Topics

16

General BVE/OpenBVE / BETA testing

« on: October 31, 2011, 05:55:57 pm »

I just have a thought I'd like to share.

With a bunch of new users asking in every route/train thread about BETA testing, this thought just popped in my head. In my opinion, some of these users don't care about testing, they just want to get the route/train earlier and not have to wait for the final thing. I think that testers should just be limited to trustworthy people, instead of a first come first serve basis. BETA testers should be people who can notice mistakes, notice errors, write out constructive criticism, etc. They should be people who know what needs to be fixed, who notice the little things, stuff like that. I think that some developers should be a little bit more selective on who they choose to BETA test their routes.

For example, someone who can notice ever little mistake, such as Simon, would be a better BETA tester then those who just signed up to ask for a BETA copy

Just a thought of mine. Constructive criticism for this idea is welcomed. And FYI to some of you, constructive criticism doesn't mean saying "it sucks" and then leaving.

17

Station Talk / Small text box

« on: August 24, 2011, 11:04:37 pm »

Does anyone else have this problem? The small ass text box is starting to get annoying when you're trying to fix mistakes in your posts...

18

Other Games / Breathtaking mod (56K warning)

« on: June 25, 2011, 11:20:37 pm »

Just look at this... and the developer is a 16 year old! Absolutely the best mod I've ever seen for any game








Image credit to GTAForums user nkjellman.

Heres a trailer. The mod is slated for a July 2nd release
GTA IV - World Trade Center Trailer Mod 0.2 Version (NEW TRAILER )

I'm not really trying to advertise... I really just want to let people see something as good as this

19

Other Games / GTA IV on Sale

« on: June 22, 2011, 08:07:12 am »

For those GTA IV fans, if were planning to buy the game, buy it now. GTA IV EFLC is $7.49 and GTA IV is $4.99. All Rockstar games are on sale for 75% off

http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/rockstargames/

20

BVE/OpenBVE Support / If you have performance issues with BVE - Read this first.

« on: May 07, 2011, 11:15:34 am »

For those who are going to ask about performance issues with openBVE or BVE (ie. Lag), these four MUST be listed before we could help you with anything.

*Your Operating System, and the System Type
This can be found by right clicking My Computer, clicking properties, and telling us the Windows Edition and the System Type

*The amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) you have. This can be found by going to Properties like before and looking for Installed Memory (RAM)

*Your graphics card. This can be easily found by downloading GPU Z:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/
and telling us the name of your GPU, as seen in this screenshot


*Your Processor. This can be found in System Properties, under System and then Processors

However, for those who are not advanced with computers, the easiest way to list all of this at once is by downloading CPU Z:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Click the Validate button, and give them your email. Check your email for the link they give you and post that link here.

21

Other Games / Who wants a Trainz 2010 Voucher?

« on: February 24, 2011, 09:43:48 pm »

I got a voucher for Trainz 2010 Engineer's edition for 20% off. I don't want it, but if you want it, post here. Tomorrow night I will give it away to one lucky winner. The winner of course will be selected randomly.

22

General BVE/OpenBVE / How to improve performance on BVE and openBVE

« on: February 22, 2011, 10:28:56 pm »

As our routes become more and more detailed as well as routes from many foreign countries, I want to give a little guide for users on older systems to show them how to improve performance. I took a look at some statistics while running openBVE and BVE on a older system of mine.

In all games, the resolution of your game is going to most likely have the biggest impact on performance. For users running on any sort of integrated graphics card, 800 x 600 will most likely give you any playable FPS except on the less detailed routes. In my opinion, playable FPS means its steadily over 30 FPS, because in higher graphical areas FPS might take a dip. Also, keep the draw distance down, that way your system resources don't need to be also concentrating on working to render everything far, far ahead, even stuff that you might not be able to see. Keep that down to around 300-400, which will definitely improve performance from 500 or 600.

Lastly, in both BVE 4 and openBVE, a dual core system is needed, and at least 2 GB of RAM is needed to stay away from any issues involving running out of RAM. openBVE keeps my Pentium E2200 at around 60 % load, and along wtih the OS uses around 1.65-1.7 GB of RAM. For fasting loading, you can go get a better processor, or a SSD or another hard drive for RAID. During loading, sometimes your CPU can easily load the route quickly but it has to wait for your hard drive. Sometimes your hard drive waits for your CPU. A RAID 0 will increase speeds by about 100 MB/s which will be a huge difference in application load time and Windows boot up times. A Solid State Drive on my system loads the F in about 30 seconds, but I have a strong processor to go with it as well.

A tip for people who have stronger systems is to turn Vertical Synchronization on, or VSync in openBVE. All monitors have a refresh rate, normallya at 60 Hz. Some monitors have a higher refresh rate, some have a lower refresh rate. When you turn VSync on, you are limiting your FPS to your monitor's refresh rate. For example, with VSync on with my monitor, which has a refresh rate of 60 Hz, the most FPS I can have is 60 FPS. Why do I want to do that? When VSync isn't on, your graphics card can run as fast as it can, but the bad thing is the graphics card produces more FPS then the monitor can normally happen, thus sometimes creating a visual called Tearing, which is a little like this.



For those with a good setup, then enabling VSync will improve visuals in the game.

Have any more tips? Leave them here.