Fenix DC Test Results

[pauljake]

Well, I just made a test rom to answer some questions of Fenix DC, and to know a little more about it's limitations. Here are the results I got from the test: (the test had fps set at 60 with 0 frameskip allowed). Resolution by default was m640x480.

*Video related:
-A simple game (with 2 processes) in m640x480 with scrolling gets 22 FPS (I think that this is because of the software render that SDL DC uses, anyways this doesn't go faster on a Pentium 3 PC of 500+ mhz).
-A simple game without scrolling in m640x480 gets around 62 FPS.
-A simple game in m320x240 with scrolling gets 63 FPS.

*Sound related(songs only):
-MOD and WAV songs files ran slow, and WAV files played very choppy. I need help, in this way I can't put music in my game...
-OGG and MID are unsupported.
-You can load around 3000kb (near 2.92mb) of song files
-If you try to load more audio data than the limit, it wouldn't reproduce audio anymore.

*Movie related:
-FLC files freezes the DC.
-I can't get to load the Mpeg (and any other) dll in Fenix 0.84, so I couldn't test this format... sorry.

*Joystick related:
-Finally I found that the analog part of the joystick of the DC can be called better than the mouse if you use: get_joy_position(0) for X axis and get_joy_position(1) for Y axis. The maximum amplitude that DC joystick have is 128. This value of get_joy_position(0) is negative if you put the analog at the left and positive at right. And the value of get_joy_position(1) is positive when the analog control is being pressed downwards and negative if is being pressed upwards.
-Scancode and key(_...) only works for joystick 1.
-With select_joy(0) you will use only the first controller and with select_joy(2) you will use only the second controller (so 2º controller is supported). BUT, be careful don't use scancode or key(_...) to call joysticks when you use select_joy(2) because joystick 1 and joystick 2 calls the same scancode, so you have to use ONLY joystick functions when trying to make a 2 player game.
-get_joy_button(2) = A button in the DC and get_joy_button(3) = START button in the DC controller. There we have the clue that the entire DC controller is supported via joystick functions, but I can't answer this now because i've only put buttons 0 to 3 to test (somebody or I have to test what happens with get_joy_button(4), and etc...)

*System related:
-Date and time that you get from time() and ftime() functions returns the current date and time of your DC.

Well, that's everything for now, hope this will help people in making DC games with Fenix. I really need help in how to load correctly song files and it would be good if somebody tries to load the mpeg dll in fenix v0.84 to have video playback in fenix DC.

[wraggster]

wow thanks for the info, if only Chui was around to see this information :)

[pauljake]

;) Thanks to you and to the people who read this post. Talking about Chui... somebody knows about his status??

[wraggster]

Hes been very quiet for a while

probably very busy

[pauljake]

Well, I made another test to answer the questions that I had from the first.

* Now I found that the joystick of the DC is supported via joystick functions, but L and R buttons and the D-Pad are unsupported :(. Remember that joystick functions will be very useful if you try to make a 2 player game. Here is the complete map:

- get_joy_position(0)= returns the state of the X axis of the analog pad (from -128 to 128 ).
- get_joy_position(1)= returns the state of the Y axis of the analog pad (from -128 to 128 ).
- get_joy_button(1)= returns the state of the B button (0 if unpressed and 1 if it's pressed).
- get_joy_button(2)= returns the state of the A button (0 if unpressed and 1 if it's pressed).
- get_joy_button(3)= returns the state of the START button (0 if unpressed and 1 if it's pressed).
- get_joy_button(5)= returns the state of the Y button.
- get_joy_button(6)= returns the state of the X button.

* Oh, and about those problems I had with WAV's, now I know that you can't use song functions to play WAV's because they will play slow and choppy. The best song format is the S3M, it plays perfect without any slowdown. The problem is, like Atari said before, there is an awful limit to load WAV's with wav functions, and I don't know exactly but the limit is near or under the 500kb per file, so be careful with that.

Somebody knows what limit we have with the WAV format loading (using wav functions, of course)? Thanks!

