zooming not fluid

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zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 8:59:36 AM

EaglePryde

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I don't know if it is just game mechanic related at present but zoomin in and out doesn't seem really fluid nor constant. It has the feeling of "lagging". Although the game runs fluid in general on the biggest galaxy map the zooming is a bit disturbing.

Post #: 1

RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 9:10:40 AM

Bingeling

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Zooming is not fluid, and when being far out with much info on the screen, ships tend to hyperspace in giant jumps.

Maybe the game drops frame (quite a lot of them), when being busy. Nothing that really bother me.

From my 170 destroyer attack on an enemy fleet I also know that shots are dropped when things are busy (like they are with 200 ships in combat and on screen). That bothers me a bit more.

No, I don't generally run fleets with 170 destroyers, it was a miscalculation of firepower

(in reply to EaglePryde)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 10:26:35 AM

Data

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Joined: 1/3/2011
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slight miscalculation

_____________________________

...Igniting stellar cores....Recharging reactors...Recalibrating hyperdrives....

(in reply to Bingeling)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 10:55:41 AM

Bingeling

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Only about 3-4 times of what I was trying to achieve.

Miscalculation by far less than a order of 10 does not really count...

(in reply to Data)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 11:42:06 AM

EaglePryde

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Joined: 4/3/2011
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Hmm...

4x games like this are primarily CPU heavy but because the game while not zooming is very fluid, we could call this a bug in the code.

I think it is very much important to zoom in and out without stops and slowdowns.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 5

RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 11:56:09 AM

Bingeling

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Maybe bug, or at least less than optimal code. Once you are at full extended zoom, and have a large empire with some monitoring stations, etc, there is quite a lot going on.

There are other oddities too. Like selecting ships/spaceports by clicking them from a far out zoom seems sometime impossible towards the edges of the screen, and easy in the middle. I may have a bit large screen, but not to the extend that it causes an issue with my aim...

It does not bother me much, and seeing almost all the galaxy is cruel, anyways. Zooming seems nice, but the game struggles when too much is at the screen at once. Both with lots of info on the galaxy map, and when big battles happen involving major planets (30 cruisers/capitals attacking lsp, 3 defensive bases, and the odd defensive ship at home (including a stack under construction at the space port). Also when 170+ destroyers attack a 20-30 ship fleet of superior tech, as mentioned previously...

I am more bothered by out of memory error while saving (usually an issue after reloading, exiting to menu and loading, doing that stuff more than once). I think the game may forget to clean up some stuff in those scenarios.

(in reply to EaglePryde)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 12:17:55 PM

EaglePryde

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Joined: 4/3/2011
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I tested it on the biggest galaxy at the very start of the game. It's the same problem. Because you don't see anything and the game runs very fluid it's a coding problem somewhere.

If it would be because of to much calculations, the complete game would stall but as it isn't the case i suppose the code has to be optimized.

It's not gamebreaking.It can get in the way if you have to be quick.

(in reply to Bingeling)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 1:11:42 PM

Bingeling

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Joined: 8/12/2010
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Well, I am not playing multiplayer, and the pause is quick to respond ;-)

It could be that the game is cheating a bit with what is outside zoom, and being more detailed on what is "on screen". If you are seeing the whole galaxy like I am, every little docking move on some space station in a system you did not yet discover.... is calculated in detail. As long as you zoom in on your local sector, everything else is on larger calculations of averages (Was at X, will arrive at Y in 15s).

But basically, I have no clue what goes on, just that the game is a lot of fun. If only I could find a game that sticks better.

1: Modability
2: Modability
3: Modability
...
8: Modability

(in reply to EaglePryde)

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RE: zooming not fluid - 4/5/2011 2:26:29 PM

EaglePryde

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Joined: 4/3/2011
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nay i don't think that's it. The game isn't art heavy thus shouldn't be stressing anything much. The thing that has the most stress on something would be the AI on the CPU the longer the game runs in comparison to the overall universe scale. But due to the fact that it runs fluid and lags around even at game start and only during the zoom process, it should be something wrong in the code but i'd have to have a closer look at the source to be sure. And that's not going to happen :p

Well...if modding get's expanded to be able to really mod the game you'd be able to expect something from me and even more if this game get's multiplayer because that's something that would keep me "longer" tied to this game because of being able to play with my friends :p

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 9