Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Discussion about the game and its default mods.
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Sleipnir
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Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Sleipnir »

Alongside the new Release 20200202 hotfix, I am releasing a new version of the "render test" builds that were previously shared in the Discord and IRC channels. These builds port several features that will be in the next playtest back to the current release so players can test and give feedback while playing on standard servers with other players using the regular release build.

There are two reasons for this: the first is that we are excited that these changes fix one of the oldest and worst usability issues with OpenRA and want to share it as soon as possible, and the second is that the underlying code changes they are built on may have serious implications for game performance and compatibility on some hardware/software configurations. We would therefore like some early testing so we have time to fix issues and understand whether we will be excluding a significant number of players with older systems (unfortunately our system information database does not capture enough information to test this).

New Features / Changes:
  • OpenGL 3.2 or OpenGL ES 3 are now required. Moving away from OpenGL 2 allows us to remove legacy code and workarounds, and is a first step towards supporting modern rendering APIs (Vulkan/Metal). This does unfortunately mean dropping support for some older systems (typically 10+ years old) that currently can run OpenRA.
  • Smooth Zooming. The previous "pixel doubling" feature has been replaced with the ability to smoothly zoom the battlefield using the mouse wheel or new hotkeys ([ and ] by default). The default zoom level (Medium) has been chosen to increase the size of the units on screen at larger resolutions (~1080p or greater), but can be changed using the new Battlefield Camera option in the settings menu and new introduction screen.
  • UI Scaling. The size of the menus, sidebar, and other UI elements can be increased by up to a factor of 2 using the new UI Scale option in the settings menu and new introduction screen.
  • Overhauled settings menu. In addition to the new Battlefield Zoom and UI Scale options, the Display settings layout has been refreshed and now also includes a VSync option. The Input settings has been completely overhauled, and now explains the differences between the Modern and Classic (previously "Left Click Orders") control schemes.
  • New introduction screen. A new screen is displayed when launching the game for the first time to introduce the most important display and control options.
  • Improved HiDPI support. OpenRA can now detect HiDPI rendering modes on Windows and Linux, which means that rendering should be noticeably less blurry for Windows players who have their desktop configured to use >=125% scaling, and Linux players no longer need to override environment variables. Many UI elements use high resolution artwork, so will remain crisp when drawn at larger sizes.
Known Issues:
  • Profile badges still use the standard resolution artwork. A future update will add support for rendering these at higher resolution.
  • The RivaTuner application will make OpenRA crash at startup. This is caused by RivaTuner inserting invalid legacy OpenGL calls into OpenRA, and is not something that we can fix on our side. Make sure that RivaTuner is disabled before launching OpenRA.
  • We have seen two cases where OpenRA freezes on startup on Linux with an AMD graphics card. We don't yet know whether these were unlucky isolated issues, or represent a more general problem that impacts all AMD systems. If you are running Linux with AMD, we would appreciate if you could comment below or in this GitHub issue to say whether or not the game freezes and with the output of the glxinfo -B. If it does freeze, launching OpenRA from the terminal with the command line argument Graphics.DisableGLDebugMessageCallback=true should resolve the issue.

Download release-20200202-rendertest5:

Download for Windows (64 bit)
Download for Windows (32 bit)
Download for macOS
Download for Linux: Red Alert, Tiberian Dawn, Dune 2000

If you discover a bugs or have any other feedback, please comment below and we will try to resolve them before the first official playtest that includes these features.

morkel
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Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2020 8:07 pm

Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by morkel »

Possible bug in rendertest.

Step to reproduce:

1. Create a new map (snow, 128x128)
2. Add some random tile and use it as a reference. Place a couple Actors on the left side of it, for example an oil derrick and a heavy tank.
3. Save map
4. Reload map

Following these steps, the Actors (oil derrick, heavy tank) should move away from its original positions, to the right.

Doing this on the release (i.e. not in rendertest), the Actors are at the expected locations.

Settings:
UI Scale: 100%
Battlefield Camera: Far
Video mode: 100%
Current laptop resolution: 3840 x 2160 (and according to lines in stdout when launching the game, the game resolution is the same).

3DMaster
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Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:44 am

Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by 3DMaster »

I noticed scrolling the map is extremely slow.

Although zooming in that little bit helps some; I would still like to be able to set screen resolution and render resolution. Everything is just so tiny at full screen render resolution, blurry if you don't have native resolution, not that you can pick a different resolution at all right now.

