All simple features.

Maybe i’ll share one day once i’ve released a game or too. :wink: [import]uid: 118379 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 91435[/import]

#76

Just wondering if there’s an update already in the works to leverage ImageSheet and ImageRect, and ImageGroup for Lime. It seems this new API revamp was the answer we’ve all been waiting for in terms of creating tile-based games with this library.

Going to start messing around with a custom tile engine myself, just to get used to the API. [import]uid: 49447 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 92451[/import]

#77

Not only is an update in the works, Image Sheets are already integrated. They were put in on tuesday after reading Jonathans tutorial :slight_smile:

Image Groups will be trickier because of the limitations they have but Jonathan has told me that the biggest boosts I will get are from Image Sheets and off-screen culling.

If you wish to test the new version then please get in contact with me via support@justaddli.me

I can’t really release the new version publicly until all the new features escape daily builds and enter the mainstream otherwise the new Lime update just wouldn’t work for the majority of users.

[import]uid: 119420 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 92558[/import]

#78

Any news or an ETA on that new version? [import]uid: 119678 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 98877[/import]

#79

There is a Beta of the new version in the Lime members area. Only people with access to the latest daily builds will be able to use it though as it uses the new ImageSheet APIs Ansca added. For this reason the new version will only be made public when all these new APIs make their way out of the Daily builds and into the mainstream. [import]uid: 119420 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 98935[/import]

#80

Speaking of image groups, exactly how much better are they than normal groups?

I converted my code to the new functions, but due to the simulator crashing I can’t test out image groups, only the new image sheet things, which only gave around a 15-20% speed boost. From what I gather, image groups are where it’s at, so does anyone have any rough numbers for what difference they make? [import]uid: 46639 topic_id: 12910 reply_id: 99430[/import]