Hey Ashley, hope all is well for you.

Problem Description

When using the NWjs plugin, and using the "Show Open Dialog" action, and then selecting something, then checking the "ChosenPath" expression, it always shows the incorrect path as "C:\fakepath\" followed by the file's name that you picked in the Open dialog window. This means you cannot get the path of any files at all.

Attach a Capx

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/776 ... enBug.capx

Description of Capx

This is a quick capx containing a button and a text box. The button triggers the open dialog window and the textbox shows the ChosenPath.

Steps to Reproduce Bug

• 1. Run this in NodeWebkit.
• 2. Click the button and select any file in any location.
• 3. The Text object will return the path detected.

Observed Result

You will see the Text object always begins with "C:\fakepath\" and does not contain your file's path at all.

Here's a screenshot. I selected a file in the Open dialog window named "a.png", located at "I:\Images\a.png". This is what is returned.

Expected Result

Should return the path of the file.

Affected Browsers

Node Webkit only.

Operating System and Service Pack

Windows 7 64-bit

Construct 2 Version ID

R219

Just wanna throw this out there:

I love the fact that Multiplayer was added. It gave me more drive to think of creative game ideas that would utilise Multiplayer. I did make a game and put it on Newgrounds that uses Multiplayer. I made a pairing system that would match 2 players up automatically and make them have to battle, then they can move to the next player.(Although the trouble is, is that I didn't know how to get my games known so it didn't get much attention.). Regardless, It was a blast to develop and I learnt a lot from that project and will continue to experiment with implementing it into my current/future projects.

It would have been horrifically tricky if I had to rely on the WebSocket stuff or whatever there was before multiplayer.

So, from a non-business and more personal perspective: thank you adding Multiplayer, Ashley. I reckon it increased the value of C2 and it certainly makes a lot of people happy, even if they don't say it or even post on these forums.

With that said, I'd certainly be interested if there was to be another poll or something.

Same here

I missed out on the last meet up in the pub (iirc that was the one and only time a meet up happened), seemed like it would have been an interesting experience. Will that sort of event happen again? I'd be up for it!

Hooray! I remember seeing you posting this months back on the SFGHQ forums, was hoping you'd come by here and share. This behaviour feels very polished and tight! Nice work.

I have been developing a Sonic engine using just events, and it's turned out pretty well and the performance is great, although there's certainly parts that could be improved but can't be improved easily due to some very specific limitations of C2's picking system (although there are awkward workarounds).

As complicated as Sonic stuff can be, it's good to see a behaviour that does it all for you automatically

lennaert

Yeah, very similar experience to me. This sort of thing is still vital even in something like MMF2 which runs natively, I managed to ruin my framerate due to bad programming and too many collisions per tick (which at the time, I thought I was doing just fine and blamed MMF2). Ironically, that's one of the reasons I ended up finding Construct 2, because I got fed up with MMF2, even though it wasn't MMF2's fault (except for the annoying workarounds in MMF2 of getting more Alterable Values, spreading a number so you can pick them, etc., C2 is a lot more straight forward and removes limitations which is awesome).

droxon

I know what you mean, the jolty look when a frame is dropped is very noticeable and unacceptable, I seem to get it with Chrome but not NW.JS. Not exactly sure why, considering NW.JS practically is Chrome...hmm...

Yes, I get performance issues, but I mean it's not C2's fault, it was my own fault because I was an idiot and made some dumb choices in the way I chose to program that I seriously believed wouldn't impact performance. It's important to remember that if you are making a large game or a complicated game, then, in order to have this large complicated game stay smooth, you have to accept that you need to keep a close eye on performance and be very cautious, no matter what engine or software you use. (Personally, I find it fun to program and try and squeeze performance out of things, it's satisfying when you discover what causes the problem and then fix it. It's part of the whole "Game Creating" experience.)

Perhaps, one engine might handle collisions much better whilst being worse at having more sprites on-screen, whereas another engine might handle object picking very well but struggle with collisions in comparison. Things can always be improved on by the software developers, though.

Honestly, a handful of months back, I had tested on weaker systems, like an old laptop with an intergrated chip thingy, and a weak dualcore. It performed TERRIBLY, until I discovered that shrinking the window so it is tiny, made the FPS reach 60. Then realising you can shrink the canvas in events and then zoom into the layout to get the same performance boost. THEN eventually Ashley added that "Low quality" mode in the project properties, THAT was exactly what was needed. The dualcore wasn't the bottleneck even though there was a lot of CPU stuff to do, like iterating through tonnes of sprites and positioning + angling each of them, but it was the GPU that caused problems (mainly because it didn't exactly have a GPU lol)

droxon

Are you focusing on HTML5 performance on mobile or PC?

I'm making what I like to believe is a complex game (at least CPU-wise) and I have hit so many performance issues that cause the fps to dip below 60fps, but almost always discover it was my own fault and end up resolving them. I'm maintaining well above 60fps on NW.JS on a game that has a lot of collision stuff to deal with. Also, I do not write my own plugins or know how to javascript.

Also, it'd be realllllllll cool if you could send those tests from all the different software to Ashley or something, maybe a build as well as the source files. Assuming your tests are right, that would surely encourage Ashley to focus a lot on performance, but as I stated above, I'm personally not having performance issues from C2 itself. It's usually my fault.

