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New Engine Setting - Check Render Distance

7y
#1
On the in-development web v0.49.0 game, I have just added a new performance related engine setting that you can test out, the Check Render Distance toggle:

This setting is On by default (and has been enabled for several versions of the game now). Basically, the engine splits large buildings up into small segments and draws them each segment at a time in the proper view order, so that buildings and vehicles in the background do not show up when they are not supposed to. This can slow down rendering on some devices though, so I have added in the option to turn this feature off in order to improve performance.

If you disable this option, you will notice graphical glitches which may appear familiar to people who have played earlier versions of the game. But if you are more concerned with performance than with graphical accuracy, you may wish to disable the feature and live with the glitches.

The glitches are a result of using an isometric perspective with the game instead of just a straight grid. The buildings are all normal 2d graphics, but are projected in a fake 2.5d-ish plane, whereby on larger buildings (such as the capitol), the "back" of the building is much further away from the camera than the front, but being one static image, the building has to be drawn from the top-left corner of the actual image file. This means that on larger buildings, vehicles and other smaller buildings which are drawn after the larger building actually show through the larger building.

To get around this limitation, the engine now "chops" all images up into pieces 1/2 tile width, and then stitches them together in an appropriate order. On large buildings though, this can turn one drawing operation into 20 or more. On some devices it's no big deal. but on some it can be a deal breaker. Play with the toggle and see what works best for you!
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC
7y
#2
Would this feature allow you to add buildings that have odd-shaped grid layouts besides the normal square and rectungle layouts. For instance, would it be possible to add L, t, or even U or O shaped buildings?
7y
#3
Not on it's own, more would yet need to be added.
Owner of Ape Apps, LLC

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Ape Apps, LLC is an independent software development company founded in 2010 by Brandon Stecklein. Over the years, Ape Apps has published over 400 apps and games across various platforms. You can get in touch with Brandon on Twitter or by leaving a post on his wall @bastecklein
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