Ballistic NG - Wipeout fan project

[bigsnake]

Since I've yet to actually get a decent computer, I'd like to ask... What's the installer for the game like?
If it isn't one of those old-school installers (by the time of the final release), with concept art, music and/or snippets of backstory, I'll be a little bit sad.

The game doesn't have an installer, non-steam versions of the game just come in a ZIP file that you can extract anywhere and the Steam version is obviously handled by Steam

Just got the Steam developer version. I will later post about performance I achieve with it.

Really interested to see how that goes! I've had it running on pretty low-end hardware before at 60fps though some people still run into issues.

[Xpand]

It's whatever unzipping tool you have : )

Or if you're using the Steam version (which you should), it's the steam's download window.

[shotfan]

I ran into a big hurdle trying to launch the newest version: it freezes at the starting screen. Normally, the game would start after a few seconds of this screen, but now it does not respond, at all: Task Manager says so. Even worse, it now affects the Non-Steam versions I had installed and played beforehand! So now I have to force-exit the game after each failed attempt.
This only started to happen since I got Steam version. But what is even more weird, I managed to play this version (developer one) once earlier last night, but not for long (it was really late).
I thought it was the HDD issue, but I got rid of a few GBs and it did not help. Neither does reinstalling. I still have the same hardware.
What is going on?

[Xpand]

Try changing branches to another one. That's an odd problem. It might also have to do with Unity3D itself since it affects the non-steam version. Maybe the steam version's files are conflicting with the non-steam's and vice versa. I'm just throwing out hypothesis.

[shotfan]

All of the branches (standard, unstable, developer) behave the same way. I wiped out (heh) all of the BNG-Steam data and downloaded it again, and the same happens. I also deleted all non-Steam versions, and again nothing better. This is a mystery bigger than EG.r Maybe it is Steam's fault? Some of its cookies?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Try checking stuff in the registry.

[shotfan]

What do you mean exactly? Is the registry somewhere in the Steam files on my computer? And what I should be looking for in there?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

No, as in the Windows registry. There is no Steam registry; every time you install a program on your computer, or change a setting that affects the entire computer, or something along those lines, there is usually something left in the Windows registry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ROLfd8RFo

I don't know entirely how the Unity engine actually works, but chances are it may have left some bad registry entries.

@BigSnake I know BNG doesn't have it's own installer, but I'm pretty sure that Unity Engine does, or at the very least depends on something that needs to be reinstalled.

[shotfan]

Seems this indeed was a problem with the registry files! I found the folder named '"Vonsnake" and deleted it. It contains my profile settings, yes? After that, the game started up properly. I needed to recreate my profile, but that is nothing. Thanks, Amaroq!

Now, for the performance report:
Version: 0.5.2, developer branch

I played through Arcade Toxic races on Cassandra, Harpstone, Aciknovae, Zephyr Ridge and Luna.
Before the race start, the FPS reached around 15-20. Afterwards, it drops in few seconds to 3, and never goes up. I can even see the lap time progressing on each frame by .33, .33 and .34 centiseconds.
Dropping down the resolution to 640x480 does not help. Neither does the windowed display mode.
The track makes pretty much no difference. Cassandra has even lower than average framerate from the beginning, whereas on Luna I had around 35 FPS before the race started, but eventually I got locked at 3 FPS.
Still though, I managed to place 5th on Cassandra and 6th on Luna. In both cases I got a Wormhole and Autopilot to help me However, on Aciknovae the Wormhole actually transported me between the laps, without completing the current one! This gave me an about extra lap to complete, which caused me to suffer enough damage (in a G-Tek) to explode on the last corner before the finish
Also, such low framerate caused Cannons to fire only once per frame, which caused its rate of fire to slow down immensely, needing 10 seconds to spend all of the ammo supply! Seems like extremely low framerate messes up the input data.
Time Trial and Practice are fine, around 45 FPS with 1080p and no special graphic effects active.
Survival has lower framerate, a bit more than 30 FPS on Zephyr Ridge. Harpstone with its snowstorms drops this to 20, but this is still playable.
However, I tried out that first campaign event, which was a Cassanda race with 3 contenders. I got 20-15 FPS there, and I could win this race on the first try (the slowdown of the AI opponents on the final lap is very noticeable). A bit low of a framerate, but bearable. Might be worse to deal with on harder tracks.

