What if both are 60 fps, do you want the cpuutilisation %?

The stutter and fps drop you are seeing with the HD4600 is a known issue in complex games or ones that use a lot of effects and in particular, WebGL shaders. Intel's OpenGL performance is attrocious and their drivers for it even worse. They seem to only care about DX and not OpenGL for gaming.

I posted something regarding CPU usage here:

Essentially, C2 is single threaded for the most part, all that logic uses 1 out of 8 threads on your i7 CPU. It can max out on 1 thread, when it shows 99% CPU use, the game will bog down and frames will be dropped, regardless of your GPU.

So be very careful when you design a bigger complex game, ensure that the reported CPU use stay less than 50% on your i7 as its a very strong CPU with high single thread performance. Someone on an older CPU, or an AMD CPU with weaker single thread performance, will suffer greatly if you are designing your game to go beyond 50% of an i7's single thread capability.

Also if you want gamers to play it on Intel HD graphics, don't use WebGL shaders. Maybe do a "Low/High FX" option, low for people on Intel iGPU and High for AMD/NV GPUs.

Update: Planet art overhaul

Major planets will be the main destinations for the bulk of the game, including conquest, as such they need to look impressive & unique.

In order to achieve that, I have separate sections that can assemble to make unique looking planets, ie, landmasses, oceans, other terrain features so there’s going to be lots of variety in SNII.

The atmosphere has a few layers which are semi-dynamic to give it depth, especially in motion and the dark crescent corresponds to the star within that system.

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When you approach and slow down, a docking icon appear and its just a simple click to request docking. I’m planning on doing some NPC comms, confirming docking or denying docking (based on faction standing).

Currently I’m undecided if players should be able to dock during combat or not… there’s pros & cons that need to be weighted carefully, but I dislike the idea that combat engagements can be instantly disengaged with zero risk.

Chromium did have a problem with loading games with over 500 images on PC but that was fixed, guess they didn't fix the bug on MAC/Linux!

Linux will be a growing platform due to SteamOS on the Steam Boxes so that's a shame its so problematic.

Also, it should be priority #1 to get GreenWorks to work with later NW.

A great example of GOOD pixel art game on C2:

And no, it doesn't look bad. In fact, it looks AMAZING in its aesthetics.

Good pixel art is damn hard.

It depends on the art style you are after, I think if you change it to pixel art, you will lose all the gruelsome-ness and shift the game atmosphere from serious to light-hearted. It's a huge change so think about it carefully.

Nice! Looks freaken badass, like the old snes shooters (Metal Slug!),

I can tell a ton of polish went into it and most of all, it looks very fun to play!

Definitely raising the bar for C2 games!

All the best of luck!

Good luck & gave you a yes vote!

Graphically charming.

I threw the fish into the tower.

MadSpy

Bonesey

Thanks! It's nice to know I'm on the right track at least!

icugigasoft

I felt the same when I first saw Aurel's The Next Penelope at the start of last year. It was my wake up call. Back then I had no idea how to make a complex game, so I learnt by making Star Nomad, that taught me a lot and I felt confident enough to embark on making a game that I've always wanted, but just lacking in talent to do.

That's the cool thing about C2, it looks and is simple to use, but it offers a lot of depth, as much as you need to make the most complex of games.

Mobiles still stutter, its not resolved due to reliance on Chromium which Google messed up and haven't fully fixed yet.

On PC, it's still the same, we have to use a very old version of NodeWebkit with an old Chromium without this problem. But at least there's that option.

Steam API integration is wonky and that should be the priority to fix.

Update: Player Skill & Squad NPC Perks

In Star Nomad II, progression is a combination of acquiring wealth & reputation with factions to get better ships & modules, basically the material gains.

Progression also centers on developing your character as you gain experience, as such, there's a very flexible skill tree that enables players to finely customize their pilot's career.

The skill tree allows cross selection of any skill. Here, you unlock new tiers of skills to train in by spending skill points in any skill. It's flexibility allow mix & match between the various branches to best fine-tune your pilot.

At Tier 7, players can select from one of five unique active abilities (hotkey activated, timed cooldown) to enhance various play styles.

During your journey within the Sector and as you build up your reputation from being a nobody to a more renowned pilot, several characters may offer to join your squad, to share in the glory, adventure & loot! They have their own back-story (which you will unravel in special missions) and agendas, but once in your squad, they follow your lead.

Each NPC has wide range of Perks. At each tier, you have the option of selecting 1 of 2 Perks that further specialize the role of that NPC in your Squad. Thus, you can compliment your own build with that of NPCs to build a balanced Squad.

Talon: She's an ex-slave turned pirate turned mercenary ******* Her ship is a fast assault Corvette that excels in long-range combat with a Plasma Torpedo Launcher as primary and LRM Predator missiles as secondary weapons.

Corsair: He is an ex-Empire military pilot turned private bounty hunter. His ship is a modified Empire Frigate that specializes in Particle Beams that can restore ally shields. Secondary options include Hunter Combat Drones, LRM Predator missiles or Repair Drones.

Grace: She is the daughter of a very powerful Starborn Federation Councillor, bored with her race's desire for perfection & rigid social protocols, she seeks adventure and to find out what it means to be human in this mad conflict that may well end humanity. Her ship is a powerful Federation Cruiser, able to dish out or take extreme punishment.