new computer, new problem

hi guys. so ive been really busy for the past few weeks, but now i went and bought a new computer. installed construct classic, copy/pasted all the effects and plugins ive downloaded and decided to continue my project. what i noticed was confusing:

i have currently 3 layouts. the first 2 work fine, but the third, work in progress layout (well they all are) doesnt work properly. theres something weird going on. im not sure if its connected to v-sync, but when testing the layout, everything moves kind of "slowly" and constantly jerking. as if the framerate was set to 20-30 with a constant stutter.

now i started to experiment and pinpoint the problem (note that the layout was working perfectly fine on my older,much much weaker computer)

first i switched to unlimited framerate and voil?. there it is, everything started running smooth,with about 500-700 fps, the layout has a few thousand (not individual) objects currently.

i switch back to v-sync and the problem comes back.

i did some further experiments, tried to delete objects,layers to see if there was something causing the odd behavior. deleting stuff didnt change anything.i made a new layout with only solid sprite and a sprite with platform behav, to see if perhaps my platform character has been corrupted or something, copy pasted a new platform character from a working layout, but the problem persists. then happened something truly strange.

i decided to make a new game project just to further test stuff, while my current project was still running. and there it is. new project with platform char and solid sprite,so i had two applications running at the same time and-to my amazement-the layout that wasnt working a minute ago, started running properly with v-sync on..?

<img src="smileys/smiley3.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

i closed the new project preview and the problem came back.

so, that layout only runs smooth and works properly when theres another project running <img src="smileys/smiley26.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

i really dont understand this behavior. does anyone have any idea what could be causing it? i can post the .cap (though i prefer not to) but only via pm. the project is not really that public. here are my new comp specs, if they help at all:

AMD athlon II X3 455 processor 3.30 GHz

AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series

RAM 4,00 GB

64-bit operating system

win 7

all the drivers should be OK.

im using the same monitor and stuff, i just gutted my pc and installed new components inside and everything is working perfect, aside from that layout issue explained above.

id be really grateful if anyone has any insight on this, i wouldnt want to have two projects running all the time and im not sure if that unlimited framerate option is the best either. im really puzzled by this.

<img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Is the new pc using the new version, and the old pc not?, if so would it be possible to install the new version on the old pc(without overwriting) and see if it causes the same problem?

hey and thanks for the reply. unfortunately, im pretty sure its the same version, unless it has changed in the last week or so. i did check both versions(i still got the version that was on my old comp installed on my older HDD) theyre both file version 1.0.0.1, correct? i assume it doesnt matter that i have the older computer's version still installed on a separate HDD? aside from the HDD, i really dont have access to my old comp, its pretty much run its course and hidden away in some closet <img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

the new version was released just yesterday

if you click the about button (the little button with the 'i' just under the close button on the top right of the construct classic editor screen)

there it should say r1.2 or r2. r2 is the new version

ah yes was just about to edit my post, just noticed that the new version was released, though i still have the 1.2

might as well try and download the new version, if it helps..

EDIT: nope, the problem still persists.. really strange.. whenever i have another construct application's preview window running its all good.. maybe i should try tweaking ATI CATALYST settings a little..?

don't think it will help. just wanted to make sure it wasn't the problem :)

so when you say you tried removing objects and such

did you try removing everything from that layout? and as a blank layout still has problems?

also you say drivers "should be ok"

just be sure, and download the latest driver. it's a likely source of such a problem, if it's not just cap corruption or the like. new pc's are rarely up to date with drivers if you don't do it manually

yeah what i meant about drivers should be ok is that it was the first thing i did when i built my computer, downloaded/installed drivers <img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

well i tried deleting everything up to a point where i only had one player object and one solid object, but it didnt remove the problem.

i havent tried tweaking catalyst settings yet, had to sleep for a while, but i dont really see it helping either, other than maybe catalyst A.I giving some weird troubles, but even that feels a little far fetched. the previous GPU was ATI too, radeon x1950 if i remember right. that didnt give any problems at all.

well catalyst sttings didnt do anything. also, to make things even more strange, not sure why, but when i deleted a portion of my layout and tried debugging the layout, it suddenly worked again.. tried the normal preview afterwards,but the problem was there again. <img src="smileys/smiley7.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

is my construct haunted? <img src="smileys/smiley8.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

It doesn't necessarily need to be the graphic card that's having problems. If for whatever reason the processor is working on capacity, you will also experience lower frame rates and stutter.

I was thinking (and this is based on nothing, just thinking) if for some reason the three cores might be the trouble here. I'm not sure if it is still the case, but in earlier days that 3-core-cpus often were 4- to 6-core-cpus with faulty cores deactivated. Also, I remember the early 2-core-cpus from amd having problems with apps that were designed for a single core. This shouldn't be a problem anymore, resolved a long time ago ... but who kows^^

Did you look at the task manager and the debugger, when testing? Maybe you can see a heavy load, when only one core is used (=only one preview runs), but a homogenous distribution, as soon as more than one core is working (= 2 or more previews running)?

If so, then the cpu might be the problem, although I could not provide a solution.

Anyway, as I said, was just thinking...

hi tula, oh and btw, im still waiting for that sliding example <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

though it can wait for now, need to get this fixed first.

i was actually wondering about the cpu myself, i remember having problems before trying to play thief 3 on my old computer, it had problems with dual core processors. there was a workaround for that, and i could try and see if theres something strange happening with the cpu while running construct.i havent tried unlocking the fourth core or anything. but still, im puzzled, that why does it work normally,while another construct window is open..

O my, I totally forgot about that sliding. I'm terribly sorry <img src="smileys/smiley9.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

When I was posting I had no chance to read that post from you just a minute earlier. Can you make it run normally by running with the debugger instead of a normal preview, or was it the combination of deleting parts of the layout plus debugging?

And another thought: Running v-synced causes the problem while only one preview is running. With two previews, both are running v-synced and without problems. Does the driver report a correct refresh rate? Could it be that it reports some interlaced rate (e.g. 1920x1080i instead of 1920x1080p) instead?

And do have exported executables the same problem?

no problem lol. i did try to figure it out myself,but i didnt get any good results with the sliding. but dont take any stress for it, im in no hurry <img src="smileys/smiley16.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

yes it works normally while running the debugger, or while there is another preview window running, it just doesnt work alone. .exe contains the same problem,just tried it.

but something interesting happened again. i changed the resolution of the layout to the same one my desktop has (1440x900, native monitor resolution would be 1680x1050 but i consider it too small (text etc),thats why i use 1440) and somehow it seems to work...? it has some minor random hitches, but now its running normally, smoothly and it doesnt feel like 15-30 fps. i was using 1280x720 res before and btw i always have it running in window. strange...

EDIT: except when running fullscreen. then it gets all sticky again.. <img src="smileys/smiley11.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

EDIT2: further investigation suggests that its not just that one layout either. i tested some older .caps ive made and the same problem. single preview window stutters, but two windows at the same time works perfectly. its getting pretty clear that the problem lies in my hardware somewhere. now if i could only know where. i tried to set the cpu affinity to a single core but it didnt do anything.. <img src="smileys/smiley19.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

EDIT3: and to continue the above text, switching the same cap's resolution to 1440x900 fixed the stuttering and now that cap is running perfectly. could it be some kind of weird upscaling/resizing/stretching/resolution issue?