[DCDayDreamer]

Thanks for that info Paul55, I haven't dabbled with any Fenix ports but I'm sure Wraggster would appreciate all the effort you've put in ;). By the way, where's Atari?, I haven't seen him post in a while, I hope he's busy making some unique games ;D.

[pauljake]

You're welcome! ;D. I read somewhere that Atari was making a shoot'em up game, but he decided to make it for himself, I expect he will change his mind :) . Anyways he is not the only one making a shoot'em up game for the DC...

[Merkoth]

hi all, i resurrect this topic to make some more questions:

general:

fenix version? is 0.84?
does it have mode7 support? because 0.84 win32 doesn't (SDL Parachute Deployed)

performance:

hmmm... I'm working in a fzero-like game. that means:

* mode7
* 2-plane scroll
* everithing 320x240x8 @ 32 FPS

is that going to run fine on the DC? i'd like to put some modules too, is that OK?

thanx in advance!

[pauljake]

Hello there Merkoth... I'll try to answer the things I know

hi all, i resurrect this topic to make some more questions:

general:

fenix version? is 0.84?

Yes, is v0.84.


does it have mode7 support? because 0.84 win32 doesn't (SDL Parachute Deployed)

Ohh... I didn't know that, I think that mode 7 is working because I saw a couple of those games for the DC, but I think that mode 7 is rather buggy in this verison.


performance:

hmmm... I'm working in a fzero-like game. that means:

* mode7
* 2-plane scroll
* everithing 320x240x8 @ 32 FPS

is that going to run fine on the DC? i'd like to put some modules too, is that OK?

thanx in advance!
It has to run well, maybe scroll can make some slowdown, so if speed is your problem, try to clear scrolling areas. If you're going to use modules, don't forget to use the "S3M" format, is the better for the DC, and use WAV files (less than 500 kb in sum) for sounds. Good luck with the project, we are here to help!. Oh, and one question, which part of Argentina are you from?. And don't forget to show us some screen of your game when you can! ;)

[Merkoth]

first of all, thanx for your reply ^_~

I'm glad that we have 0.84 on the DC, I really use the preprocessor and some features not available in 0.83x. and mode7 has always been buggy so, if it does work, it's enough for me ^_^U. about the performance, yesterday I tested the game in an old Pentium 233 MMX and it ran just fine (if you disable fullscreen mode it's a bit slower but playable) so I think it should run OK on the DC (or at least I hope so).
Thanx for your advices, really ^_~

You can see some state-of-the-crap screens at my blog (http://blog.zephiir.com.ar). It's all in spanish but you should be able to find the shots. Perhaps I'll start a different blog just for the game in english... bah, it's not like someone cares ^O^

I'm from Buenos Aires, why do you ask?

[pauljake]

Fullscreen can't be disabled in this version, so that wouldn't be any problem, and if you got it running well on that old Pentium, I'm almost sure that will work well on DC. If you want to test it on the console, you only need a CD-R, a CD writer, and follow some easy instructions that I can PM you. The game is looking well, i'll try to help in everything I can because I love racing games. I asked because I'm from Argentina also (Capital Federal to be more exact), so we can team-up some day, who knows? :D

[Merkoth]

O_o this is the last place I expected to find an Argento coder XD. tha main problem is that my DC was stolen about a year ago and I can't afford a new one... that's why I'm coding the game in Fenix (instead of C). cya!

Edit: and "grax" for your comments! ;)

[Christuserloeser]

Thanks for your test results pauljake :) I wonder where Chui is?

Merkoth, your game looks very good! :)

You could try www.DCPawnshop.com and ask for a used PAL-M Dreamcast - or ebay of course.

[pauljake]

Ohh! I forgot that you have to have a DC to test your game :(. Don't worry, when you have something to show us, I can make a selfbootable image for it. I'll only need the DCB and all media files (if I get errors I'll need the PRG) that the game uses. I don't know about DCPawnshop, but I know that ebay is nice to get one at low price (I got mine from there). If you're going to buy one from there, I can give you some "tricks" to lower shipment costs :D. Good luck with the game!

[Merkoth]

thank you all for your comments ^_^. someday, somehow, I'll buy a new DC... but I have other priorities atm... like buying a new PC :P

pauljake -> would you mind PMing me you MSN?