2014-07-02 released (current compatible: 2014-07-07)

[Simon]

Hi,

Lix version 2014-07-02 is out with a ton of bugfixes and updates. Many thanks for bug reports, ideas, and testing! Physics have been altered in 2014-07-02; if you would like to play online, please update.

Version 2012-07-07 is a small update without physics changes.

http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/download.php" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Download Lix http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/bitmap/smiley-lixnormal.png" alt="" class="bbc_img" />
https://raw.github.com/SimonN/Lix/master/doc/history.txt" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">View the changelog
http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/bb/forum.php?board=1" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Report/view bugs

-- Simon

[RubiX]

Its an epic update.
Good job!

[namida]

Still doesn't work for me.
However - I have noticed something relating to this. I've mentioned how doing certain things (for example, changing between windowed and fullscreen) will cause it to work for a few seconds.
Well - a bit of experimenting suggests that the game actually is working 100% fine behind the scenes - the problem is it's just not updating the graphic on the screen! For example, if I get to the enter name screen, and I type in a name and push enter, the screen remains as a blank name entry box - but if I switch window/fullscreen, it's now on the title screen when it refreshes.

So it would seem the problem is simply that it isn't updating the graphics on some systems, rather than that the game as a whole isn't working or is hanging. Hopefully that info is of use to you.


EDIT: And here's something even MORE interesting. It works fine when I have an external display connected (via HDMI); even if the Lix window (or fullscreen) is on my main screen!!!

[ccexplore]

I found one of my existing replays from the 2014-04-04 version affected slightly (but with significant difference in eventual outcome) in the trajectory of a battered lix.  While in general this is not unexpected, it might be worth examining this case and verify whether the change in behavior is in line expectation-wise with the fixes you've made.

Replay is given in http://www.lemmingsforums.com/index.php?topic=1005.msg20972#msg20972" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">this post (trading6-ccx.txt), my solution to geoo's "trading" v6.  It seems that in the April version, the lix does collide with the ceiling and the trajectory then reacts accordingly, whereas now in the July version, it either comes close but doesn't quite actually collide with ceiling, or the collision is somehow not getting processed properly.  So the replay works as intended in the April version (the lix would land before hitting the pillar), but not as-is in the July version (it hits the pillar and gets reflected away).

[Simon]

namida: Thanks for the info, that makes it less daunting. The usual reminder: I use Allegro 4.4 which is getting old, I might port to SDL2 or Allegro 5 at some time, and sometimes I do strange things with the graphics.

cc: I have changed the jumper/tumbler code to fix a bug (jumping through thin platform from below), and your case is handled by this code. I forgot whether I made the ceiling check more lenient by 2 hi-res pixels, but I probably have.

I'll examine the replay later.

-- Simon

[ccexplore]

Regarding graphics issues:  the fact that it goes away for namida in multi-mon is kinda interesting, I wonder if the same could happen by adjusting resolution and/or refresh rate (if adjustable) to particular settings?  [Note: on Windows you may need to find an "Advanced Settings" link or button in the relevant UI to be able to adjust the more obscure settings like refresh rates.  Some graphics cards may also come with their own programs for making such tweaks.]

I guess until the library porting happens, maybe when I have time I should provide some steps people can take to gather info on their computer's graphics configuration (ie. which brand of card, OS-driver combos, and so forth), so at least we have a better idea which configurations are problematic currently.

[namida]

My monitor only supports one refresh rate (60Hz).
I tried a couple of other resolutions (standard for my PC is 1366x768; I also tried 1360x768 and 1280x720), it made no difference in either fullscreen or windowed mode.
However - switching to 16-bit color mode did make it work in windowed mode (it still didn't work in fullscreen).

In case it's of help, I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, I'm on a laptop with the whole dual GPU setup (though I have the option to choose which one I use for a given app, and the same thing happens either way); the low-power one is simply reported as "Intel HD Graphics Family", the high-power one is NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M. I believe 2GB of video memory on the latter, while the former uses shared system RAM.


Anyway, until the issue is fixed as a whole, seems plugging in another screen (at least on HDMI, haven't tried (and don't have the means to try) doing it on VGA) works as a kludgey fix, so I'll have to jump on and have a game sometime. Is there any real pattern to when people play or anything, or is it just a matter of try your luck with if someone's online at the same time?

[ccexplore]

Thanks for the info.  Sadly I have little experience nor access with dual GPU setups to suggest anything further, though of course it does make me curious whether Insane Steve also has a similar setup (as I seem to recall he reported similar symptoms?).  Wonder what would happen if you disable one of the two (except with so little familiarity with this setup, I don't know even know if this would work without bad side effects).

As for timing of when people play multiplayer, while I'm not active with that myself, the #lix quakenet http://webchat.quakenet.org/" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">IRC channel should be helpful for finding people here online and potentially ready for Lix multiplayer.  Rubix in particular is often clamoring for MP games so from the http://www.nordicbots.com/?id=73&net=quakenet&channel=lix" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">channel logs, you should be able to find the times he's usually active on.

[RubiX]

Its pretty much just spur of the moment when people are in irc, we will just say whos up for some games.
And er yea.  Go at it!

[namida]

Thanks for the info.  Sadly I have little experience nor access with dual GPU setups to suggest anything further, though of course it does make me curious whether Insane Steve also has a similar setup (as I seem to recall he reported similar symptoms?).  Wonder what would happen if you disable one of the two (except with so little familiarity with this setup, I don't know even know if this would work without bad side effects).

As far as I'm aware, there's no way to disable the Intel one, but the NVidia one can be disabled in the BIOS (or physically removed from the system if need be, since it's a plug-in chip, not hardwired to the motherboard) - no ill effects apart from difficulty running some graphics-intensive apps (which is to be expected if you're trying to run them on an Intel GPU). But Lix isn't exactly that intensive (I think?) so I'll try it sometime.

[Simon]

Hi folks,

Lix version 2014-07-07 is out. It's just a little update.

Physics changes are held back, so updating is optional.

http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/download.php" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Download Lix http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/bitmap/smiley-lixnormal.png" alt="" class="bbc_img" />
http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/bb/forum.php?board=1" class="bbc_link" target="_blank">Report/view bugs

    Mouse code
        sekti has send in better mouse code for Fullscreen. A hidden option
        MOUSE_ACCELERATION 0 can be set to 1 in the user configuration to
        choose mouse acceleration on Windows. It shouldn't have an effect
        on other platforms.

    Hotkey displaying bugfix
        If the user disables displayed hotkeys during the game, this option
        will now get saved to the configuration file properly.

    Disk saving sound
        A sound plays as feedback for writing levels, replays, or images to
        disk, or when making a savestate during the game.

    Amanda's multiplayer maps
        I forgot her maps in the release last week, now the maps are included.

-- Simon