Release Notes 0.22 and Hardware Acceleration

[DeletedUser511]

Lower graphic lower memory to be used! Fixing one problem and making many more isnt a fix! IN your line of thinking blowing the engine to my car is all fine as long as I fixed the flat?

 

[DeletedUser61]

the minor issues will be simpler.

You're cheating! If it turns out that it's NOT simple, then it wasn't minor, huh?

 

[DeletedUser486]

Lower graphic lower memory to be used! Fixing one problem and making many more isnt a fix! IN your line of thinking blowing the engine to my car is all fine as long as I fixed the flat?

This is not limited to Elvenar only; it happens with every game in the world.

Updates can be tricky. As Whisper said, unrelated features might be affected by an update and it's certainly frustrating, but I can live with it if a major problem was dealt with. The Flash crashes affected the gameplay experience way more than the minor visual bugs we're experiencing post-update; I don't mind waiting for a hotfix if it means the game is no longed unplayable.

Of course keep in mind that it takes a lot less resources to fix issues like town names overlapping. It most certainly won't take as long as it did to solve the flash crashing.

 

[DeletedUser]

A lower graphics option wouldn't have fixed the issue. The issue was with the algorithms and the storage of flash files - regardless of size. This was a necessary update to fix a fundamental problem with Flash. A lower graphical setting would have only meant you get maybe an extra city or two assisted before it crashes. The major issue is dealt with, the minor issues will be simpler.

So, optimistic'ly, the next update actually will fix a lot of these more cosmetic and ergonomic bugs whereas they could not really be addressed without implementing the HA and flash player memory updates in the first place. Right?

 

[DeletedUser18]

You're cheating! If it turns out that it's NOT simple, then it wasn't minor, huh?

You might think that... I couldn't possibly comment...
Sincerely, I do think that all of these are simple issues. Certainly they all pale in comparison to the sheer multitude of flash issues prevalent before Hardware Acceleration.

So, optimistic'ly, the next update actually will fix a lot of these more cosmetic and ergonomic bugs whereas they could not really be addressed without implementing the HA and flash player memory updates in the first place. Right?

I believe this to be the case. All updates are finicky - altering a digital game is a bit like playing a digital version of Jenga. (Luckily it only takes a button to rebuild the tower though) This put down the foundation to facilitate future advancements, it came with some hiccups but those should be a simpler issue.

 

[DeletedUser43]

Whisper, I am confused about hardware acceleration. If you could explain it to me I'd really appreciate that. Pretend you are speaking to a 5 year old, and just give me the general way it works if you would. Keep in mind I am not computer savvy.

I am also curious what the last update did. Because on my machine, the game runs pretty much the same with or without HA. Both ways I don't get the shockwave crashes any more. So to the way I play, it seems like the upgrade fixed the crash issue on its own, without HA. But, I don't really understand this stuff.

 

[DeletedUser18]

I'll do my best.

5 year old explanation: (a very articulate 5 year old)

Hardware Acceleration is an optimization tool meant primarily for older computers or underpowered computers. Your processor in the computer is responsible for processing the images and animations within your browser. Elvenar has fairly large file sizes when concerning the images and animations due to the detail on each building and your screen's resolution. If you have a high-resolution screen, your processor will have to work harder to produce the same image due to the higher detail (in pixels) When your processor can't work any harder, you freeze - you glitch - you give up. With hardware acceleration, your processor gets a life line - your graphics processor. Your graphics processor normally renders graphics on programs within your computer. This graphics processor takes on whatever it can before your main processor gets the task. This can help stop your main processor from becoming overloaded.

When Hardware Acceleration may be needed:

• If you have an older computer with a dated processor.
• A new computer with a budget processor
• Many programs running at once that tax your processor

Hardware Acceleration changes the way your computer handles the code necessary to display the game and use the interface. It does come with tradeoffs - you may gain utility but lose flexibility. That is, it will make your game "stable" but it might not be "as fast" as it would have been otherwise - if you do not need hardware acceleration, you likely will never notice it's on - if you do need hardware acceleration, you wouldn't be able to run it effectively otherwise. If you have a good processor, you won't need hardware acceleration, if you have a bad one, you probably need it. (In layman's terms - it will either help you or do nothing)

Hardware Acceleration is just one component of the last update. It's a welcome addition, but the main star is the flash memory management. Your browser cache stores images from websites to provide faster load times when you access that particular site in the future. Flash is similar in that regard. The main difference is that Flash is an independent program, not tied to your browser directly. As flash stores files, these files increase the size of your total flash cache. The larger this gets, the more resources it takes from your processor to keep it functioning. This update changed how these files are stored. I believe this explains the longer load times - since flash files not important to the game's stability might not have been reserved under the new algorithms. (Please note that this last part is simply my speculation on the matter - but I still believe it is a logical assumption)

EDIT: 1 more clarification - the above is not 100% truly accurate. But it is the closest I can think of at this time to a simplistic answer. Truth be told, this is not a simple question.

 

[DeletedUser43]

That was just perfect and so much appreciated Whisper!! This 5 year old actually understands much better now! Thank you!!

 

[DeletedUser626]

The /who chat command is now available, so you can verify your Chat Session without cluttering up all of the other chat screens. That will make the troubleshooting a lot more graceful.

the /who chat command is a nice chat feature.
curious if there is a way to whisper (/w <player name>) a message to players with two words in their name.

 

[DeletedUser61]

We don't know yet, and it's still a hypothetical question. Nobody has reported a problem with spaces, but nobody in any of my Fellowships HAS a space in their names so neither have we tested it.

 

[DeletedUser626]

I'm not certain it is a problem, I just may not be doing it right. wondering if anyone has figured out how yet.

 

[DeletedUser61]

You NAILED it.

• You have a post by Ida Prime
• A failed whisper "Ida is not on-line"
• A /who that shows that Ida Prime is indeed on-line.

I also tried to sneak a name through using a wild card character of * or _, but that doesn't work either, so I can't even suggest a workaround.

Could you do us a huge favor and formally report it in the Bugs section, along with the details of your system and the program version?

 

[DeletedUser18]

@Frostwyrm

This issue is being reported to the developers. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.