Does 1.0 Beta 2 have slow down issues on PPC Macs?

[elias4444]

I've been testing my game on as many platforms as I can get my hands on... and it seems to run great on all of them but the PPC platforms. On Intel Macs, Windows and Linux PCs I get well over 100fps (on the oldest hardware I could find that still had a 3D card, I got as low as 70fps). But on PPC Macs, it doesn't ever go above 30fps. I've tested it on a Quad G4 with a 6600GT, and a Powerbook G4 (with an ATI 9700), and both are stuck around 30fps, no matter what resolution or graphics settings I specify (e.g., 800x600 gives the same number of FPS as 1280x1024). Any ideas? Could it be a bug with LWJGL, or maybe just an issue with the universal binaries?

[numberR]

Intel Mac OS X can run PPC binary, but PPC Mac OS X cannot run Intel binary.
so as long as your game is running on PPC Mac OS X, it is always running as native.

i get more than 30fps for my game on Mac mini G4.
maybe using OpenGL extensions that is really slow on PPC Macs you have tested or something?

or sync methods working not right?

[elias4444]

I'm using the binaries that were packaged in the 1.0beta2 jar (I'm guessing they're universal, otherwise they wouldn't work at all?).

As for openGL extensions, I'm not using anything out of the "ordinary." I'm even using display lists instead of VBOs.

If anyone has access to a PPC mac, please feel free to test out the game:

//www.tommytwisters.com/spaceops/spaceops.jnlp

While in the beginning menu or the game, press F5 to get the frames per second display.

[MarneusCalgarXP]

Error in the URL, it's rather :

http://www.tommytwisters.com/spaceops/spaceops.jnlp

I haven't a PPC, so I can't tell you wether there's a problem or not...

[elias4444]

Oops... sorry.

I fixed the URL in the message.

Also, what did you think of the beta?

[tortoise]

I'm using the binaries that were packaged in the 1.0beta2 jar (I'm guessing they're universal, otherwise they wouldn't work at all?).

Not necessarily.

If they are PPC only, then:
-------
they will work natively on a PPC Mac
they will work via emulation on an Intel Mac, at a cost

If they are Intel only:
--------
they will not run on a PPC mac no matter what
they will run fine on an intel mac

If they are universal:
--------
they will run natively on a PPC mac, using the PPC portion of the binary
they will run natively on an Intel mac, using the Intel portion of the binary



I have a Mac Mini G4 at home, I'll test your game out when I get there.

[numberR]

i only get around 17fps on menu screen... on Mac mini G4.
i get more than 30fps on my simple game,
so i think Mac mini G4 is just not that good system for gaming...

[MarneusCalgarXP]

Oops... sorry.

I fixed the URL in the message.

Also, what did you think of the beta?

The game runs perfectly on my GeForce 5900 Ultra, AthlonXP64 3800+ (Windows XP pro 32 bits). I was a bit tired (hard day of work :wink:) when I tried it so I can't tell you about the game itself...

I'll give it a try this week end on my laptop (windows xp 32 bits home, Pentium4 3Ghz and Radeon X600M) if you want ! (and I'll tell you what I think about the game   )

[elias4444]

Feel free to try it out and offer feedback.  

I just don't understand why the framerates are so awful even on a quad G4 with a 6600GT.  

[tortoise]

Just tried it on my Mac Mini G4 and I'm guessing I was getting about 5fps using the default settings.

I dropped it to 800x600, 16bpp, and no anti aliasing and I'd guess I was getting 30fps (I couldn't find a framerate counter anywhere).

It's a cool looking game, very polished, nice graphics. I thought the controls were a tad sensitive. But all in all, impressive.

How did you map command-q to take you to the title screen on a Mac?

[elias4444]

Thank you for those very kind compliments. I've been working hard on this game for a while now, and had to learn how to do all the 3D modeling and graphics myself... it was difficult.

I made some minor improvements to the game engine that'll hopefully help on older Macs... please try it again and let me know.

As for the command-q thing... honestly, I don't know. It's just always worked for me. I figured it had something to do with Apple's Java implementation.  :roll:

[tortoise]

I didn't notice any real difference in the framerate with the new version.

[oNyx]

Are you using nanoTime instead of lwjgl's (more robust) timer? (It leaps here.)

[MarneusCalgarXP]

I tested it on my laptop, and it runs smoothly to !

[elias4444]

I am using nanotime actually. Is the LWJGL timer really better?