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Sleipnir
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Sleipnir »

I don't understand your comment. That is what the new "UI Scale" and "Battlefield Camera" settings provide...?

Gunner|GDI|
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Gunner|GDI| »

3DMaster wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:47 pm
I noticed scrolling the map is extremely slow.

Although zooming in that little bit helps some; I would still like to be able to set screen resolution and render resolution. Everything is just so tiny at full screen render resolution, blurry if you don't have native resolution, not that you can pick a different resolution at all right now.
?? :dead:
:stressed: :crush:

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netnazgul
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by netnazgul »

Sleipnir wrote:
Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:48 pm
I don't understand your comment. That is what the new "UI Scale" and "Battlefield Camera" settings provide...?
Btw the OP says "up to the scale of 2" for UI scaling, but I only have 100% and 125% options in a combobox.

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Sleipnir
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Sleipnir »

They are only available at larger screen/window sizes. Otherwise, things like the lobby window would not fit.

Adrian
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Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:44 pm

Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Adrian »

Thank you for smooth zooming and UI scaling, first of all.

And about
cases where OpenRA freezes on startup on Linux with an AMD graphics card
This release realy does not work
on computer with "AMD Ryzen 3 2200G" processor (built-in graphics);
Kubuntu 19.10.

And it works normally with the next option

Code: Select all

./OpenRA-Dune-2000-x86_64.AppImage Graphics.DisableGLDebugMessageCallback=true

Adrian
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Adrian »

we would appreciate if you could comment (...) with the output of the glxinfo -B.
It will be BIG message.
I did not find here something like cut or spoiler tags.

glxinfo -B

name of display: :0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
Extended renderer info (GLX_MESA_query_renderer):
Vendor: X.Org (0x1002)
Device: AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.33.0, 5.3.0-29-generic, LLVM 9.0.0) (0x15dd)
Version: 19.2.8
Accelerated: yes
Video memory: 2048MB
Unified memory: no
Preferred profile: core (0x1)
Max core profile version: 4.5
Max compat profile version: 4.5
Max GLES1 profile version: 1.1
Max GLES[23] profile version: 3.2
Memory info (GL_ATI_meminfo):
VBO free memory - total: 1483 MB, largest block: 1483 MB
VBO free aux. memory - total: 2988 MB, largest block: 2988 MB
Texture free memory - total: 1483 MB, largest block: 1483 MB
Texture free aux. memory - total: 2988 MB, largest block: 2988 MB
Renderbuffer free memory - total: 1483 MB, largest block: 1483 MB
Renderbuffer free aux. memory - total: 2988 MB, largest block: 2988 MB
Memory info (GL_NVX_gpu_memory_info):
Dedicated video memory: 2048 MB
Total available memory: 5120 MB
Currently available dedicated video memory: 1483 MB
OpenGL vendor string: X.Org
OpenGL renderer string: AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.33.0, 5.3.0-29-generic, LLVM 9.0.0)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.5 (Core Profile) Mesa 19.2.8
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.50
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile

OpenGL version string: 4.5 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 19.2.8
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.50
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile

OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 19.2.8
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20

eskimo
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by eskimo »

On the off chance, try the latest AMD drivers as i see you're on 19 still.

Adrian
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Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:44 pm

Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Adrian »

eskimo wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 3:37 pm
On the off chance, try the latest AMD drivers as i see you're on 19 still.
After new standard updates for Kubuntu 19.10, the game runs good.

Now it works without the option:
Graphics.DisableGLDebugMessageCallback=true

Simply:
./OpenRA-Dune-2000-x86_64.AppImage

KingSyphilis
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by KingSyphilis »

Any chance of Pixel Aspect Ratio correction being implemented? E.g. Most sprites for Tiberian Dawn and Red Alert were rendered for output at 320x200, with an intended 5:6 PAR (as opposed to 1:1), for viewing on a 4:3 CRT.

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Sleipnir
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Sleipnir »

Yes, but probably not in the near future.

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Major Kusanagi Motoko
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Re: Release 20200202 "Render Test" builds

Post by Major Kusanagi Motoko »

lets all just get an old CRT (from india or somewhere)
a 4x86 16MHz system
a nullmodem cable,
and play those incredibly intense 2 HOURS LONG LAG FOR LIFE 1v1s!

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