Ultra Mode 7

[bblizzard]

Yeah, somebody else already reported that "star" tiles didn't work right. I'll definitely look into it.

Hm, not sure why it would freeze for half a second like that. The only thing that comes to my mind is an update of the entire map, but this should be disabled now in 1.2.0. You say you could reproduce this in a completely new project? Also, were you moving around when this happened or were you standing still?

 

[Espilonarge]

Hm, not sure why it would freeze for half a second like that. The only thing that comes to my mind is an update of the entire map, but this should be disabled now in 1.2.0. You say you could reproduce this in a completely new project? Also, were you moving around when this happened or were you standing still?

It seems to be happening regardless if the player stands still or is moving around. It also seems to happen regardless if it's a new project or an established one.

Just to verify this is actually happening, I've recorded the consoles timeline when this happens and taken a screenshot to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Again, the "Animation Frame Fired" calls are always a random high number (well over 1000 or more calls) while "Function Call" always seems to be exactly 1900. The other one further down the timeline is similar (around 2400 "Animation Frame Fired" calls) but the "Function Call" seems to remain the same (exactly 1900). This was done on 256x256 maps, one containing a single "walkable" tile across the map and the other containing a very complex and detailed map (which I've shown back on Page 8).

The only crucial detail that I've noticed that stands out is that while the "Animation Frame Fired" calls made are always random, the "length" of both calls always starts and ends on the Main Threads at the exact same time.

 

[Poppie360]

I just tested and it seems to be staying stable at a near-solid 60FPS average.

I did however notice 2 issues though.

1) On large maps (256x256 or bigger) around every 30 seconds (give or take a few), the game would "freeze" for half a second before normalizing. When testing it in a new project and looking in the timeline debugger, when the freeze does happen, it seems to be sending a large number of calls from "Animation Frame Fired" (always a random value but well over a couple odd thousand average) and "Function Call" (it seems to always be, at least from my tests, around 1900 average) to the RPG_Managers.js. Smaller maps however tend to not be affected by this issue as much or at all.

2) If you're using a Parallax/Layering based plugin (such as Galv's Layer Graphics plugin) then there's a chance that you may run in to a minor graphical glitch.

If you have tiles set to display on the upper-layer (aka the "star" icon/symbol), they can "vanish" and "reappear" when you're moving around (only when you've moved on to "certain" tile spaces on the map so this is not simply just a "random" situation). This seems to happen more often on large maps (256x256 or larger). I've linked two screenshots below to give an example of the vanishing upper-layer tiles.

The only way to get around this issue for now (other than waiting for a possible "fix" to happen) is to adjust any tile that's set to display on the upper-layer to the lower-layer (the "circle" icon/symbol) instead to prevent the minor glitch.

thank goodness i saw this, i hadn't gotten a new version of the script in a while and now the issues with fps has been fixed. i just ran a map that used to lag horribly and now it runs fine. glad that it's fixed now!

 

[bblizzard]

@Espilonarge Thanks, this data will help me a lot. I'll try to reproduce it when I have time and get to the bottom of this.

 

[Poppie360]

@Espilonarge Thanks, this data will help me a lot. I'll try to reproduce it when I have time and get to the bottom of this.

i have noticed the buffering too, for a second or two it chokes up and then goes back to the normal fps.

 

[Espilonarge]

Well, I just ran in to a minor incompatibility issue. Nothing serious, just that Mog's Character Motion plugin will mess with the Base Scale Z factor so all characters will be stuck at "1.0" size regardless of how close or far they are on the map (regardless if the position of Ultra Mode 7 is above or below Mog's Character Motion plugin). It's most likely due to Mog's plugin taking priority for functions like rotating and scaling so in turn it's technically "hijacking" all sprite functions and preventing Ultra Mode 7 from being able to scale anything.

I guess I'll just have to find either another plugin that does similar functions/features (ones that hopefully won't "hijack" the sprites functions) or find work arounds for specific effects like "floating" and such.

 

[Lonewulf123]

Well, I just ran in to a minor incompatibility issue. Nothing serious, just that Mog's Character Motion plugin will mess with the Base Scale Z factor so all characters will be stuck at "1.0" size regardless of how close or far they are on the map (regardless if the position of Ultra Mode 7 is above or below Mog's Character Motion plugin). It's most likely due to Mog's plugin taking priority for functions like rotating and scaling so in turn it's technically "hijacking" all sprite functions and preventing Ultra Mode 7 from being able to scale anything.

