Screen Tearing | Forums

[The_Elmonator]

Hi guys, as the topic hints, I have had problems with screen tearing for a long time now, even after watching and following tutorials.

A good example is a track I am working on at the moment, where I have done everything possible to prevent performance issues, but as I use alot of physics and high speed, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid, it seems. Often the tears will be most intense at high speeds.

I get tears in spots with alot of physics, but also in areas with very few physis, which leads me to belive that the amount of physics is not the problem, or at least not the sole problem.

I even tried removing all lights and effects, and still get screen tears at several spots in the track. I have been adjusting the view distance, changing physics type on all possible objects, tried altering time of day, fog settings and all kinds of light settings, even turned off the head light. Nothing helps at all. I am not lying when I say I've spent at least 5 hours trying to get rid of it. It could be because of many physics objects, but they are almost never activated at the same time. I know OPE can be useful for background physics, but I usually stay away from it, as it does not work well with interactive physics objects.

Does anyone have any tips that I have missed that could possibly fix this and future issues with screen tearing?

Thanks

[willyums]

trees/grass etc are a common cause, decreasing the size of the physics bubble could help with performance also but thats probably not your problem.
other than that, it would have to be draw/object distance vs fog or something to do with light sources I think.

surely there cant be much more physics use in this track, than in any of your previous tracks.. I wouldnt have thought it would be physics use causing the problem but if youve tried everything else, maybe it is
anymore details you can give? for example, any effects in use like smoke or fire?

[Barrybarfly]

I believe that high complexity objects clustered together (like a lot of foliage in particular) can cause screen tearing in conjunction with other things. If you have fog (particles), lighting (shadows), physics and high complexity in the same area, then this could be a cause. If you are at canopy level with trees, that will often cause tearing, whereas being below the canopy may not.

But a cluster of high complexity objects seems to cause tearing quite often. It may be a case of sacrificing some detail or changing the objects used if nothing else is working.

Another option is to use a variable data source tied to the size of the physics bubble in order to reuce/increse its size at various points in the track. This may enable you to maintain the performance nad physics in the track while reducing performance issues.

Turning off the headlight is definetely a good place to start though!

[stiggyhead]

Just a question, how old is your xbox? Cause when i had the old fatbox i had a lot of screen tearing in games where on the slim i barely have any. Idk really tho, just a thought

[The_Elmonator]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated!

The track is set indoors, so no trees or grass. I have used alot of metallic parts, which sometimes seem to affect performance with light reflecting, at least I think so. Not sure about that.

I am using electric arcs and sparks, both with light turned off, a few areas has a bit of smoke effects and puffy clouds, but I don't think this is the issue. I have not been using a mentionable amount of high complexity items either. I also have electric arcs attached to the rider, but it only enables a few times through the track.

I think it must have to be a combination of everything, and the fact that I build the track in big rooms, with decorations in the background. I also tried reducing the sizes of the rooms, and decoration with no noticable changes. No spline either btw.

Maybe I just have to completely rebuild the scenery, and only leave the DL.. Bummer

Oh, and I have a really old xbox, it was a replacement for my even older one that died, so it's probably just a fixed up equally old and noisy xbox.. It's been making weird sounds for a while, could the performance issues be connected to the fact that my xbox is old and dying?

Thanks again

[willyums]

checkpoint light intensity

sucks if you have to rebuild it all man, this editor can be quite unforgiving at times.

[The_Elmonator]

Lol, if only

But yeah, fortunately it's a rather short track, but still..

Thanks again

[rlmergeuser]

i know you said changing the view distance but have you tried changing the camera view as the more zoomed in it is the less stuff there is to tare. it can add somthing to the track if it's done smoothly. worth getting the interpolation right and testing it over and over as camera changes can make or break a track. If by view distance you meant camera view then this probably ain't much help.

[The_Elmonator]

@ Look3y: That might help, but I don't want to mess with the camera, my tracks are confusing enough already Also, I like when alot of the background is showing, I just have to make it work somehow.

I'm sure other builders can master custom cams, it's just not for me

Thanks anyway

[Morfyboy]

i read that your setting for the track is in rooms..have you seeded buildings to do this??? seeding buildings rapidly adds to complexity..also, use the decoration only as much as you can..