Can we phase out v5 yet?

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by Wolfey

Not a comp issue

If your computer can't handle v6 (or Graal in general), then yes, it is a computer issue in one way or another.

[DustyPorViva]

Originally Posted by xXziroXx

If your computer can't handle v6 (or Graal in general), then yes, it is a computer issue in one way or another.

I think he means it's not a problem on his end. Which it still kind of is... but more importantly it means it's v6's problem.

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

I think he means it's not a problem on his end. Which it still kind of is... but more importantly it means it's v6's problem.

It might mean that v6 has higher performance requirements than v5, but it's still a problem on his end. Doesn't matter if other games run better or not, considering all games have different hardware requirements. What's required to run GW at a high level might not be the same things that Graal requires the most of.

I haven't heard anything about v6 having increased performance requirements, other than from the usual bunch that seems to expect Graal to run smoothly on their laptops from 2000.

[DustyPorViva]

Originally Posted by xXziroXx

It might mean that v6 has higher performance requirements than v5, but it's still a problem on his end. Doesn't matter if other games run better or not, considering all games have different hardware requirements. What's required to run GW at a high level might not be the same things that Graal requires the most of.

I haven't heard anything about v6 having increased performance requirements, other than from the usual bunch that seems to expect Graal to run smoothly on their laptops from 2000.

Typically any other high-end game will tax all the specs of a computer. So ya, if other games all run fine(including v5) except v6 then it's safe to assume that maybe v6 is the culprit. It's not like say, GW is only pushing his gpu to the limit. Sure other games have various specs, but should v6 really need higher specs than many other games on the current market? I don't think it should.

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

Typically any other high-end game will tax all the specs of a computer. So ya, if other games all run fine(including v5) except v6 then it's safe to assume that maybe v6 is the culprit. It's not like say, GW is only pushing his gpu to the limit. Sure other games have various specs, but should v6 really need higher specs than many other games on the current market? I don't think it should.

Maybe not, but considering the lack of complaints there's been on v6 performance, I think it's safe to say that something on his end is the culprit.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by xXziroXx

Maybe not, but considering the lack of complaints there's been on v6 performance, I think it's safe to say that something on his end is the culprit.

Uhm, who are you talking to that you've seen a lack of complaints? I've asked many players on Era who currently use v5 why they haven't upgraded, and almost every one cites poor performance.

Tim, for example, can play v5 full screen at 20 FPS but it drops to ~5 FPS on v6 (on one of his computers). Decreasing the window size to like 200x200 allows him to "play" v6 at 20 FPS.

[xXziroXx]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

Uhm, who are you talking to that you've seen a lack of complaints? I've asked many players on Era who currently use v5 why they haven't upgraded, and almost every one cites poor performance.

Tim, for example, can play v5 full screen at 20 FPS but it drops to ~5 FPS on v6 (on one of his computers). Decreasing the window size to like 200x200 allows him to "play" v6 at 20 FPS.

I've heard a lot of complaints about v6, none being performance related. Maybe something script related on Era?

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by xXziroXx

I've heard a lot of complaints about v6, none being performance related. Maybe something script related on Era?

Nope, removing all scripts from the level and testing on other servers yielded the same results. I've heard literally dozens of complaints about performance but have never been able to replicate them at all. Even running in a VM results in 20 FPS @ 1920x1080.

[DustyPorViva]

I get a really annoying fps-related issue with v6 which feels like it's dropping a single frame every second or so. Definitely not anything that breaks it, but fairly annoying to play and not feel like you're getting the smooth experience I had with v5.

[fowlplay4]

The problem with performance (to me) appears to be the lack of diverse (automated) testing, and useful diagnostics.

It also doesn't help the fact that a few 50+ page threads are being used for bug tracking, beta feedback and the only way to do any in-depth testing requires someone on RC to use a command to generate a log and then manage to get Stefan to read that log.

We're also way overdue for another V6 PC Update.

[Admins]

v6 should be much faster than v5, it has been optimized a lot to run on slower devices (iPod first generation etc.). The biggest difference in v6 compared to v5 on Windows is that it's using DirectX9 instead of DirectX7. The next version of Graal should hopefully running faster, it's using less hard drive operations then. The optimizations have been done to improve the startup speed on iPhone, with the latest versions of GraalOnline Era and Classic that problem has been improved a lot.

[Crono]

Originally Posted by Stefan

v6 should be much faster than v5, it has been optimized a lot to run on slower devices (iPod first generation etc.). The biggest difference in v6 compared to v5 on Windows is that it's using DirectX9 instead of DirectX7. The next version of Graal should hopefully running faster, it's using less hard drive operations then. The optimizations have been done to improve the startup speed on iPhone, with the latest versions of GraalOnline Era and Classic that problem has been improved a lot.

http://forums.graalonline.com/forums...2&postcount=16

Is pretty much a good summery of my complaints from a player perspective. The first one was already addressed (v6 performs better) but the other two are still an issue.

[cbk1994]

I would like to see how the latest v6 performs before writing off the performance complaints. I suspect that most of the issues experienced by players were not harddrive-related.

[Admins]

A lot of lag problems come from hard drive speed problems.
About playerlist: with a GUI style like vplusblue the playerlist looks much better than in v5, why exactly would someone prefer the v5 look?