So, it seems that my computer just cannot handle full grid races any good enough, and I will have to concede for the limited number of contenders. I am eager to see this as a Racebox option!

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Seems this indeed was a problem with the registry files! I found the folder named '"Vonsnake" and deleted it. It contains my profile settings, yes? After that, the game started up properly. I needed to recreate my profile, but that is nothing. Thanks, Amaroq!

You're welcome~
To be perfectly honest, I haven't actually tried gaming on this computer yet. I'm going to see if I can get some of my old games working, first, then I'll finally get a chance to try BallisticNG.

[shotfan]

Three new things to report:
- The game still happened to freeze on the first screen. I needed to clear the registry again to get rid of it. It also seems that Steam has something to do with this issue, as the problem did not renew until I logged to Steam.
- I encountered a rather amusing bug. After completing the Survival event in the Campaign, then any event I chose in Racebox was a faux-Survival, which meant that the ship always accelerated and I heared the announcer counting Zones, but no Zone display. This also happened with a Single Race Campaign event, after which I tried Racebox Time Trial - and I found myself Time Trialing with three other ships! I also always returned to the Campaign grid after any Racebox race. Game restart returned the game to normal.
- Maybe I am stupid, but I still cannot figure out how to install custom ships into ship selection menu. I cannot even open them in the Ship Importer. I am using ships imported from the Workshop.

[Xpand]

You need to move down on the ship selection menu to reach the other ships.

[shotfan]

I know that, but nothing shows there - when I switch onto custom ships row, then the ship info gets frozen, displaying the info for the standard ship I switched from. None of the ships I downloaded from Workshop work, and they all have .shp file format. However, there are older ships I downloaded via the mod sharing thread on this subforum (like FEISAR Fury ship), and they can be opened, but still cannot be saved. This guide says that there is an option to save, at the top right inside the Ship Importer. I only see the save option at the top left, between "Load/New" and "Upload to Workshop" options, and it does not seem to do anything.

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Where does BallisticNG store it's files?
You may want to open the compatibility mode settings for the different executables, and enable "Run as Administrator"; you should also try un-setting the game's folders and files as Read Only (a common problem on newer Windows versions)
http://www.guidingtech.com/4862/alwa...administrator/
http://www.sevenforums.com/system-se...t-disable.html

Since it's the Steam version, I am guessing the game will store it's internal files under "C:\Program Files\steam\steamapps\common"
But it might also store settings under "My Documents"

[shotfan]

I have not responded for a long time because I was trying many things lately about the custom ships issue.
I tried to Take Ownership over the UserData folder. I also tried to change the attributes through Windows Command Window. Nothing works - the folder stays Read Only. Still the ship files themselves were always without special attributes, so I am not sure if this is the cause of the problem. My OS is Windows XP Professional.
However, I got to try out the custom ships!... but only in the Track Editor. Funny. I think I can load any ship there, albeit I am not sure. I will report if some ship does not load through there. By the way - can I load my custom tracks somehow through the track selection menu under Racebox?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Maybe try unsetting Read Only for the entire Program Files folder. Or running the program as an administrator. It is also possible that the Read Only files are automatically-generated System files, like thumbs.db and desktop.ini (both are always hidden from the user)

It has been forever since I used Windows XP, so I unfortunately don't know what to really do about it.

[shotfan]

I tried unsetting this attribute on the Steam folder (my BNG is not inside Program Files), also via setting myself as the administrator, but it still reverts. I am not sure if this is actually makes Ship Importer not load the ships... maybe something deeper in my OS files is causing this problem.
And there are many ships I cannot load in the Track Creator either... I am not sure which ones, because the names there are a bit confusing. But I think this mostly applies to actual Wipeout ships. Original ships pretty much work fine (still only for the Track Creator though). Strange...

By the way: do you guys know that there is now a BNG subreddit? Here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BallisticNG/

[HusarDPL]

Hi, I have a question: is it possible to turn off completely sounds from board computer like "mines", "plasma", "cannon" etc. - i've created a null soundpack, and placed it in folder where it should be, but it does not work. Games still informs me about weapon i've picked up.
I want to shut this off. Is it possible ? If yes, how to do it ?

[shotfan]

Ingame, go to Options/Audio. There is a Soundpack setting. You should be able to toggle your custom soundpack there.

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

The computer voice would be a lot more useful if it actually told you what weapons were being used against you, to be completely honest.