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Phase I: Performance Test

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  • Aron740Aron740 Member Posts: 153

    wigglesg said:

    I think we can fairly safely say that this performance test build works fine for those people who are actually frequenting this thread (I haven't seen a comment yet saying someone had a problem that was directly related to the purpose of the test).

    Well, I've been testing on Nexus 10 and it's giving me spotty performance. Doesn't mater how long it's been on, sometimes I"ll play through and get choppy/stuttering graphics and sometimes it'll be smooth.

    @Dee would it be useful for me to try to complete the test run when it is a bit rough again? I bought the N10 when I heard BG was coming out for Android and hopefully I won't need to upgrade. If not, I can certainly handle slightly lower framerate. Seeing as the computers I played it on when it was a new game were barely able to handle it. :)
    Can just add that I have the same problem on my N10
  • MythrialusMythrialus Member Posts: 137
    edited January 2014
    Dee said:

    We're getting some good feedback. Our programmers are working this week to fix some of the issues we found, and we're also looking at a better way to keep the testing more fluid (so that you don't get "out of bounds" every time you try to equip a long sword, for instance). I hesitate to give any sort of time-frame due to the nature of what's being done, but we're making good progress, and some nice improvements as well.

    @Dee That is all very good to hear! I have all the clutter off of my nexus 7 and 8gbs of free space waiting and willing. Side note: New season of Archer just came back on...Archer Vice... it will be epic.
  • fooflamfinnfooflamfinn Member Posts: 18
    Good to hear that the testing is at least netting good information and fixes. Really looking forward to rockin' this bad boy on my N7. :D
  • FaydarkFaydark Member Posts: 279
    The N10 will always struggle with "intensive" games, because the screen resolution is so large in comparison to the older generation CPU/GPU that has to drive it. It has to push around 4 times the number of pixels that other hardware does, so you could use as a rule of thumb 3 - 4 times lower framerates (assuming that pixel fill rate was the bottleneck).

    Not to say that improvements can't be made. There will be optimisations that can be made to the code, and additionally it may be possible to add a resolution selector (standard/high for example) where standard resolution runs it capped at 1080p or something.
  • atomicsnowmanatomicsnowman Member Posts: 31
    edited January 2014
    I feel like a game such as BG and BGII shouldn't have a problem running on even slightly older hardware like my N10. Many modern games run quite well on this 'old' thing.
    For example, Epic Citadel (Unreal 3) benchmarks at full resolution...
    15.8 FPS on ultra high quality (some parts dip down to an embarrassing 8 FPS).
    47.7 FPS on high quality
    51.0 FPS on high performance

    Pixel fill rate is not a problem, so it's probably being emulated in a way that requires a crap ton of CPU. I love BG and BG2 so I'm really hoping for some performance boost to the engine or at least to be able to scale down the resolution to 1080p. If not, I'm still buying it. :)
  • etotheoetotheo Member Posts: 61
    edited January 2014
    I keep checking back and seeing the successful test count crawl at a snail's pace...
    And I keep hitting the signup link to TestFlight with the hope of helping this move along a little faster...
    And I keep getting the same news...

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  • Aron740Aron740 Member Posts: 153
    I want to do something to increase the pace of the android release but I already tested the game a few times :( Nothing more I can do ... Cut the required tests down to 45/50 from 45/100!
  • atomicsnowmanatomicsnowman Member Posts: 31
    It must be some kind of discouraging for 100+ people to sign up to beta test this thing saying "Yes yes me! I want to help!" then says "meh, it'll get done". Maybe they can kick off a reminder to folks who didn't complete it. Eventually the reminder could come with a billy club, and a hired goon.
  • RookrockRookrock Member Posts: 18
    Why has no one said this yet as we wait for the other people to get successful tests?

    "You must gather your party before venturing forth."

    Just thought I'd lighten the mood ;)
    atomicsnowmanMariachiHuskarl2006Dice42
  • MrDaaarkMrDaaark Member Posts: 7

    It must be some kind of discouraging for 100+ people to sign up to beta test this thing saying "Yes yes me! I want to help!" then says "meh, it'll get done". Maybe they can kick off a reminder to folks who didn't complete it. Eventually the reminder could come with a billy club, and a hired goon.

    Signed up for TestFlight was a month and a half before anything actually came. TestFlight gave no feedback on the status of the beta or if I was even selected or any acknowledgement what-so ever. Just a blank white screen. So after a few days I forgot about it and moved on.

    e-mail finally came in my spam folder with cryptic instructions (1 line of broken english).