I guess I'll just have to find either another plugin that does similar functions/features (ones that hopefully won't "hijack" the sprites functions) or find work arounds for specific effects like "floating" and such.

That stinks. I was planning on using that. Have you had any luck finding a replacement ?

 

[Poppie360]

i found a relatively good way to make caves with the system, i also figured out an alright way to deal with walls that are not parallel to the camera.

 

[Espilonarge]

That stinks. I was planning on using that. Have you had any luck finding a replacement ?

I'm doing some Google-Fu to see what I can find but otherwise, nothing at the moment. I'll keep you posted if I do find an alternative or I figure out how to get in contact with MogHunter to see if they could work out something.

 

[YoraeRasante]

So, I made a small thing...

They work just like fixed-direction events, so...
I suggest placing them without the mode7 effect and adding it after, because when placing them with the mode7 positioning gets a bit confusing.

I'm waiting for @bblizzard to make his plugin allow for non-standing events before I shamelessly copy it again for lower-layer doodads

 

[Poppie360]

is there a

So, I made a small thing...
View attachment 97382
They work just like fixed-direction events, so...
I suggest placing them without the mode7 effect and adding it after, because when placing them with the mode7 positioning gets a bit confusing.

I'm waiting for @bblizzard to make his plugin allow for non-standing events before I shamelessly copy it again for lower-layer doodads

performance improvement? really im just wondering if it would work better when having high numbers of events (like 500-ish)

 

[Espilonarge]

So, I made a small thing...

Sir, this is no small thing. This will be VERY useful to get around the issue of using "events" for every tree, plant, building, etc.

On another note, I'm still hoping for a few more customization features. A "fade coloration" Plugin Command (with a duration timer between colors) and maybe the possibility of using two (or more) colors to make gradient effects. I remember seeing something a while back that it was planned but nothing ever came of it (I can wait longer since the main issue I had with the FPS was fixed and it was worth the wait).

Also, the ability to adjust the Far_Clip_Z/Fade_Z_Begin/Fade_Z_End/Base_Scale_Z functions on-the-fly through Plugin Commands (with possible duration timers) would be just as useful, especially when you adjust the camera distance.

is there a performance improvement? really im just wondering if it would work better when having high numbers of events (like 500-ish)

Due to the fact that Yanfly's Grid-Free Doodads does not use "events" for its object placement, you're free to place as many as you wish as well as add a multitued of "animated" Doodads, all with little to no hampering to the FPS.

http://yanfly.moe/2016/09/17/yep-116-grid-free-doodads-rpg-maker-mv/

There is a second plugin that goes with it that adds a handful of other functions/features such as the "color tone" of doodad and such.

http://yanfly.moe/2016/12/17/yep-122-extended-doodad-pack-1-rpg-maker-mv/

Also, I suggest also grabbing Yanfly's Region Restrict plugin as this will help make it so you can "block" off areas you don't want people to access as Doodad's do not have the same properties as events.

http://yanfly.moe/2015/10/20/yep-18-region-restrictions/

 

[bblizzard]

@Waterguy So this small addition allows Yanfly's doodad script to work? Sweet. I'll integrate it into the main script next time I work on it. I thought it'd be more work, something like 100-200 lines.

@Espilonarge Yup, I did plan to make an extensive coloring configuration that would allow you to make presets and then use a preset on a map. And on top of that you can change them while on the map as you like. I can even make fade animations quickly just like I did with the other parameters. It's not much work.

@Poppie360 There is definitely a performance advantage when using doodads. Events have additional processing while doodads just need the graphic to be visible. 500 doodads will definitely cause less slowdown than 500 events.

 

[YoraeRasante]

I was surprised myself.

 

[Espilonarge]

@Waterguy So this small addition allows Yanfly's doodad script to work? Sweet. I'll integrate it into the main script next time I work on it. I thought it'd be more work, something like 100-200 lines.

It's still very useful regardless if you do or don't add it to the plugin as this would free up maps from using events for everything object based (and less work on MV's backend for eventing). I would still state for the record that if people do use Yanfly's Grid-Free Doodads with your plugin to also get Yanfly's Region Restrict so if game makers don't want people to pass through walls, trees or other objects that are suppose to block peoples paths, it would work similar to events blocking a player in that regard (even Yanfly states to use it for that situation).

