[RM2K3] PARALLAX BACKGROUNDS AND LAG.

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Hello! I'm playing around with making parallax backgrounds in my game, because I enjoy how organic it looks. But I'm wondering, does this method cause extra lag? Here's a test map I'm working on:



Before I go further, though... Have any of you tried this method on larger maps? I'm seriously considering building most of my maps on a drawn background like this, but I worry that since it's a whole drawing (instead of being made up of tiles) that it will cause lag for the game.

Honestly I just need to test it out, but I wanted to know if any of you have any insight on the matter.

Thank you so much for your time, you guys.

- Jack
I don't think so. I've never heard of it causing lag.

Just be sure to test it before you start piling on parallel processes, so you have a baseline reading on lag.

And that does look pretty awesome. Reminds me of Westerado.
I've even animated parallax backgrounds. The process is pretty quick, faster than Pictures. In RPG Maker 2003/2000 you won't have any problems.
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
Possible Wild West game?!
author=Link_2112
I don't think so. I've never heard of it causing lag.

Just be sure to test it before you start piling on parallel processes, so you have a baseline reading on lag.

And that does look pretty awesome. Reminds me of Westerado.


Thank you very much! :) I've yet to play that game, always wanted to though.

author=Zachary_Braun
I've even animated parallax backgrounds. The process is pretty quick, faster than Pictures. In RPG Maker 2003/2000 you won't have any problems.


Thank you for the insight! You rock!

author=InfectionFiles
Possible Wild West game?!


Post-apocalypse. :)
author=Jackarais
Thank you very much! :) I've yet to play that game, always wanted to though.

It's damn good. At first I didn't like how you can only shoot horizontal, but after a while you get used to it. The way you hunt the bad guy is inventive and I really wanna steal the idea. The maps are amazing. The graphics are amazing. The dialogue and humor is great. It's one of the best games I played in a long time. I got it on sale but would suggest it even at full price(although everything is better on sale heh)
Using panoramas is actually pretty fast for whatever reason. You can also animate them with a parallel process event that's essentially "wait 0.1 secs, change panorama1, wait 0.1 secs, change panorama2, etc"
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
@Jackarais- Oh, even better :)
Ooh, I forgot to add. I found that most game processes that use an external resource, like playing a sound, loading a parallax background, etc. become faster if you do them once after the game is open. This loads them into the game's memory cache for fast use in case you need to use them again after you're finished with them the first time.

You can take advantage of this by placing some kind of black over the screen (like Hide Screen, or use a black Show Picture) and then accessing them in fast succession, in effect preloading them. You can even play sounds at 0 volume to load them into the cache. But I don't think this works for mp3s, because they are streamed (loaded dynamically?) Would need to test that out. I know a lot of the RPG Makers have trouble looping any music that isn't a midi file, causing a little stutter between loops as it loads the music into memory again.
Massive parallax images can cause lag, especially if you're using .bmps for some godawful reason. This isn't an RM2k3 issue, it's just that bmps contain a lot of totally uncompressed data.

Stick with .pngs (like you should always) and keep your maps under, oh, 75x75, maybe 100x100, and you should never see any lag whatsoever. Larger maps may cause a bit of slowdown on load, but I doubt it'll ever be a problem for 95% of computers. Panoramas are handled very well by RM2k3, for most purposes.

Also, I really dig that art style! Very nice.

edit:
author=Zachary_Braun
I know a lot of the RPG Makers have trouble looping any music that isn't a midi file, causing a little stutter between loops as it loads the music into memory again.
I'm almost positive this is a problem with the way RM2k3 handles .mp3s and not a memory issue, since even short mp3s have the same problem with the same delays. .ogg files, which are natively supported in RMXP, don't share the issue at all, and even very large .wavs can be played in RM2k3 without concern, and those are significantly larger.
Hexatona
JESEUS MIMLLION SPOLERS
3702
A part of me misses the dying art of MIDI. I mean, yeah, people are still making them, but it's not nearly as huge as it used to be.
Mirak
Stand back. Artist at work. I paint with enthusiasm if not with talent.
9300
Part of that is the stigma surrounding midi tracks (that they never sound the same when using different machines and so). I'm stubborn enough that i still create a midi first and then i "dress it up" with digital instruments, but it is true that most non professional musicians like me are no longer doing that step, instead opting to fabricate tracks with the vst instruments on the getgo.
author=Kaempfer
Massive parallax images can cause lag, especially if you're using .bmps for some godawful reason. This isn't an RM2k3 issue, it's just that bmps contain a lot of totally uncompressed data.

Stick with .pngs (like you should always) and keep your maps under, oh, 75x75, maybe 100x100, and you should never see any lag whatsoever. Larger maps may cause a bit of slowdown on load, but I doubt it'll ever be a problem for 95% of computers. Panoramas are handled very well by RM2k3, for most purposes.

Also, I really dig that art style! Very nice.


Thank you for your help, everyone!

I always make sure to save my files as .png . I'm also using 16 colors for this game, do you think the small color count will help keep lag down?
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