    Installing the app took about 7 attempts at 20-45 minutes each. How many never got past this step?

    The instructions for exactly what to do in the app were vague, and the app shuts down if you click on almost anything or take one step out of bounds. So I didn't realize that I hadn't completed the test until about a week later. The wording of the message when it dumps you doesn't say the test is incomplete and implies the opposite if you don't know any better.

    Both the e-mail and the error message could have been clearer. A nice paragraph in the e-mail about exactly what to do, and how to give proper feedback would have been better.
    solodcmk24fooflamfinn
  • DannyBarkleyDannyBarkley Member Posts: 50
    MrDaaark said:

    It must be some kind of discouraging for 100+ people to sign up to beta test this thing saying "Yes yes me! I want to help!" then says "meh, it'll get done". Maybe they can kick off a reminder to folks who didn't complete it. Eventually the reminder could come with a billy club, and a hired goon.

    Signed up for TestFlight was a month and a half before anything actually came. TestFlight gave no feedback on the status of the beta or if I was even selected or any acknowledgement what-so ever. Just a blank white screen. So after a few days I forgot about it and moved on.

    e-mail finally came in my spam folder with cryptic instructions (1 line of broken english).

    Installing the app took about 7 attempts at 20-45 minutes each. How many never got past this step?

    The instructions for exactly what to do in the app were vague, and the app shuts down if you click on almost anything or take one step out of bounds. So I didn't realize that I hadn't completed the test until about a week later. The wording of the message when it dumps you doesn't say the test is incomplete and implies the opposite if you don't know any better.

    Both the e-mail and the error message could have been clearer. A nice paragraph in the e-mail about exactly what to do, and how to give proper feedback would have been better.
    Therein, apparently, lies our problem.

    Devs must have enough bugs to fix at the moment, otherwise I can't imagine why they'd not sort this hardware test out properly.
  • solodsolod Member Posts: 58
    MrDaaark said:

    It must be some kind of discouraging for 100+ people to sign up to beta test this thing saying "Yes yes me! I want to help!" then says "meh, it'll get done". Maybe they can kick off a reminder to folks who didn't complete it. Eventually the reminder could come with a billy club, and a hired goon.

    Signed up for TestFlight was a month and a half before anything actually came. TestFlight gave no feedback on the status of the beta or if I was even selected or any acknowledgement what-so ever. Just a blank white screen. So after a few days I forgot about it and moved on.

    e-mail finally came in my spam folder with cryptic instructions (1 line of broken english).

    Installing the app took about 7 attempts at 20-45 minutes each. How many never got past this step?

    The instructions for exactly what to do in the app were vague, and the app shuts down if you click on almost anything or take one step out of bounds. So I didn't realize that I hadn't completed the test until about a week later. The wording of the message when it dumps you doesn't say the test is incomplete and implies the opposite if you don't know any better.

    Both the e-mail and the error message could have been clearer. A nice paragraph in the e-mail about exactly what to do, and how to give proper feedback would have been better.
    Totally had a sense that these would be ending up in peoples spam folders. Hopefully they are using this time to make sure everything is perfect. If we truly are moving onto the next phase once we get all 100 tests complete then we may be looking at close to two months at this point since we get about one test done a day. I hope it goes faster :) since the beta test is such a tease for the whole experience. Having played the test portion, I can say with confidence that it will totally be worth the wait. Hopefully a short wait.
  • matthileomatthileo Member Posts: 59
    @dee because of all this, I really think you guys should either consider expanding the beta, or lowering the number of tests needed to go on to the next phase.
  • Eck4343Eck4343 Member Posts: 38
    photo beamdoge_zpsd6e89e5b.jpg
    CrevsDaakWikkid_Suhn
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Allow me to quote me:
    Dee said:

    We're getting some good feedback. Our programmers are working this week to fix some of the issues we found, and we're also looking at a better way to keep the testing more fluid (so that you don't get "out of bounds" every time you try to equip a long sword, for instance). I hesitate to give any sort of time-frame due to the nature of what's being done, but we're making good progress, and some nice improvements as well.

    AristilliusEck4343rdarkenJonelethIrenicus
  • matthileomatthileo Member Posts: 59
    Dee said:

    Allow me to quote me:

    Dee said:

    Our programmers are working this week to fix some of the issues we found, and we're also looking at a better way to keep the testing more fluid (so that you don't get "out of bounds" every time you try to equip a long sword, for instance).

    that's really great, but doesn't address the concerns that some of the testers are not properly aware of exactly what they should be doing in a general sense: running through the test as fast as possible.

