Author Topic: Please help us out by trying our experimental release: The Log Z Buffer Test (Read 9232 times)

Dan Dixon · « **on:** August 10, 2015, 10:50:22 PM »

The Logarithmic Z Buffer Test is an opt-in, experimental build we've released to test some major graphics changes we've made under the hood.

You must own Universe Sandbox Â² to participate. You can buy a Steam code from our website:
http://universesandbox.com/2

To switch to this build:
1. Right-click on Universe Sandbox Â² in your Steam Library and select 'Properties'
2. Click on the 'BETAS' tab
3. Change the beta to 'log-z-test'
4. Click the 'CLOSE' button and wait for the version to update
5. Click 'PLAY' and enjoy!

You will be asked to run a Performance Test upon launching the build (that will send us 6 screenshots taken during the test). As there are still a number of known issues, you'll likely want to switch back to Alpha 15.2 after testing this build out.

We're changing all the graphics to use logarithmic z-buffers. This website demo does a great job of illustrating what this means:
http://threejs.org/examples/webgl_camera_logarithmicdepthbuffer.html

Let us know if you run into any major issues and thanks for your help!

Cryo · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2015, 09:44:56 AM »

eye eye captain!

gabriel.dac · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2015, 12:32:57 PM »

Done. I guess I should run another performance test in the previous version so you can compare the results?

Tell us more what that is, exactly. Z is the depth dimension,right? Does that mean with this new opt-in we will no longer see blinking big trails when we zoom in too much?

By the way, I'm liking those other changes you're working on. What's the purpose of that new box on the left of the "add" menu?

so many questions

Dan Dixon · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2015, 03:09:47 PM »

Thanks to everyone who's tried this out so far.

No need to run another performance test in the other version, but you can if you want. We made some changes to the new test, so the results aren't totally comparable anyway.

Yes... Z is the depth dimension and this will fix blinking trails when you're close to another object. Is that working for you?

The new box on the add menu is a place for options for body placement. More options coming there in a future build.

EnuclearFireball · « **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2015, 05:17:18 PM »

Doesn't launch for me. my graphics driver crashes and then recovers, it does this every time US2 launches. It goes a few frames into the loading screen, then hangs on "Initializing".

Dan Dixon · « **Reply #5 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:35:20 PM »

@EnuclearFireball

Thanks so much for reporting this issue. This is exactly why we've released this build.

Based on your email address, I looked you up in our feedback system. Looks like Alpha 15.2 was working for you. Is this the same computer you were using for that?

Can you please make Universe Sandbox Â² get the black screen once again and email us the log file?
http://universesandbox.com/blog/2014/08/support-us2/#logs

Or just attach that here...

Can you also make sure your graphics drivers are up to date? Let us know if you need help figuring that out.

Plutonium · « **Reply #6 on:** August 11, 2015, 09:33:43 PM »

So far all works fine, the trails work much better. But there is no water on Earth, is this a bug?

Georg · « **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2015, 05:33:59 AM »

@plutonium

No, missing water is one of a few features that have not been ported to the new rendering code yet. We're taking care of them.

Right now we're interested in crashes and graphical glitches (pink planets, flickering, broken geometry and the like), let us know when you find any of those!

gabriel.dac · « **Reply #8 on:** August 12, 2015, 06:29:02 AM »

Yes, Dan. The trails look better. The bad part is that the performance seems to be lower when I'm zoomed in into one.

I'll play more and see if I can find and report some bug or glitch

EnuclearFireball · « **Reply #9 on:** August 12, 2015, 07:17:58 AM »

Well apparently after restarting the machine and a few tries starting the game, it decided to work.
I also found something interesting.

tepidbread · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2015, 10:12:12 AM »

Quote from: gabriel.dac on August 12, 2015, 06:29:02 AM

The bad part is that the performance seems to be lower when I'm zoomed in into one.

I agree the performance is definitely lower graphically. I launched Mercury at the Earth at 50 Km/sec and set the time step at 35 sec per sec. The game turned into a slide show. I was using my laptop (which isnt the fastest computer) but still... It has never lagged that much on Alpha 15. I have yet to try and replicate it on my desktop.