[fowlplay4]

Originally Posted by Stefan

A lot of lag problems come from hard drive speed problems.
About playerlist: with a GUI style like vplusblue the playerlist looks much better than in v5, why exactly would someone prefer the v5 look?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I personally despise the look of vPlusBlue. The buttons look gaudy and make the text annoying to read.

Comparison:



1. The V5 is more compact, and well defined.
2. Uses native controls which overall feels much more responsive and work the way you expect them to.
3. Title bar can actually be read in V5.
4. Player list doesn't take up a 'window block' on their taskbar in V5.

[Hiro]

Why can't v6 just look exactly like v2 did? It was aesthetically the most pleasing, and felt right.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by fowlplay4

1. The V5 is more compact, and well defined.
2. Uses native controls which overall feels much more responsive and work the way you expect them to.
3. Title bar can actually be read in V5.
4. Player list doesn't take up a 'window block' on their taskbar in V5.

I completely agree.

[Admins]

There: Moved the Mass-PM-Button to the bottom, reduced the height of the tabs at the top, made the window title shorter, shows account names instead of 'guest'.

[Crono]

if the sections were divided with a style similar to this it would be perfect imo.

[Admins]

Added "---" in front x-x

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Stefan

There: Moved the Mass-PM-Button to the bottom, reduced the height of the tabs at the top, made the window title shorter, shows account names instead of 'guest'.
Attachment 54561

Looks better

[Crow]

Except for the dashes maybe. They should created so that the labels are centered. And I'd really like if you could turn the player list into a toolbox window (like it is in v5) in some future version so it only has a tiny "x" button instead of the full range of unneeded buttons.

[AngBayani]

Perhaps also have a separate tab or section for Remote Controls. So players do not confuse it for a regular online player.

[Crono]

Originally Posted by AngBayani

Perhaps also have a separate tab or section for Remote Controls. So players do not confuse it as a regular online player.

I don't know, I like how RC is merged with players. If not, then have RC's show on the Staff section until that account has a staff tag on (in which case RC gets bumped down with the rest of the players).

[AngBayani]

I was thinking of it like that as well, but the problem with that is that staff generally do not want to be disturbed so they would rather not be bumped up at the top of the playerlist to avoid being spammed by several PMs every few minutes. I don't know if that occurs to other servers, but so far it has been from my experience.

[Crow]

Originally Posted by Crono

I don't know, I like how RC is merged with players. If not, then have RC's show on the Staff section until that account has a staff tag on (in which case RC gets bumped down with the rest of the players).

YOU CHANGED YOUR AVATAR?!caps

[ffcmike]

Any chance of changing the word "Admins" to "Staff" like it is for V5?

[AngBayani]

I would definitely want "Server Staff" or "Staff" rather than "Admin". Not all staff are admins. A lot of players get that confused.

[Admins]

Fixed

[AngBayani]

Neat!

[Crow]

Dashes in the playerlist should be like this, but in pretty:

PHP Code:

  temp.dashLength = PlayerList_List.profile.gettextwidth("-");
  temp.listWidth  = PlayerList_Window.width;
  temp.dHelper    = "--------------------------------";
  
  for (temp.r: PlayerList_List.rows)
    if (r.sortvalue == 0) {
      temp.n = shared.replacetext(r.gettext(), "-", "");
      temp.n = shared.replacetext(temp.n, " ", "");
      
      temp.w = temp.listWidth - PlayerList_List.profile.gettextwidth(temp.n) - 24;
      temp.c = int(temp.w / temp.dashLength / 2) - 1;
      temp.c = (temp.c < 0 ? 0 : temp.c);
      
      r.settext(temp.dHelper.substring(0, temp.c) SPC temp.n SPC temp.dHelper.substring(0, temp.c));
    } 


Was just a really quick code snippet. Outcome isn't even that bad:

[Crono]

the section fonts (staff,buddies,etc) should be bolded or slightly larger to seperate itself from the players. with that final touchup it would be perfect for me really.

[AngBayani]

Originally Posted by Crono

the section fonts (staff,buddies,etc) should be bolded or slightly larger to seperate itself from the players. with that final touchup it would be perfect for me really.

Bolded and .5 or 1 px larger would be real good. Also add in Crow's fix would be perfection or at least near perfection.

[fowlplay4]

While you're at it you may as well let us use two different GUI Styles.

1. One for internal GUIs.
2. One for external GUIs.

[Troku]

Could we please have the v6 player list not take up a 'windows block' on the main windows bar?

[Tigairius]

I outlined a few things in this post that would be nice to have specifically for the scripted playerlist.

[CrypticMyst]

You should use a monospace font in the playerlist. Just my opinion.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by CrypticMyst

You should use a monospace font in the playerlist. Just my opinion.

...why?

[BlueMelon]

Originally Posted by Troku

Could we please have the v6 player list not take up a 'windows block' on the main windows bar?

If you want you can turn on the internal playerlist option.

[Crow]

Originally Posted by CrypticMyst

You should use a monospace font in the playerlist. Just my opinion.

No need to, really. My code snippet is a rather hackish one anyway. Ideally, things like these are implemented internally.