Re: [GD-General] time
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Re: [GD-General] time
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From: Brett B. <res...@ga...> - 2004-02-21 05:19:55
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Forgot to mention another doc. This one at = http://www.codeproject.com/datetime/dstbugs.asp is a really nice = introduciton to higher level timekeeping and it helped me wade through = some of the issues, especially wrt integrating global timestamped stuff. Brett ----- Original Message -----=20 From: "Brett Bibby" <res...@ga...> To: <gam...@li...> Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2004 12:06 PM Subject: Re: [GD-General] time > That's a great document and covers pretty much everything we discussed = internally, nice reference! The doc's discussion of different = resolutions combined with independent running (some time keeps running = even when paused) is something I hadn't thought of and I will look into = that. Meanwhile, anybody doing an online game care to comment how you = handle time? As a player of MMORPG I always am wondering how they = timestamp and integrate time into their engines, and if feasible I would = like to make sure we can support arbitrary lengths of time too. > Brett >=20 > ----- Original Message -----=20 > From: "Tom Spilman" <to...@pi...> > To: <gam...@li...> > Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2004 11:14 AM > Subject: RE: [GD-General] time >=20 >=20 > >=20 > > http://www.dallasigda.org/notes.htm > >=20 > > You'll see a document called "Time in games" which are notes on a > > presentation done by Squirrel Eiserloh. It covers a lot about time = in > > Win32 and the different methods he's used to tackle it. People may = find > > it helpful. > >=20 > > Tom > >=20 > >=20 > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: gam...@li...=20 > > > [mailto:gam...@li...] On=20 > > > Behalf Of Brett Bibby > > > Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 8:59 PM > > > To: Gam...@li... > > > Subject: [GD-General] time > > >=20 > > >=20 > > > Howdy, > > > I have been wrestling with time in my engine for some time=20 > > > now (no pun intended). I wondered how other people are=20 > > > handling time? Our game engine is specifically designed for=20 > > > PS2/Gcn, but it runs under Windows too. Specifically... > > >=20 > > > What are the different components that people are using? We=20 > > > currently have a single 32-bit time variable initialized to=20 > > > zero at startup and that's it. Each frame we either count=20 > > > v-blanks, use system ticks/timers or OS facilities custom for=20 > > > each platform to increment the global time value, usually=20 > > > stored in microseconds and rounded up to millisecond=20 > > > resolution for use in the engine. Works well and I have done=20 > > > this for every game engine I have developed so far. > > >=20 > > > Feels like a change may be warranted though as online gaming=20 > > > becomes more popular, since if the game was to run for many=20 > > > days it would overflow and timestamping may be problematic.=20 > > > So now I'm thinking of adding a time struct (different from=20 > > > ANSI C though) whereby we store the year, month, day, hour=20 > > > and minute, and second and also a conversion struct that says=20 > > > how many mins->hour->day->month->year so we can convert=20 > > > "real" time into game time. I can pack this into 64-bits, but=20 > > > then again a simple 64-bit timer using the old way to simply=20 > > > count ticks would also eliminate the overflow problem anyway=20 > > > and so I'm questioning the right thing to do. Also, I hoping=20 > > > to be able to use absolute time for certain things where we=20 > > > used to use delta times. What are people using for timestamps=20 > > > for online games? Does each game session reset the server=20 > > > session time to prevent eventual overflow? Or is a more=20 > > > robust timing mechanism used? Are people using microseconds?=20 > > > milliseconds? > > >=20 > > > Thanks, > > > Brett > > >=20 > > >=20 > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > > SF.Net is sponsored by: Speed Start Your Linux Apps Now. > > > Build and deploy apps & Web services for Linux with > > > a free DVD software kit from IBM. Click Now!=20 > > > http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1356&alloc_id438> &op=3Dick > > >=20 > > > _______________________________________________ > > >=20 > > > Gamedevlists-general mailing list=20 > > > Gam...@li... > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-general > > > Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_idU7 > > >=20 > > >=20 > >=20 > >=20 > >=20 > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > SF.Net is sponsored by: Speed Start Your Linux Apps Now. > > Build and deploy apps & Web services for Linux with > > a free DVD software kit from IBM. Click Now! > > http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1356&alloc_id438&op=CCk > > _______________________________________________ > > Gamedevlists-general mailing list > > Gam...@li... > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-general > > Archives: > > http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_idU7 >=20 >=20 > ------------------------------------------------------- > SF.Net is sponsored by: Speed Start Your Linux Apps Now. > Build and deploy apps & Web services for Linux with > a free DVD software kit from IBM. Click Now! > http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1356&alloc_id438&op=CCk > _______________________________________________ > Gamedevlists-general mailing list > Gam...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-general > Archives: > http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_idU7 |
