Beta 11i discussion
 

I see that the "statistics" display doesn't default to on.

Up and down arrows no longer do anything.

Limit frame rate still moves between two Sleep rates, but otherwise seems to work well.

Dang, that etched analog clock looks cool, too.

Oh, rats - I forgot to compile as a Beta. That's why the Stats don't default to ON.

No change to the Limit Frame Rate code. I'll probably do some more fine-tuning of that. Everything should be hooked up and working in the interfaces now. Added SereneScreen Logo to the two dialog boxes that were missing it.

I see the Logos.

Also, am testing the "Music On" feature in the Music Playlist screen. Looks good. Well, sounds good, too. :)

I notice when the sound is playing and you bring up the Music Playlist screen, the sound goes off. Not a problem though - when you return to the simulation the sound returns.

I see also that the "Play" and "Stop" only work within the Settings screen now, too.

So, one more beta (11j) and it is done?

Something like that. There are usually a lot of mini-releases at the end to fix little items that people find.

I'm trying to understand the new "Limit Frame Rate" option in the "Program Settings" menu screen.

When not checked, the program selects a default frame rate. (Using the "Sleep" equals 10 concept, I believe).

Otherwise, a user can use this to select, or force, a frame rate between 30 fps and 120 fps.


On my system the default (with Sleep as 10) gives me around a 111 fps. Up and down arrow keys no longer do anything, so the way to change this is through the Frame Rate selection.

However, I only get this default when I first open the program. If I open it (with the box not checked) and then select a Frame Rate, it gets close to the selected Frame Rate, fluctuating between two Sleep settings. Then, if I "uncheck" the selection, it does not return to the default 111 fps, but stays very close to the selected fps and no longer fluctuates between Sleep settings.

Is this something you are still "tweaking"?

Also, I'm not sure I fully understand the need for the Limit Frame Rate selection as I include it in the readme. Could you explain it a bit more?

Thanks.

...and I think they should do something. That is, there need to be hotkeys to adjust the frame rate.

Also, on the Statistics display - please remove the "Sleep" display. It's unnecessary.

Minor point: In the Clock and Logo panel, the new "Crystal is Off-Show Crystal" button is nice, and just what was needed. However I'm not sure the "casual user" will know there is a relationship between the Crystal and the Clock/Logo stuff. You're in the Clock/Logo panel, and there's this apparently unrelated button about a crystal. I'm not sure what to recommend about this, and it's perhaps too minor to worry about?

Hmm... maybe add the words "displayed on Crystal" at the top of the screen or something similar?

I was anticipating that if I unchecked the box, the frame rate would be "not limited". [Obviously, limited by the capabilities of my hardware).

That's not what I'm seeing.

Very minor point -

on the "Program Settings" menu, maybe switch the positions of the "Bubble Column" and "Show Crystal" check boxes.

This would put "Bubble Column" and "Bubble Sound" together.

Unchecking appears to revert to either a "default" which is initially calculated by the program or the last FPS or Sleep setting that it has calculated?

Dunno.

That's why I asked the question, although I do understand that Jim is still tweaking this.

CTRL-R (Reset all to default) observations:

Does not turn off statistics, and should do so.
Does not turn off "Start in Windowed Mode", and should do so.
Does not turn of "Wireframe mode", and should do so.
Does not change the "Limit Frame Rate" checkbox to whatever is the default, and should do so.
Does not (as well as I can determine) reset the "frame rate stuff" (TM) to whatever the default is. That used to be setting Sleep to 10, but it doesn't do that, or anything else that I can see.

That sounds like a lot of criticism and questions in a hurry, but:

It's nice!

Is the etched font going to be available in any color?.. Etched removes the second hand.. this permanent? Will the analog clock sport any colors other than black with white second hand..

Working on Frame Limit.

Ralph - The etched font is white, like it's etched into the crystal. It removes the second hand, because it's disturbing to see something moving when it's supposed to be carved into the glass. I thought about allowing colors with the analog clock, but then another interface would be needed, and I've got to draw the line somewhere.

Could the Limit Frame Rate default to 60 (ish) ? ... Or perhaps make 60 the maximum that can be selected? - As we have agreed many times in the past, anything higher than 60 is pointless, it only overheats the system and has no increased effect on quality.

If we are going to be nit-picking.... ;)
I don't personally consider this necessary, but for completeness the SereneScreen Logo is also missing from (my) Display Settings dialog box.

We have?

Some people can certainly perceive the difference between 60 and 80.

For most people, though, 45-60 is fine. I'd suggest a limit of 75.

Yes we have! :)

But 75 seems fine to me... (though 60 would be better)....
I just don't see the point of going up to 120 and constantly maxing-out the CPU usage at 100%, for no noticeable increase in quality.

With the new wave of 120-hz monitors and TVs, I thought that 120 would be a good upper limit. That way, someone with a very powerful system, which might be yielding 300 fps, could control overheating while matching their monitor's refresh rate.

Cliff - You are right about the the Multimonitor Settings box. I hadn't looked at it in years, and forgot that it doesn't have a logo. The way it stands right now, adding the logo would make it too tall. When in operation, is there a lot of space in the Video Adapter section, especially under "Rendering:"?