The difference is the ai/physics/game rules will be updated at 60hz, whilst the rest(sound video) could be updated at a different rate.
The benefits for the fixed rate are a few. It is almost very similar to having your elapsed time calculations between frames being fixed.
The biggest advantage of it is in terms of game play. You can be garaunteed that most players will see a very similar game world each time they play. For example imagine there is a slide which the character has to run down. Then there is a big hole in the ground which the character has to jump over onto a platform past this hole. With a fixed tic rate you can place the platform at such a place that the jump must be timed just right. That is the player will not make the jump unless they jump right from the end. But with a variable tic rate you can not be sure that the player will be able to be at that exact position. Time may move too fast and they may miss the perfect jump location.
Another important reason to have a fixed tic rate is so that motion looks smooth. There is no point in having all animations being updated 300 times a second in one room, then pause for a quater of a second. It would look jerky.
It can simplify calculations. Allthough this doesn't really matter too much for someone writing a fairly complex physics simulation like they are. But making sure every thing is done within 1/60th of a second is simplified if you know that rate is fixed. If there is time left over you can do some preprocessing for the next frame if you want.
Having a slower than maximum tic rate can also allow you more time to render a purty scene, calculate nice interactions with the world etc.
Those people probably have lots of cash, are interested in the game, and are going to buy it.
The differences in sales are so small, and the test probably not rigourous enough for any conclusions.
Demo versions of games are a good idea. So that we can try out games before buying them.
I think demo versions are good for developers too. So they avoid refunds, and agry people. Unless they really believe they have a rock solid game that will work well on everyones weirdo computer setups. Oh and if they know that 99% of the people who buy the game will like it.
The way I do mouse movement in my current game(http://www.holepit.com/) is to make everything mouse controlled. It takes quite a bit of work to design your game in this way though. Depending on the game you may not be able to do it.
I have the characters follow where the mouse pointer is. So the movement of the character is kind of passive. You do not have to constantly tell it to go forwards. It always goes forwards depending on where the mouse is. Any of the buttons on the mouse will activate the characters special move. It sounds like a very simple control mechanism, and it is:) But most people are able to control it quite well. Of course I also support keyboard control for the second player.
Also on most of todays mice you have a wheel as well. Many also have an extra two buttons. These can all be put to good use. However they should not be required as many people still use old or simple mice with one or two buttons.
Another gaming mechanism not using your hands is the good old dance mat. Put it on the ground and use your feet! A good game for this is pydance! You could probably hook it up to give keyboard events, allthough I haven't done it.
For example with quake 3 style games, a mat and a mouse could control the game quite well. Using the mouse as is, and the mat to side step and select weapons.
If like in my game holepit people made an effort to support control by single hand input devices it can be done.
The atari style joysticks can be controlled with one hand. They were quite amazing in their simplicity, yet a lot of the games on the atari managed to have great gameplay with such a simple controller.
Having to use two hands for input has probabbly raised the dexterity of gamers. But for casual gamers their fine motor skills, and two hand coordination is not so good. Was talking to a fitness instructor who did some reasearch comparing game players to non game players. He found that the non game players generally had better full body control, but the gamers had much better fine motor skills. So having the ability to use one hand allows people who don't play with computers all day to play with a higher level of skill.
Have fun!
ps. if you want to try out an early version of my game to see how the mouse control works email me at me AT holepit.com
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They obviously should have had plans for this.
;)
Not neccessarily a bush fire, but incase this one office goes down.
How can a company this large not have redundancy for something making so much money?
Management should be fired. Or chucked in the fire
Have fun!
holepit
Pretty sure he said game tic, not frame rate?
The difference is the ai/physics/game rules will be updated at 60hz, whilst the rest(sound video) could be updated at a different rate.
The benefits for the fixed rate are a few. It is almost very similar to having your elapsed time calculations between frames being fixed.
The biggest advantage of it is in terms of game play. You can be garaunteed that most players will see a very similar game world each time they play. For example imagine there is a slide which the character has to run down. Then there is a big hole in the ground which the character has to jump over onto a platform past this hole. With a fixed tic rate you can place the platform at such a place that the jump must be timed just right. That is the player will not make the jump unless they jump right from the end. But with a variable tic rate you can not be sure that the player will be able to be at that exact position. Time may move too fast and they may miss the perfect jump location.
Another important reason to have a fixed tic rate is so that motion looks smooth. There is no point in having all animations being updated 300 times a second in one room, then pause for a quater of a second. It would look jerky.
It can simplify calculations. Allthough this doesn't really matter too much for someone writing a fairly complex physics simulation like they are. But making sure every thing is done within 1/60th of a second is simplified if you know that rate is fixed. If there is time left over you can do some preprocessing for the next frame if you want.
Having a slower than maximum tic rate can also allow you more time to render a purty scene, calculate nice interactions with the world etc.
Have fun!
http://www.holepit.com/
Those people probably have lots of cash, are interested in the game, and are going to buy it.
The differences in sales are so small, and the test probably not rigourous enough for any conclusions.
Demo versions of games are a good idea. So that we can try out games before buying them.
I think demo versions are good for developers too. So they avoid refunds, and agry people. Unless they really believe they have a rock solid game that will work well on everyones weirdo computer setups. Oh and if they know that 99% of the people who buy the game will like it.
Have fun!
http://www.holepit.com/
Hello,
:) But most people are able to control it quite well. Of course I also support keyboard control for the second player.
The way I do mouse movement in my current game(http://www.holepit.com/) is to make everything mouse controlled. It takes quite a bit of work to design your game in this way though. Depending on the game you may not be able to do it.
I have the characters follow where the mouse pointer is. So the movement of the character is kind of passive. You do not have to constantly tell it to go forwards. It always goes forwards depending on where the mouse is. Any of the buttons on the mouse will activate the characters special move. It sounds like a very simple control mechanism, and it is
Also on most of todays mice you have a wheel as well. Many also have an extra two buttons. These can all be put to good use. However they should not be required as many people still use old or simple mice with one or two buttons.
Another gaming mechanism not using your hands is the good old dance mat. Put it on the ground and use your feet! A good game for this is pydance! You could probably hook it up to give keyboard events, allthough I haven't done it.
For example with quake 3 style games, a mat and a mouse could control the game quite well. Using the mouse as is, and the mat to side step and select weapons.
If like in my game holepit people made an effort to support control by single hand input devices it can be done.
The atari style joysticks can be controlled with one hand. They were quite amazing in their simplicity, yet a lot of the games on the atari managed to have great gameplay with such a simple controller.
Having to use two hands for input has probabbly raised the dexterity of gamers. But for casual gamers their fine motor skills, and two hand coordination is not so good. Was talking to a fitness instructor who did some reasearch comparing game players to non game players. He found that the non game players generally had better full body control, but the gamers had much better fine motor skills. So having the ability to use one hand allows people who don't play with computers all day to play with a higher level of skill.
Have fun!
ps. if you want to try out an early version of my game to see how the mouse control works email me at me AT holepit.com