Extreme memory issues.

[konjak]

I'm making a quite off-beat game, I'd have to say, and it behaves similarily to a space shooter in that it creates objects in waves. This basically means that, realistically, there are never really above 10-15 actives on screen at once.

But these objects can be quite large and sometimes they have an MMF-generated angle to them. Still, it's so few objects. The game is running at 320x240 and never are the objects bigger than the screen or anything.

Problem is, I pretty much always run into the problem that if I play a single level and get around halfway point, the game just starts slowing and slowing until it's unplayable. Of course, it slows a bit more if there is something big on screen, but once it won't go above 40 fps anymore (the game is regularly 60), anything newly created contributes to further slowing down.

Here's the ticket though, it can never recover. Not even if everything is deleted. Not even if I quit the entire application and run anew. To fully restore speed I have to reboot my computer. I donwloaded a RAM freer and it can't even get the RAM back, and that's to me a quite serious leak...

Again, there are never many objects on screen and it feels like something MMF should be able to handle.

Now, is there a way I've missed that makes me able to avoid this to some extent? I had a friend try the game, and it doesn't really slow for him, but it sure does for me. So far I've had to pull down color depth and even RESOLUTION, taking away alot from my original vision.

It still feels I've done more stuff than this in other game projects that MMF could handle.

I just wonder why MMF insists on "remembering" everything that has been created even when they have been destroyed. The objects are not global.

I would think the planned hardware acceleration would help alot, but when's that due, exactly?

I've had game's ruined by MMF slowing before though... I just don't want this project to have to be abandoned because I can't work on it.

So, is there a way to avoid this? I have "load on call" on most objects, but that only counts before they're used, right?

[KetchupMaster]

your problem seems to be very similar to the problem discussed here: http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=34719&page=4#Po st34719

[konjak]

I'd like to add something.

This seems to happen to other people I know. More than not, when you run your application and you have, say, 60fps the game often runs in a mode where it always jumps between 53 and 64 fps making smooth movements appear choppy... why is this?

I also noticed my game is less prone to have any slowdown if I manage to get it to run at optimum, constant 60 fps at start.

It seems very odd.

EDIT: I'm not trying to come off as a butthole, if it seems like it.

[00J]

How big is your game, can you post your object creation code?
Space fighter? I think your bullets are going above the limits, i.e. not being fully destroyed. If coded right you should not have slowdown problems, also you definately should not have to reboot your computer to recover speed...

Give us some details about your coding methods, we can help you probably go back to your original 16mil resolution.

[Dynasoft]

If the memory is still used after you quit the application, then it can't possibly be just MMF's fault. MMF could be doing something that triggers the leak, but your OS should be clearing everything up when the program closes.

What version of Windows are you using? I seem to remember win9x (95, 98, ME) have a lot of memory leak issues.

[Yves]

konjak, could you send me your game?

[00J]

O.k. well... heh

[Yves]

Thank you for sending me your game, I've tested it, there is no memory leak nor resource leak, everything is fine. Maybe a problem on your machine, as it seems you can't reproduce it on any other machine. Odd...

[DanielRehn]

As Dynasoft said, which OS are you using? Windows 98 has some serious memory issues!

[Yves]

He's using Windows XP. But anyway Windows 9x has memory issues only if the application has memory or resource leaks, not when the application works fine.

It could also be due to a specific setting on the machine, but I don't know at all what it could be.