  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    It does address it, if you read this part:
    Dee said:

    we're also looking at a better way to keep the testing more fluid (so that you don't get "out of bounds" every time you try to equip a long sword, for instance)

    Eck4343rdarken
  • matthileomatthileo Member Posts: 59
    Dee said:

    It does address it, if you read this part:

    Dee said:

    we're also looking at a better way to keep the testing more fluid (so that you don't get "out of bounds" every time you try to equip a long sword, for instance)

    I did read that part. In fact, I specifically quoted that part. That's awesome that the test will be improved from a technical standpoint, but I think the reason why completions are so slow coming in is people don't understand they need to as quickly as possible get through the main part of the test.
  • wigglesgwigglesg Member Posts: 96
    So @Dee will there be a second build for this stage of the beta with fixes for the problems you've found so far incorporated into it?
  • Eck4343Eck4343 Member Posts: 38
    I think they will fix the problems, look for more, fix them, etc. then release the game, we all buy it and love it. ETA 1 to 30 weeks.
  • FaydarkFaydark Member Posts: 279
    I'm not sure how many testers are in the current phase, Testflight does have limits though. But I would expect that hardware testing would be targeting as wide a variety of hardware as possible, rather than focusing on getting as many testers as possible. (And indeed, Dee has posted that they do have a wide variety of hardware in the current test).

    If they invite N people with a Nexus 7 and all N report that it works fine.. is anything really going to be gained by opening the test to another 500 Nexus 7 devices? I'm sure if they need more testing on certain hardware they're quite capable of sorting that out.

    It also sounds like they've hit some hardware issues with some of the hardware, so it doesn't make sense that if (assumption based on number of completed tests) 50% of android devices in the test can't complete it that you would ignore that and move on.

    Patience. We've waited for over a year already, lets just chill and let Overhaul do their thing.
    wigglesgTroodon80RonnaannAnton
  • DannyBarkleyDannyBarkley Member Posts: 50
    It all makes sense now.
    They literally have one guy working on the Android version, lol.



    @TrentOster
    "@terminsane You are correct. We have one programmer working on Android right now. The other guy is flying back from Steam developer days."

    So I guess that's two at max, and a seemingly stalled / aborted hardware test.

    I'll check back in a month and see if we're on stage two of the closed testing phase.
  • solodsolod Member Posts: 58
    @DannyBarkley

    Well that kind of sucks. Isn't Overhaul a team of like 10 people at least? I can see that maybe they need to put some work in correcting bugs on the new Ipad BG2 but 1 person for Android? After 1 year of waiting? Yikes. Dee may have his PR work cut out for him on this thread.
  • solodsolod Member Posts: 58
    edited January 2014
    @Dee Cool. Sounds better when you explain it that way. Do you have any guesstimate on when the next phase of the beta will start?
  • smartroadsmartroad Member Posts: 47
    I have been trying to play the beta on my TF101 and my Note 2. Both play great but, as people have mentioned, it is so easy to bump into the out of bounds issue. One run through I started, went straight to Gorian, talk to him, went through the cinematics then just as the fight was just about to finish it said "Your have gone out of bounds, restart" LOL

    That said both devices play the game fluidly and I look forward to a fix and moving forward in testing.
  • solodsolod Member Posts: 58
    @smartroad - have you fully completed the cinematic for the Gorian fight? I think your test will not register as completed until you listen to all of the narrative dialogue after the cinematic. You will then get a message telling you the test is complete. I had the same problem the first time I ran through the test and then on the second time through, I was able to officially complete the test.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    The Minor Globe of Invulnerability, as it turns out, didn't make it into the list of animation resources included in the test build; so that's why some people are encountering the Out-of-Bounds message during the Gorion fight (the Minor Globe doesn't always go off).
    LrdApocCrevsDaak
  • Aron740Aron740 Member Posts: 153
    Dee said:

    The Minor Globe of Invulnerability, as it turns out, didn't make it into the list of animation resources included in the test build; so that's why some people are encountering the Out-of-Bounds message during the Gorion fight (the Minor Globe doesn't always go off).

    That might be something that should be fixed ASAP if we want to get out of this damn hardware test phase >:P
    Troodon80Rookrock
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