[WIP] Candy In The Sky!

[relaxx]

Hi All!

 

At the current state  - topic more about performance benchmarking and not about real game))

 

 

Yesterday I've made sort of "infinite-scroll game" template.

But I have serious doubts about - is mobile devices performance enough for this kind of gameplay?

On my low-end android phone game shows miserable 8-10 FPS

 

Here you can play:

https://blog.jetlab-games.com/candy/

https://blog.jetlab-games.com/candy-lite/ (lite version, less clouds and no bg)

 

Rocketz!

https://blog.jetlab-games.com/candy2/

 

If you have different mobile devices available (especially from Apple)  - i will very appreciate if you could help with testing.

 

How much FPS do you have? Also FPS counter may not show exact result, so also please write couple words about general playability after testing.

 

Thanks!

 

WARNING! Game is truly infinite, do not try to collect all candies

[ricky_]

On my iPod touch 5 (A5 processor), Safari, normal version of your game:

 

no collision: 56~59 FPS;

collision with some candies: 43~39 FPS (expressive drop down, but not necessary lag the screen).

 

The slowdown could be caused by the "fade out" effect of the "+1" text? Try create a particle or a more simple effect.

 

What Android device do you have? on low-end (specially old one) gadgets no matters if you have a empty screen with a "hello world", the framerate normally will be poor.

[relaxx]

On my iPod touch 5 (A5 processor), Safari, normal version of your game:

 

no collision: 56~59 FPS;

collision with some candies: 43~39 FPS (expressive drop down, but not necessary lag the screen).

 

The slowdown could be caused by the "fade out" effect of the "+1" text? Try create a particle or a more simple effect.

 

What Android device do you have? on low-end (specially old one) gadgets no matters if you have a empty screen with a "hello world", the framerate normally will be poor.

 

Collision part for now implemented via small part of "dumb code"   so framerate drop is completely OK.

(if you fly over +1 - it constantly collide each frame, no lag if you fly beside +1 text)

 

I worried about general performance (while normal fly-scroll without any interaction).

Anyway, 56-59 FPS is very impressive (almost like desktop browser!), i expect much less.

Thanks!

[relaxx]

Also it will be interesting to compare with some 4th generation devices (iPhone 4/4S) and new Android/WP devices.

[ricky_]

Also it will be interesting to compare with some 4th generation devices (iPhone 4/4S) and new Android/WP devices.

 

Remember that the ipod5 has the same processor of the iPhone 4S (A5). On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the framerate will be poor on the iPhone 4. My WIP run well on A5 processor, but there are some lag on the iPhone 4. Probably you will need to work on some specific optimizations for reach a good framerate on 4th generation of iGadgets. What screen resolution are you using? this affect a lot the FPS.

[Pixelguy]

On my Nexus5 I get 56-60 FPS (56 on collisions)

Although The view port is a bit odd in landscape mode:

 

 

On my Ipad mini (First generations A5 Chip)

 

I get 60 FPS with no collision and a minimum of 36 FPS

 

 

[relaxx]

On my Nexus5 I get 56-60 FPS (56 on collisions)

Although The view port is a bit odd in landscape mode:

 

Yes, current code state is "proof-of-work made in a day", so device rotation doesn't handled in any way for now.

Thanks for testing!

[relaxx]

Remember that the ipod5 has the same processor of the iPhone 4S (A5). On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that the framerate will be poor on the iPhone 4. My WIP run well on A5 processor, but there are some lag on the iPhone 4. Probably you will need to work on some specific optimizations for reach a good framerate on 4th generation of iGadgets. What screen resolution are you using? this affect a lot the FPS.

 

Hmm, i don't get question about resolution.

<screen resolution for game>  = <device screen resolution> on which game currently running. For different devices it will be different.

Or you talking about possibility to make game in fixed resolution (for example - 640*960) and scaling it depending of actual resolution on every device?

[ricky_]

Hmm, i don't get question about resolution.

<screen resolution for game>  = <device screen resolution> on which game currently running. For different devices it will be different.

Or you talking about possibility to make game in fixed resolution (for example - 640*960) and scaling it depending of actual resolution on every device?

 

That's it. If you want to make a good-performance comercial game, it's very important to handle this question. Frequently is used a low resolution in action games that need a good framerate, like 480x320 (for phones). Remeber that scale methods can blur your imagens in some devices (all iphones/ipods), because that it's very important choose your target platform and work in order to offer the best possible experience. Do a "Scale" search in the forum, there are many topics and tutorial talking about it.

[jogutierrez]

I think is very important base resolution (I vote for 480x320), the game that have a lot motion you need to be careful, and you can do the scaled manteining a aspect ratio of 480x320, and having some groups of images resolution to load depend of the screen dimension..

[Ryguy]

I know this post was about performance and not the game itself, but as you move forward I would keep this article in mind: 

 

http://www.gamezebo.com/news/2014/01/20/king-has-trademarked-word-candy-and-youre-probably-infringing

 

Ridiculous. But worth noting, regardless.

[relaxx]

I know this post was about performance and not the game itself, but as you move forward I would keep this article in mind: 

 

http://www.gamezebo.com/news/2014/01/20/king-has-trademarked-word-candy-and-youre-probably-infringing

 

Ridiculous. But worth noting, regardless.

 

Just awesome!

Anyway - regarding topic title - "candy in the sky" was only name for tech-demo, not going to real game title.

Thanks for this links!

[relaxx]

Also replaced simple plane to more funny rocket "concept".

 

https://blog.jetlab-games.com/candy2/

 

It will be very interesting to receive some feedback about playing experience on different touch devices from other players.

 

Is controlling is easy and intuitive enough?

[tackle]

Warning about the name, King.com owns the name 'Candy' now apparantly; the world is falling apart slowly:

http://www.vice.com/en_se/read/the-creators-of-candy-crush-have-successfully-trademarked-the-word-candy

[relaxx]

Just curious -  if anyone have information about word "owning":

If any app (which contains word "candy" in its name) was created/published before King's move - should developers also change name for existing app?

[mentuat]

Playing with the rocket:

 

Samsung tab2 Android 4.3.3 (chrome) - runs at about 11fps when flying and 16fps when falling

 

iPad 1 iOS5 (safari) - about 12 fps flying and 37fps falling

 

iPod touch 4th gen iOS6 (safari) - about 8 fps flying and 22fps falling

 

these are the three mediocre devices I try to makes games work ok on - and apart from the iPod touch, your demo still kinda feels just about playable even though the fps sound worse than it is!

 

I wouldn't worry about having 'candy' in your title, I don't think us lowly HTML5 devs will be threatening King any time soon

[tackle]

Yeah like mentuat says I don't think there's anything to worry about, I was simply airing some angst over how ridiculous those trademark issues can be.

 

It's like Mojang vs Bethesda over 'Scrolls' again, but with an even stupider example.

[Ryguy]

Just curious -  if anyone have information about word "owning":

If any app (which contains word "candy" in its name) was created/published before King's move - should developers also change name for existing app?

Apple is enforcing it, but it's rather illogical since King cannot say a game made in 2005 was infringing on IP they hadn't even made yet. The general outrage on the Internet is because it doesn't make sense for them to claim a word which is and was in common use before Candy Crush, especially in games. It'll blow over eventually, but right now don't expect entrance into walled gardens like app stores with Candy in your title.