Optimize the game for Windows Phone 8

Hi all,

My game currently runs at above 55 FPS on a Lumia 820 (WVGA, 800 x 480). However, on a Lumia 920 (WXGA, 1280 x 768), it runs below 20 FPS. That is a huge difference. Both phones share the same hardware, the 920 only has a bigger screen with higher resolution. I guess that is the problem?

I suspect it may even run slower on a 720p device like the HTC 8X.

My game scene is a 1200x1200 map, using tiled background (128x128). On the map, there are above 10 objects (64 x 64 or 48 x 48)

I have tried to hide, and disable all objects' collision when they are not on screen.

Do you have any advice to keep it runs smoothly on higher resolution device?

Btw, I found others are having the same problem too.

devnet.madewithmarmalade.com/questions/9283/perfomance-drop-on-lumia-920-820-is-butter-smooth.html

forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-games/224407-temple-run-low-frame-rate-lumia-920-works-excellent-lumia-820-why.html

thehen: Have you tried your game on the lumia 920? How is the performance compare to the 820?

Thanks

Tom I'm not getting notified when people tag me in a thread that I haven't already posted in. I just happened to see this by accident.

tipztv I haven't tested on the 920 but certainly will this week. Check out this thread and see if these performance optimisation suggestions make a difference.

thehen thanks a lot! I have already configure the game to request more ram in VS, but I see no different. The average memory use of the game is about 120MB on a WXGA device, 90MB on a WVGA device so it still meets the memory limit. I will take a look at the base64 image + remote location, and report if I see the difference :)

When I get back from Las Vegas in about 4 days I can test it on a Lumia 928 as well to see if there is a difference since it is running a newer firmware and WP8 build than the 920.

thehen BluePhaze Thanks! That would be great too! Do you think we should create a topic for WP users on the forum so we can discuss easily about the problems relate to WP development?

I found this service by Nokia: rda.cellulardata.com/, which allows remote access to devices like 620, 820, and 920 and test the game on them. I tried but it hangs. Maybe it is my internet connection problem. Can you guys test it?

Thanks

I guess HTML5 performance on Windows Phone 8 is not that great. I created a blank Panorama app, and a blank HTML5 app in VS 2012. On a WXGA device, with the panorama app, I can get it to run at about ~40 FPS. While the HTML5 app runs at below 20 FPS (yes, the blank template, created in VS 2012).

After the test, I switched back to my Scirra project. I disable most of the code, just leave the code to control the car enabled, the tiled background is resized to 100 x 100 only, delete all the objects, and I still get ~20 FPS. That's really weird. The frame rate is locked up or something

tipztv is this on the 920? I've been getting a solid 60fps for Mortar Melon on the 820.

thehen: Yes, it is on a Lumia 920. My game runs at above 55 fps on the 820 too. Even with a 100 x 100 size tile, one car with car behavior, some code to control the car (touch left -> steer left, touch right -> steer right) and I only get ~20 fps on the 920. That's weird.

thehen: maybe running the game on the WXGA emulator will get you the idea of how the game generally runs on the 920?

Did you guys ever solve this issue?

Do you see a framerate issue when you run this game?

ocf.berkeley.edu/~kelu/Games/Alpha