60 FPS - is that a problem for you? (MMF2)

[PkR]

Since MMF2 has an opportunity to change the application's framerate, I think most of the authors have changed their projects to 60 FPS (if they own MMF2, of course). The problem is: not only does the framerate change, but also this has an influence on the conditions'/actions' speed. In other words, this speeds up the whole application, and this is not as good as it may sound.

For example, when you port the engine to MMF2 and change FPS to 60, it all becomes too fast. "It felt like you were Super Sonic" - said one of my friends.

The question is - how did you overcome this issue? I see that the solution may be in change of Acceleration, Gravity and other values. I've tried it and it really works, although I still find my engine a bit too fast comparing to the old one.

Any other ideas?

[Gradient]

Halve every single value? This is a problem in Game Maker (if you choose to alter framerate partway through), but I suppose that if all you are doing it doubling the framerate then you simply need to halve everything - animation speeds, changes in values and variables, etc. Then apply any small tweaks you may need.

I suspect your perception that the engine is faster may be largely that the game is, ultimately, twice as smooth. This won't affect everything dramatically (animations with a small number of frames will probably seem pretty much the same), but with smooth, flowing graphics comes a sensation of speed. You'll get used to it, and probably see the old engine as too sluggish, given time.

[Nitemare]

Other than adjusting the values, their really isn't anything you can do (unless you want to stick with 50fps for the sake of staying with something you're used to, I keep coding things in XG and then finding them to be too fast and having to rework it ;P).

Just divide any value used by 60 and multiply it by 50, it should stay the same speed.

[Ryong]

Meh, I'd just finish my project with the old fps and then start a new project and get used to the faster one.

[Kain]

I've always felt MMF/TGF games and their 50 FPS felt too slow. It's just what you're used to, I guess. Most Sonic games opperated at 60 FPS (I think CD might have been 50), so it's easier to change animation, background, etc. speeds to look more classic Sonic-like.

Although, if you change the accelerations and game speed but don't change the animation speeds to match, the game will look much too slow or fast.

[ssbfalcon]

They felt slow because people set the speeds slow trying to mimick the speeds of the classic games... I always hated the slow acceleration... I mean, isn't Sonic supposed to be fast?

That's why I always adjust the acceleration to be a bit to much faster than you're used to... (granted, that make adjusting decellaration a pain to get it perfect) and the movement turns out to be more fun IMO (Think Mario64 where it was fun just moving around)

But what Nitemare said should work... Otherwise, just redo the values to something that feels right for your game...

[Kain]

Game Maker engines use the same accelerations. Dami's GM engine (maybe his TGF/MMF too) uses values calculated by Taxman as the accelerations used in the Genesis games. I used to use extremely fast accelerations (I'm sure noone remembers Sonic Terminal Velocity), and when if comes to level designs, it usually doesn't work as well.

[ssbfalcon]

In classic resolutions, (320x240) fast acceleration won't work at all... 400x300 allows for a bit more accelaration, and the resolution I'm using from now on (It's about time we get high res fangames) 512x384 allows for even more speed.

However, with each window size, level design must be different for it to work properly, otherwise levels might feel cramped, weird, etc... But the higher res does allow for cooler effects (particles look much better at 512x than 320x)

[Kain]

It goes without saying that higher resolutions need proportionally higher accelerations, but as long as the character size to screen size ratio stays the same, it's not going to be/look faster. And I think the classic games have a perfect character size to screen size ratio. Personally, I think 320x240 is the perfect resolution even for original graphics, but I see why others want higher.

[Asuma]

Higher FPS means higer speed in the games animation. Like when I play GTASA, I usually get 30fps, but when I'm in a empty area, my fps is like 70 and Carl moves like he's on Sugar.