@Espilonarge Yup, I did plan to make an extensive coloring configuration that would allow you to make presets and then use a preset on a map. And on top of that you can change them while on the map as you like. I can even make fade animations quickly just like I did with the other parameters. It's not much work.

Personally, I do have to really thank you for bringing back a much needed plugin for the game I've been working on the past couple of years. I'm honestly giddy (the good kind) that you've taken the effort to work on something and not abandon it halfway, and still surprise even me by taking the time to fix, adjust and add to the feature list to make this plugin perfect. Again, thank you.

@Poppie360 There is definitely a performance advantage when using doodads. Events have additional processing while doodads just need the graphic to be visible. 500 doodads will definitely cause less slowdown than 500 events.

As stated in Yanfly's video, that was one of the major advantages of the Doodads and one of the many reasons why I use it.

On top of that benefit, Doodads are not "limited" to MV's default 48x48 tile layout (as per the "Grid-Free" part in the plugins title and I have a plugin that adapts my tiles to 32x32) so you could easily make varied alignments to things like walls, trees and so forth to give them more "depth" to placement. On top of that, you also have the major advantage of not being limited to using just MV's B-E tilesets so you can place any Doodad your heart desires (even super wide-and-tall things like giant trees or skyscraper buildings).

 

[Poppie360]

It's still very useful regardless if you do or don't add it to the plugin as this would free up maps from using events for everything object based (and less work on MV's backend for eventing). I would still state for the record that if people do use Yanfly's Grid-Free Doodads with your plugin to also get Yanfly's Region Restrict so if game makers don't want people to pass through walls, trees or other objects that are suppose to block peoples paths, it would work similar to events blocking a player in that regard (even Yanfly states to use it for that situation).


Personally, I do have to really thank you for bringing back a much needed plugin for the game I've been working on the past couple of years. I'm honestly giddy (the good kind) that you've taken the effort to work on something and not abandon it halfway, and still surprise even me by taking the time to fix, adjust and add to the feature list to make this plugin perfect. Again, thank you.


As stated in Yanfly's video, that was one of the major advantages of the Doodads and one of the many reasons why I use it.

On top of that benefit, Doodads are not "limited" to MV's default 48x48 tile layout (as per the "Grid-Free" part in the plugins title and I have a plugin that adapts my tiles to 32x32) so you could easily make varied alignments to things like walls, trees and so forth to give them more "depth" to placement. On top of that, you also have the major advantage of not being limited to using just MV's B-E tilesets so you can place any Doodad your heart desires (even super wide-and-tall things like giant trees or skyscraper buildings).

well i just have to give it a try then, i had used it a bit before but i wasn't using it in such a large scale that it would show if it would lag or not. i'll let you know what i think later on

 

[YoraeRasante]

well i just have to give it a try then, i had used it a bit before but i wasn't using it in such a large scale that it would show if it would lag or not. i'll let you know what i think later on

I know of someone, forgot who right now, who did the test.
It will definitelly lag much less than using events, at least.

 

[Lonewulf123]

This is really a game changer.

Thanks @Waterguy !

 

[Poppie360]

@Waterguy So this small addition allows Yanfly's doodad script to work? Sweet. I'll integrate it into the main script next time I work on it. I thought it'd be more work, something like 100-200 lines.

@Espilonarge Yup, I did plan to make an extensive coloring configuration that would allow you to make presets and then use a preset on a map. And on top of that you can change them while on the map as you like. I can even make fade animations quickly just like I did with the other parameters. It's not much work.

@Poppie360 There is definitely a performance advantage when using doodads. Events have additional processing while doodads just need the graphic to be visible. 500 doodads will definitely cause less slowdown than 500 events.

that sounds pretty good, i'll start messing with all that once i get the chance

 

[bblizzard]

Personally, I do have to really thank you for bringing back a much needed plugin for the game I've been working on the past couple of years. I'm honestly giddy (the good kind) that you've taken the effort to work on something and not abandon it halfway, and still surprise even me by taking the time to fix, adjust and add to the feature list to make this plugin perfect. Again, thank you.

No problem. Since I started working on my game and already basically made it work, I figured it would be a good idea simply to share it with the world since MV hasn't had any good Mode 7 plugins up until now. Plus, it gives me an easier way back into the community and when I finish the game, I won't be some random dude who suddenly popped up with a game, but someone people already know about (again xD).