This was complicated…

What seemed like a simple issue to solve (lack of performance on low-end card because of ambient occlusion) ended up being much more complicated than expected!

So, yesterday I decided to add a new system to be able to customize the level of ambient occlusion (in terms of resolution)… I added the system, but while testing it I found a flickering on the logo, which seemed weird…

Of course, I assumed the problem was the ambient occlusion code I just added, but it turned out was a Z-buffer precision issue that was present for some time, but I never detected it… Basically, if I ask GLFW for a 24-bit Z-buffer on my ATI card, it returns me a 16-bit Z-buffer, so the resolution is terrible and makes the flickering…

I didn’t notice it before because I usually don’t start the game by the logo, and when I did the tests on Linux, the Z-buffer given had 24-bit!

So, silly issue, simple to solve, but it took me forever to track down…

At least the game runs nice on Linux fullscreen, as it should!

The measurements being 0 means the game runs as fast as possible, only locked by my frame limiter (VSync is not turned on). In the above screenshot, ambient occlusion is running at 512×512 (instead of 1920×1080, which was causing the issues)… The quality isn’t as good, but if you’re not looking for it, you probably don’t notice it…

Now tomorrow I can fix some other minor bugs before moving into the Mac port (another headache, I expect!).

Now listening to “Crimson Thunder” by “Hammerfall”

Link of the Day: This game looks neat, if it has a storyline besides just mechanically doing this over and over again: