Defining Awesome — Link-Dead Technology Test release
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  • Link-Dead Technology Test release

    Written by . Posted at 8:24 am on December 31st, 2009

    Link-Dead technology test is finally here on time and I welcome all to participate in testing. I want to test mainly video compatibility. Detect what doesn’t work or shows incorrectly and performance on other peoples computers. So when the proper release is here we can all enjoy it without glitches. Besides that if all works you can test playing a gostek in Link-Dead. I made a special climbing map just for this test. Try to get across the whole map and collect all red glowing artifacts.screen09-12-31-12-03-22

    If you get to the end artifact (on top of the small building), post a bug report [f5] with your nick and I’ll think of a prize later for everyone that has completed the test.

    Link-Dead Technology Test features

    • complete map movement with climbing
    • full animations
    • shooting and effects
    • dust processor effects on bullet hit
    • collision and physics
    • particle system and effects
    • bug reporter integrated with TwitPic
    • auto-updater
    • pixel shader normal mapped lighting with shadows
    • shadows and lighting without pixel shader for low-end gfx
    • map rendered procedurally from bitmap sketch
    • 3d sound effects
    • fullscreen smoothening shader
    • hanging lights
    • context menu GUI
    • Twitter news

    What to report?

    – Most of all tell me if it doesn’t work at all
    – Second if something works really badly. See the screenshot above for reference. It will look more flat if your video card doesn’t support pixel shaders.
    – Flashlight is seen only against walls and dust. If the lights don’t show there report.
    – If you have slow FPS (smaller than 30) please send a bug report (F5) so I can see your hardware
    – Gameplay bugs
    – Difficulty with controls
    – What you like most

    Please check the console (~ key) for errors and the Logs/app.txt and Logs/console.txt for errors.

    If there are display errors I’ll be especially interested in red console output of pixel shader compilation errors.

    The bug tracker is present here. Check if the issue hasn’t been already posted.

    When it doesn’t work

    As always be sure to have the latest video drivers installed. You should probably go to the ATi or NVidia homepage for that.

    If the auto-updater works correctly releases should be frequent. But I have to know what to fix. If something doesn’t work please describe as best as you can the problem and attach screenshots (if you can’t use the in-game reporting).

    Some things that might help:

    Open the config /Base/Scripts/autoconfig.gm
    set the following vars:

    If graphics don’t work or are really slow:
    v_useshaders 0
    v_savememory 1

    If sound makes the game unplayable:
    s_soundon 0

    Switching to windowed mode might help:
    v_fullscreen 0

    Download

    Note: loading for the first time may take up to a minute (I haven’t optimized the ambient lighting calculation)

    http://mm.soldat.pl/downloads/link-dead-techtest02 (7.85MB)

    http://mm.soldat.pl/downloads/link-dead-techtest01 (7.85MB)

    Come back later for updates. You should subscribe to my blog and Link-Dead media pages. Also follow the in-game news.

    And most of all tell me if you enjoyed it!
    Have fun!

    NOT BUGS:

    Flashlight can be only seen against walls and dust. This is normal and quite realistic behaviour of a flashlight.

    Stuff I left intentionally that I thought nobody would notice. Please don’t report these:
    -Falling off map.
    -Zooming and glitches because of it
    -Picking up player

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    75 comments.

    1. fuckyeah


    2. fuck i cant play it


    3. blind-dead

      its working, but I jumped out of the map and I fall all the time, how respawn/restart?


    4. YEAH!


    5. I enjoy it 😀
      But is it possible to get more then 20 – 21 fps?


    6. Mh, looks good, but i managed to jump into a polygon Oo


    7. Had a similar error to the graphic linked above. I run the exe, music starts, and there is a error and the exe has to terminate.

      After making the changes to autoconfig.gm you suggested, I was able to load and play.

      Initial thought after playing about 5 minutes; running and jumping seems to be iffy…many plunges to my death. Something to do with registering multiple keystrokes?

      Pretty fantastic, none the less!


    8. Is there an option for Anti-Aliasing? I seem to be getting 10-20FPS but for the last part of the map it’s 30FPS. weird. (I posted my bug reports)


    9. where i can see my bug reporteds?


    10. HexanValaris

      Nice, working fine for me, 31 fps fix!


    11. 31 fps, and my PC is not weak.


    12. 7 angels with 7 plagues

      Tested it. Liked what I see, this game has potential! Tough it was really slow on my Laptop (1Fps with shaders). :S specs: Core 2 Duo, intel gma 965 (I know this is why it’s slow) even with the shaders off (8-12 fps). I tried out the bug report feature for this. Other things, the controlls take time to get used to, I’m looking forward for the improved controlls (Climb down etc.) and the next version. Keep up the good work!

      Btw.: As soon as this new years eve thingy is out of the way I will contact you about the music i mentioned earlier.

      Happy New Year! Peace!


    13. Clive Jericho

      I get a runtime error as soon as it starts.


    14. Thanks for the BSOD.
      I would have loved to make a screenshit.. (wtf?)


    15. HexanValaris

      If you have dual-core processor, try this tweak, press ctr + alt + delete to task manager, and find ld.exe right click then press affinite/core setup disable one core. I hope this will help for who have low fps.


    16. I start it and music starts but there is an error and it has to terminate. I tried to open the GM files and make the changes you suggested which worked for other people, but it just doesn’t open. What should I do now?


    17. The game shutdowns just starting it… someone posted a pic of what happens
      http://mm.soldat.pl/news/link-dead-technology-test-release#comment-125136


    18. It is OK, but.. The torch doesn’t turn on and i can’t disconnect, because then it gives me a send/don’t send.


    19. Quite like the ambience and mood of the game.
      Running on 31 fps all the time.
      But i seem to keep falling to my death after the first real jump


    20. Working perfect for me!

      Hey, man! holy fuckin shit! you did a really nice job! congratulations!

      I will play more after the new year party, i have to travel now!

      cya!


    21. Lol. I can simply commit sucide with key combination f (flashlight)+ shift. Why do I report it here not via Twitter? Well, LD crashes after that. And why those graphics sucks so badly? So many glitches…. and don’t tell me that my mobile radeon 4650 sucks. I can play NFS:Shift in HD (using my LCD TV) with almost all setting set to high (only shadows aren’t). So don’t worry MM. Just work in silence until everything will be finished. You won’t tell me that you couldn’t see that infinite scroll before, for example.


    22. Managed to finish it.

      A few thoughts:
      -Walking feels very robotic. The character comes to almost a complete stop after each step. When a person walks they travel at a constant speed.

      -The character is very slow. I realise this isn’t supposed to be a fast paced game, but adding a sprint (maybe similar to COD4/MW2, 5 second sprint that can only be used every couple of minutes) might be something to consider.

      -With the character moving so slow gun fights will be decided by who can spam the mouse button the fastest, because there isn’t much the player can to do dodge. The reason why soldat is so fun is because the jet packs and manouvers the players can pull off add a whole new level of skill to shooting someone. Taking these mechanics means shooting someone, especially in a hallway, will take little skill.


    23. I didn’t come across any bugs other than a few dodgy collisions.


    24. Running everything on PC worked fine (except suicide and right mouse button… which works pretty weird and does only problems) so I will say good luck MM. Your are on a good way, keep it up and solve all bugs :D. I’m just curious why my weaker radeon presents better graphics than the mobile one… both run LD with 31 FPS, however on my laptop I can see only graphics bugs except a nice game


    25. @Skykanden
      +1


    26. Still needs work on the smoothness of control and yeah jumping gaps is a bit too difficult. Not quite sure what to do half-way through the demo either as the only option seems to be plunging to death.