C7 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2015, 12:32:20 PM »

Quote from: Plutonium on August 11, 2015, 09:33:43 PM

So far all works fine, the trails work much better. But there is no water on Earth, is this a bug?

The shaders are still in progress, we're testing to make sure there's no major issues. There's still a lot of polish to be done visually.

Dan Dixon · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2015, 12:49:21 PM »

@EnuclearFireball

Glad to hear it's working better.

In order to figure out what's going on with the colorful planets we still need a log file.

Can you open Universe Sandbox Â², display a colorful planet, then click Home > Feedback, check the option to include your log file, and mention "colorful planets". Then post again here so we can go look for it.

Thanks!

EnuclearFireball · « **Reply #13 on:** August 12, 2015, 02:39:59 PM »

@dandixon Done!

gabriel.dac · « **Reply #14 on:** August 12, 2015, 10:58:14 PM »

I've sent you guys a couple of log files of supernovae bugs. I hope that helps

WitheHole18 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 13, 2015, 09:26:15 AM »

Yes,there are goods news,but also bad $:-\$ ,the new style of craters is too cool,but i receive a down of prestation with collisions,the artifacts of grapichs are resolve,in supernova there is a bug with the light,but other this it's a good experimental version

Plutonium · « **Reply #16 on:** August 13, 2015, 11:39:46 AM »

Should we post the bugs here or in the Bug reporting sub-forum??

Whenever I click on an object under "Add" menu it zooms in to the parent object, if I zoom out manually and click to add the picked object to the parent it zooms in again.

Also I had a problem with the menu- it disappeared but looks like only visually, because when I clicked where the menu was supposed to be it loaded a sim. Unfortunately I couldn't reproduce this bug to note the steps or save the log.

JayPix2012 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 13, 2015, 02:45:43 PM »

The camera zooms in every time I add a star, planet or moon and other things after I already added an object. Also Earth has no water.

Dan Dixon · « **Reply #18 on:** August 14, 2015, 10:44:35 AM »

Thanks for pointing out theses issues. We'll fix the Add zooming issues for sure.

No water on Earth is a known issue...

gabriel.dac · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2015, 10:54:57 AM »

I'll play USÂ² some more and see if I can spot new bugs. Also, I'm trying to help you, so please stop deleting my messages.

C7 · « **Reply #20 on:** August 14, 2015, 12:46:15 PM »

EnuclearFireball, looks we were able to track the issue down thanks to your logs. Should be fixed in the next experimental release. Please give it a retest after that.

gabriel.dac · « **Reply #21 on:** August 14, 2015, 02:23:49 PM »

" my graphics driver crashes and then recovers, it does this every time US2 launches. It goes a few frames into the loading screen, then hangs on "Initializing"."

What about that issue? Dan said that problem was expected and apparently no one else had that issue, so no one sent you guys the log file

crashman1390 · « **Reply #22 on:** August 14, 2015, 08:25:32 PM »

I just found this neat-o thing while looking at the Apollo 12 simulation.

I don't know if its a lighting error or something intentional, but its still cool.

Dan Dixon · « **Reply #23 on:** August 14, 2015, 11:10:48 PM »

Quote from: gabriel.dac on August 14, 2015, 02:23:49 PM

" my graphics driver crashes and then recovers, it does this every time US2 launches. It goes a few frames into the loading screen, then hangs on "Initializing"."

How/where did you send us the log files?

And is this only happening in the log-z-test build, but not 15.2?

Zeron · « **Reply #24 on:** August 15, 2015, 07:04:21 PM »

I got a low score for the meantime, my laptop is suffering a lag burst... but it will be boosted in the following days...

well I still don't get it why water is not appearing on Earth and the ambiance is too bright ...

Georg · « **Reply #25 on:** August 17, 2015, 02:21:00 PM »

Don't worry, water will be back, and lighting will be good.

It's a technical test, some features are not available, some parameters are not as they would be in a standard release and there might be pink unicorns and other astonishing critters lurking behind every button.

We're just making sure that your graphics cards don't explode and basic rendering still works as it should.