How to slowdown game

[vbbojan]

Game is too fast for me. Is there any option to slowdown it?

Thanks in advance

Boyan

[Holger]

Hello Boyan, welcome to the forum!

> Game is too fast for me. Is there any option to slowdown it?

This is currently only possible in development versions (for debugging purposes); the speed is controlled by the keys "0" to "9" there. To get such a debugging version, just recompile with "-DDEBUG" (by editing "src/Makefile" and typing "make" under Unix systems). If you cannot recompile the program and use Windows, you can also use one of the pre-release versions, which also have this function enabled.

But as already quite some people asked for it, I will probably add such a speed control in the setup menu in a future version.

[Alan]

Yeah, I wish it was in all versions as it's very handy for animation timing (and making cool tapes)

Control and 1-9 maybe?

[Martijn]

Better would be an option to define the number of frames per second (as in New Supaplex) or five different speeds you can choose (as in RoX) or maybe a slider bar.

[Zomis]

I suggest that this option should only be avalible using the "Test" button in the editor and not when using "Start game" from the menu, to prevent cheating. But maybe that's a bad idea and that it should be avalible using both Test and Start game.

[Martijn]

I suggest that this option should only be avalible using the "Test" button in the editor and not when using "Start game" from the menu, to prevent cheating. But maybe that's a bad idea and that it should be avalible using both Test and Start game.

Well, Holger could make something that you earn less points when the speed is slower and more points when the speed is faster. (Although I personally never look at the points)

But Safrosoft RoX also uses different speeds. I need a faster speed myself, because I think the current speed is a little too slow. I'm used to the Supaplex speed, as it ran on my PC!

[Holger]

Alan:
> Yeah, I wish it was in all versions as it's very handy for animation timing
> (and making cool tapes)
> Control and 1-9 maybe?

BTW: To make cool tapes, there's still the single-step tape feature available!

For full speed control (including veeery slow), maybe it's best to add a cheat mode shortcut which must be enabled first (and then also works in final versions).

Martijn:
> Better would be an option to define the number of frames per second (as in
> New Supaplex) or five different speeds you can choose (as in RoX) or
> maybe a slider bar.

Yes, these are three good options! The "frames per second" thing is the most precise one, but also the most technical one, so maybe it's best to use either a slider or a selectbox for speed settings, and translate it to a FPS value in the setup file (where experts which know what they're doing may edit their preferred FPS value).

Zomis:
> I suggest that this option should only be avalible using the "Test" button in
> the editor and not when using "Start game" from the menu, to prevent
> cheating. But maybe that's a bad idea and that it should be avalible using
> both Test and Start game.

Some general speed control should be available for everybody in every mode, as there are indeed younger, older or handicapped persons who prefer a different speed setting for this (or any other) reason. The game should not prevent this.

For more extreme speed settings (like ultra-slow), a cheat mode might be fine.

Martijn:
> Well, Holger could make something that you earn less points when the
> speed is slower and more points when the speed is faster. (Although I
> personally never look at the points)

Same to me! ;-)

But I think that it should not affect the score unless the speed is slower than a certain threshold -- in this case, it could be a solution to just disable scoring (just like it should be in single-step mode). That is, score could still be displayed, but won't be entered into the hall of fame. (This should be done that way especially when there might be internet-wide scoring in R'n'D like in BD4 in a future version...)

> But Safrosoft RoX also uses different speeds. I need a faster speed
> myself, because I think the current speed is a little too slow. I'm used to
> the Supaplex speed, as it ran on my PC!

Let me guess (I think I've asked this again): You do not use the "spfix63.exe" (speed fix) by Herman Perk for your Supaplex version?

The original Supaplex speed on old PCs was 35 frames/s, while it runs twice as fast (with 70 frames/s) on modern PCs. The speed fix corrects this to the original speed (which was a bit slower than R'n'D).

You can get that speed fix for Supaplex on the Supaplex site of "Elmer Productions": http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/software.html

[Martijn]

Let me guess (I think I've asked this again): You do not use the "spfix63.exe" (speed fix) by Herman Perk for your Supaplex version?

I did, but I played it at the highest speed (using the SPLaunch startup program). And I've also played the non-speedfixed Supaplex version when I was about 8 years old or so and I can remember that was fast as well.

But now I can't play Supaplex on my PC anymore. I tried DosBOX, a DOS emulator, but it doesn't support Supaplex very well. But I'm happy that I can play Supaplex in RnD, and because I have never played the old C64 Boulder Dash, but the old Supaplex for DOS, I'm looking forward to the SP engine! (But by playing RnD I've also got acquainted with Boulder Dash and Emerald Mine and I'm sure I will like RnD much more when the 1000s of new EMC levels can be played in RnD...)

[jmorgie]

I was as frustrated as you were by an inability to slow things down at certain points. Here is what I found:

* start a recording when you start the level.
* at difficult points you can switch to single step mode by hitting the leftmost 'tape recorder control'; then you can switch out of it to normal speed when you get past the difficulty.

JM