[Resolved] Flashing rendering artifact

[suma 8]

OK. So here is a contest: the one who will first send me a PIX single frame capture of the artifact with any build of his choice starting with 80955 will receive a little present from me (I will give you a choice of a few games by BI, or some merchandise, like "bug hunter" developer T-shirt, depending on what is available here).

To make the capture, you need to download and install DX SDK, launch PIX, create a new experiment gathering "A single frame capture of Direct3D whenever Fxx is pressed". As a command line enter what you use to launch the beta, but add -cpuCount=1 -nosound, as PIX has sometimes trouble capturing threaded applications correctly, and sound system has troubles with the long frame times caused by the PIX.

[f2k sel 164]

Suma do we need to select any of the information options?

Actually I can't even get it to start, keeps telling me it can't find the target.

This will launch the game using a short cut but not when placed in Pix

"F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -cpuCount=1 -nosound

.

Edited July 18, 2011 by F2k Sel

[suma 8]

Suma do we need to select any of the information options?

Actually I can't even get it to start, keeps telling me it can't find the target.

What did you enter as program path? (Note: you cannot enter options as part of command path, they need to be given separately on the Advanced View / Target program tab in Command line arguments.)

[f2k sel 164]

I tried the advanced tab but still the same problem.

I've tried

Prog path

"F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash

command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

Prog path

"F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion

command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

And a few other way and still get target not found.

If I point to the beta direct

prog path

F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe

Command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

I get no entry profilepathdefault.

I can only get it to work when pointing to the none beta game.

[maddogx 13]

Perhaps because the beta is executed in the main folder? That could make a difference.

I'm installing the SDK now. Perhaps I'll come up with something... :)

[f2k sel 164]

I've tried pointing it to the launcher in the main folder and that didn't work either

[suma 8]

I tried the advanced tab but still the same problem.

I've tried

Prog path

"F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash

command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

Prog path

"F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion

command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

And a few other way and still get target not found.

If I point to the beta direct

prog path

F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe

Command line

-cpuCount=1 -nosound

You need this:

prog path

F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe

Command line

-mod=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -cpuCount=1 -nosound

As a startup folder give

F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2

[maddogx 13]

^^ yup, that works for me.

[f2k sel 164]

Ha I nearly got there, I'd stopped trying with F:\Program files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2 as it wasn't needed when trying the none beta.

Cheers.

[suma 8]

One last word: before you send me the capture, verify it really contains the artifact by running the analysis then pressing Render tab in the Details pane.

[f2k sel 164]

One last word: before you send me the capture, verify it really contains the artifact by running the analysis then pressing Render tab in the Details pane.

Where would one find this stuff?

[maddogx 13]

We definitely need more peeps doing this. I've been playing for a while on 81423 (the only beta where I even saw the black flashing) and got nothing so far. No flashes. And even if I did see one, I'm not even sure I'd catch it.

I know some guys were seeing it more frequently, so we need them trying this. :)

[f2k sel 164]

I did get a picture but don't know what to do with it now.

[maddogx 13]

I did get a picture but don't know what to do with it now.

First off, save the PIXRun file so you don't lose it. :D

(It will be quite large.)

I guess Suma will have to explain how to analyze it.

[f2k sel 164]

I don't have any of these options, I must be doing it wrong.

[suma 8]

Save the PIXRun file. Once you have it saved, you can open it (clicking it should launch PIX) and in the Detail pane (bottom right) click on Render, in the Events pane (bottom left) click on the Frame number in Bold. You should see the rendering result, and it should contain the artifact.

If you have all this done, you have your homework completed, and all you need is to send the PIXRun file to me. You can place it on some public filesharing service or FTP or whatever else suits you, or you can drop me a PM and we will agree on some other transfer method (Skype, email...).

I did get a picture but don't know what to do with it now.

I am confused you are talking about a picture. You should have a single frame capture. Once you have made the capture, you can close the game and PIX should offer you to analyze the capture. This is a good moment to save the capture ("the run file") in case anything goes wrong.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Suma

[maddogx 13]

I don't have any of these options, I must be doing it wrong.

You're running PIX for Windows right?

[f2k sel 164]

Yes in the game I see a frame rate and time and a magnifying glass, to save the picture I set up f9 which has saved the pic. Other than that I don't know what else to do.

[suma 8]

Yes in the game I see a frame rate and time and a magnifying glass, to save the picture I set up f9 which has saved the pic. Other than that I don't know what else to do.

Great, this shows you have the PIX attached. I suppose what you call "has saved the pic" is actually that the capture was made (I am not aware of PIX saving any pics). Now you need to close the game, and the rest is described in my post above. If everything goes well, you will have a capture, and we can proceed to the next steps.

[f2k sel 164]

Yes it's a screen capture just like fraps. No Pixrun files are saved as I don't have any option to save anything other than the experiment.

Edited July 18, 2011 by F2k Sel

[maddogx 13]

If you're not seeing a screen like this one, you've done something wrong:

EDIT:

If you do have that, just hit Ctrl+S to save the PIXRun file, just to be sure. :)

Then, in the bottom left quadrant of the screen, select the "Frame xxxxx", and in the bottom right quadrant select the "Render" tab. You should see the frame that you captured. If it shows something weird, you've struck gold. :D

Edited July 18, 2011 by MadDogX

[f2k sel 164]

No I just get an empty window. I guess it doesn't like my PC XPPro

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/641/image1hr.jpg/

[suma 8]

No I just get an empty window. I guess it doesn't like my PC XPPro

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/641/image1hr.jpg/

You still have the Arma runnning, it seems (at least I see it in your task bar). You first need to close the game, then you should be able to save or analyze the capture.

[f2k sel 164]

I restarted just to test something, it just won't work for me.

I tried using the debugger but still only get the blank grey screen.

[suma 8]

The status bar of the PIX still shows "waiting for the profiling process 3684 to exit". I am afraid I have no idea why it does not work for you. XP Pro should be fine, it is still fully supported by the SDK.

---------- Post added at 23:00 ---------- Previous post was at 22:58 ----------

I think I see the problem: you have "Grab screenshot" as an action for the F9 key. You should change it to Set call capture / Single frame capture Direct3D.