I admit, when I try for hours to get a few extra FPS when it is dropping, I start to blame C2, I start thinking "Goddamn the collision engine must be so crap, howcome MMF2 does it so much better!!" or "Damn what's the point of WebGL if it just lags after like 4 effects!" or something, but then I remember I did have performance issues with MMF2 at points (even with collisions), and then I eventually discover where my problems lie (usually something like trying to do collision detection with like 200 objects every tick or something that didn't seem obvious at the start, or just understanding the concept of how shaders work and some shaders need more processing than others) and then I take a different approach or rework it and volia! problem solved.

Not gonna lie though, I had a nightmare with mobile, but that was about a year ago, must be better now.

Oh my god,

This plugin is absolutely godly.

I had been using the default box2d plugin in my project and thought it would be not worth the hassle replacing it with this Chipmunk plugin.

Well, I done it anyway. And...DAYMN. I need to get measurements, it has improved the FPS dramatically. Not to mention the collision system is much more suited for my project.

Thank you so much R0J0hound

Ashley

Ah I see.

Well I'm getting crashes due to the garbage collection not running I presume. If I'm working on C2 with the preview project sort of floating in the background, after a few minutes, I will get a windows message warning me about low RAM (I have 6gb), and if I leave it for about 20 more seconds, my computer crashes to black. I monitored this a few times, the only thing happening is Chrome/NW just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Could there be a "Force garbage collection" action? I wouldn't mind eating CPU at certain intervals to prevent crashing my PC whilst working!

EDIT: I'm realising how dumb my situation sounds due to this capx. The actual reason it's affecting my main project is particle related stuff, objects getting created and destroyed frequently. Ramps up my RAM whilst I'm working.

Thanks everyone. It's great seeing feedback!

mrnannings

Yeah, well, not LAYERscale, but LAYOUTscale.

Hello Ashley,

I have been having bad problems with C2 in my project. I have been having crashes on my computer from lack of RAM due to this, and on 3 occasions I have lost work (Not too bad though, I make backups like crazy). I have replicated something that I hope you can resolve!

Problem Description

If you create many objects and delete them, the RAM usage of Node-webkit/Chrome, does not go back down.

Attach a Capx

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/776 ... yLeak.capx

Description of Capx

In this Capx, run it. You will see a blue box moving, that's there just to keep the engine flowing I guess, not too important.

If you tap space bar, it will toggle a value and cause about 9 sprites per tick to create. Tap space again to stop creating sprites and instantly delete them all.

Steps to Reproduce Bug

• Run project
• Open Task Manager and sort by Name to stop the processes from moving around and keep all processes staying together
• Look at the RAM values on Task Manager. Rather low and nice.
• On the project, tap Space to start spawning a lot of sprites, KEEP an eye on the RAM of the processes on Task Manager.
• Let the RAM build up a few extra 10's, maybe til the one that is rising reaches about 60 or 70 MB (Around 20000 sprites).
• Tap Space again to delete all the sprites and stop them creating.
• Look at the RAM. It does not go back down and remains at 60/70MB or whatever you tapped space at.

Observed Result

RAM usage stays high

Expected Result

RAM should go back down I think

Affected Browsers

• Chrome: (YES)

Operating System and Service Pack

Windows 7 64bit

Construct 2 Version ID

r206, but I know its happening on 207. I had to uninstall 207 as it broke something with the Paster plugin I was using and also created a weird smear effect when going fullscreen. I need to replicate the smear thing but it wasn't as urgent as this RAM bug.

I hope you can help. Thank you for your time, much appreciated!

Thanks for the feedback everyone! It's very nice to hear such a positive response I had the idea that people would think this stuff was dumb because it's based on already existing ideas, mechanics, and assets, which just seems lazy and somewhat uncreative. Very relieving to hear responses like this!

mattb

Your game looks awesome! Looks very polished and refined, and I really like the portal-inspired mechanics and feel of the game. That rope physics reminds me of the game Worms with the Ninja rope

Thanks for the positive suggestion about removing the whole link to "Portal" and "Sonic". It's a great idea and it makes a lot of sense, but as of now, I honestly want to keep this project as a free fangame. I'm very curious about seeing people's opinions on how I implement an idea with something more familiar, rather than trying to attract people into a new game with a totally different character set and lore. I have many other ideas to try and execute in the future, but this project is a lil experiment to see what I can do.

s0nic5o000

It's pretty tricky if you are not familiar with trigonometry, but definitely interesting to learn. I'd personally not like to hand-out the capx for the time being because I haven't really gone anywhere with this and it's been months of work, but I'm happy to help walk you through how to make it or point you to material that could help you understand how it can be done. There was someone that was making a behaviour that you can put onto a sprite that instantly grants you a practically perfect Sonic movement (better than what I've done in events), but the forums that contained this are currently down. The forums are located at this website, although I'm not sure when they will be back up:

whoisda

Thanks! Yeah it's been hard to figure out how to setup the scenery, I want to keep the Sonic assets, but they are so bright and colourful that you cannot see portals too well. Darkening it has been a decent temporary fix in order to raise the visibility of the portals, but you are right, I should reconsider the colour scheme.