      So far it does look interesting, but visually it’s lagging behind a certain standard I would have hoped for. But it’s still early in dev I suppose.


    27. i cant stop shooting at the roof lamps D:


    28. >_> omg I cant play it, the game does not initialize.


    29. http://i47.tinypic.com/2jeep79.png

      Specs:

      AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08GHz
      512MB RAM
      ATi Radeon 9200 128MB
      Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 2002, Service Pack 3


    30. http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/2827/aasas.jpg
      Same error on my laptop.

      Genuine Intel CPU T2050 @ 1.6ghz
      1GB RAM
      Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset Family
      Windows XP Professional SP3 / 32-bit

      ——————————————-

      I haven’t tested on my desktop PC yet.
      I hope it will work without problem on there.

      AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE @ 3.3 GHZ
      4GB RAM – 1066 Mhz
      ATI Radeon 4850 512MB
      Windows 7 Ultimate / 64-bit


    31. It’s very hard to let the character fall from the top of the platform and grab the edge. There should be a way to go down as there is to go up that isn’t falling.


    32. Knew it wouldn’t work.

      “LD.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.”

      I could hear the music, but not video at all, just a black screen, then the error.

      Windows XP Pro SP3
      128 MB ATI Radeon X1300
      2 GHZ processor
      2 GB RAM


    33. Fuck SHIFT+F !!


    34. Oh yeah I forgot to post my specs.
      The problem:
      “LD.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.”
      complaining about game.dll

      The specs:
      Windows XP Pro SP3
      2.22Ghz AMD Athlon 64
      256 MB ATI Radeon X800XL
      2 GB RAM


    35. lol doubt this game can run on these specs

      Windows Vista
      1.6ghz Intel processor (2 cores)
      Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset Family


    36. oops

      2GB of ram


    37. Can’t run it because it is Win only… Pls make a Linux version :)


    38. I feel like I’m starting to become a Man. This is noice by far, keep it up! Got sum bugs already, twittered.


    39. So I deleted those lines of text in world.GM like the news said, and it fixed the FPS nicely. only problem is there isn’t any fog, light or artifacts in the map! everyone should back up world.GM before editing it.


    40. MM is dead?


    41. Hey,

      Works great.
      Only a few bugs and other things.

      1. Pointing the flashlight at the edge of some textures causes a white line along them.

      2. He moves and falls like he weighs a ton, But im sure you already know that one.

      3. You know the jagged walls? Yeah I jump grabbed onto those and fell down a level or two on the map dying. Then the game crashed.


    42. @ID
      Mobile graphics cards are much slower than their desktop counterparts. My 512mb HD4850 is as fast a a 1gb GTX260 Go.


    43. OK, i played it properly today, got to the last artifact without a problem then fell off the side before i could do a bug report. So no bug in game. Although, the game crashes whenever anything MAP related happens, such as disconnecting or changing map
      LoadMap( “Maps/map1.png” );

      Otherwise is all smooth, FPS doesn’t even move. Controls are a bit iffy, but this is an alpha. Also, i strongly suggest you do move frequent public tests, it will help keep bug’s to a minimum.


    44. Haven’t been able to start it at all, always crashes when it starts “creating map edges.” It wouldn’t work on my desktop or laptop.


    45. Set up a forum for the next major version release. 😉


    46. Fish Fart

      I’ve waited years for this, All i can say is, its the most ballin’ thing ive seen since soldat, well this and overgrowth obviously! Keep up the great work MM!


    47. Makron666

      There is another bug, that i cant take a pic of because it crashes when I hit the bug report key [F5}. As soon as you start the game, start walking left, and get right against the wall, and then hit space, the character will climb out of the map.


    48. Awesome. Controls take getting used to but once i got the hang of it I could get all the artifacts without dying easy. One change i think would help control wise is to use w for climb rather than space. This would make sense because you use it to climb ramps and would stop it from jumping when you’re trying to climb and vice versa. Also, climbing down to hang from a ledge when you press s on an edge or something would be useful.


    49. Thanks a lot guys for testing. Everything seems to be running as I predicted. There aren’t any major bugs except the bug that crashes some computers on “Creating map edges”.
      Got a decent list of bugs which I’ll be fixing in the upcoming days. The auto-updater should fetch them.


    50. @Makron666: I understand that mobile versions are much weaker than the PC counterparts. I don’t even like laptops… But it still doesn’t mean that LD should cause some graphics bugs and fuckups (because of shaders, I think). My laptop is far more advanced than my PC… as I said, I can run NFS:SHIFT in 1920*1024 (laptop+tv) with almost full detail on. An it runs smooth. I had even tried Armed Assault 2 in same resolution with medium settings set and it ran smooth! So there are a problems with LD, not ‘poor’ laptop. I reported how it looked, so maybe MM will solve the problem.
      PS Happy New Year everyone!


    51. The link for the second release isn’t working for me.


    52. The link for the second release isn’t working for me.
      fixed.


    53. not really ;/


    54. oh you did sorry


    55. looks very promising!


    56. linux version?


    57. meh won’t work – http://i50.tinypic.com/2a930py.png

      AMD Athlon 3800+ ~ 2ghz
      2 gigs system ram
      geforce 6600 / 256MB
      xp pro sp3


    58. I’m not sure if this happened for anyone else, but the textures for the obstacles are all displaced to the right quite a way.
      By that I mean, I’m climbing the air, but the way I’m climbing it is the same as the geometry further on.


    59. If you right click a couple times while you are climbing a large ledge, you will fall through the map. If you hold down the right mouse button, you can actually fly around and easily get all the tokens.

      If may take a couple tries, but it works consistently, especially if you click right around where the character is bringing his knees up to get over the ledge.

      Would have written a bug report, but the description box goes off the screen after a sentence or so.


    60. The latest version no longger works on windows 2000 due missing dependency to GetProcessHandleCount function in kernel32.dll.

      GetProcessHandleCount fuction is supported only Windows XP with SP1 or newer.


    61. Just noticed that the dependency is in the Crash Reporter (CrashRpt.dll). So the Crash Reporter doesn’t work on windows 2000.

      Is there any way to turn the Crash Reporter off?


    62. I’ll make an option to do so.


    63. 1 FPS…


    64. can’t play
      guess my computer is too shitty
      my spec are…

      Intel Pentium 4 2.66 GHz
      510 MB RAM [512 MB]
      Geforce FX 5500 256 MB

      dont make fun of me T-T


    65. Krack, nice pc :) i have a celeron 2.4 ghz, 512+256 mb ram, geforce2 mx 400 64 mb, no shaders, just t&l.

      I can’t play the game, it crashes when making edges.. as MM said :3

      I have win xp pro.


    66. I found it rather amusing that, after the application itself had crashed, the crash reporter also failed to work properly.
      I saved the zip files that were created, in case they’re useful to you.

      http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/120511/1d71e180-1b75-4d92-bd63-0995954927c7.zip

      http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/120512/bcd235d9-5ee9-4549-9031-b3a4b01f5cff.zip

      XP Pro SP3
      Pentium M 2 Ghz
      2GB DDR2-533
      Mobility Radeon X300 128MB

      PS – Soldat is a ridiculous game, so addictive…
      If you were to make a game with the same control scheme but slower-paced and with rpg elements, I just might give up on trying to have a social life.
      Good thing I’m too cheap to buy a new laptop, hey?


    67. […] If you have video card problems or can’t start the game or just want to read additional technical notes on the game read the previous techtest release. […]


    68. DeadlyDad

      The updater isn’t working. It can’t download files that are available, and some that it tries to download don’t exist.


    69. Won’t work at all, engine stops working.


    70. I can just hope a Beta-Version will be released soon.
      I can’t wait anymore to play this game…


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