In the recent days I've come across certain errors with setting the game to fullscreen mode. When you do that, the game may suddenly go unstable or renders incorrectly.
Here's a possible reason why it's happening:
Apparently, if the scaling mode is set at aspect ratio it may prevent you from setting even a screen resolution on other games.
The correct option should be:
No Scaling
Once that's set, you should have no issues setting to a full screen resolution. This should also apply to other games as well.
Conclusion
So what's the point here? Well, playing in full-screen windowed mode has a rough performance penalty of 15%. You may encounter stuttering as resources are shared between different applications.
By setting to fullscreen mode, you dictate that all resources is to go to the game; (no matter which game) and therefore will most likely perform at its best.
We hope this tip can help you in gaming across the board, not just for our games.
Thanks, Jeremy
Major Bug Fix Patch v1.05b
Introduction
Patch v1.05b has been released! Before we begin, I'd like to lay down a principle of Strides Interactive; that is - regardless of how good or badly the game has been received, regardless of sales, we'll continue to maintain the game as much as possible according to the roadmap.
At a bare minimum, the game must be functional. If it's broken, we'll fix it. We'll never leave a broken game in release - that'll be pretty unprofessional of us.
Regression
As the engine improves, some workflow will be changed and this will more or less lead to regression bugs appearing even when it used to work in previous versions. Therefore, as much as we try NOT to upgrade the game along with the engine, sometimes this is unavoidable. On our end, we do as much testing as possible with our limited hardware and software even.
Support for Windows 7
Technically we still support Windows 7, but we no longer have the means to test the game on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 already. This is due to a recent upgrade we've made to our test machine which now runs on Windows 10.
The test machine will remain on Windows 10 until such a time that most players have moved on to Windows 11.
Unfortunately though, some issues that are found on the newer OS versions do not appear in older Windows 7 and since our previous development laptop had neared its expiry, we weren't able to test for certain behaviors on that laptop either.
Therefore, right now, we'll only dare affirm that we support Windows 10 and 11. Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 will still be technically supported.
New Features
None. This patch is mostly a bug fixing patch.
Changes
- Game runs on VS2017 runtime now; this should NOT affect you since we've already selected VS2019 redistributables that includes VS2017. - EMP Cannon level 1 and 2 will now fire more frequently, making it usable like a normal weapon. However its damage is halved as a result. Nevertheless, the tactical value of the weapon has been improved tremendously. - Do note that ships can no longer be perma-disabled by EMP cannons. - Added some arguments which certain players can key-in to get around certain problems. Namely the recently CPUID crash encountered by one of the players. This is not an issue as I've tested on both Ryzen 7 4800H and i5-12400 without any issue. However, to get around this issue which most likely to be a CPU issue, here're 2 commands REQUIRED:
-skipcpudetection -forcesse2
Place these 2 commands under Launch Commands to get the game to get around CPU detection.
Right-click on Starlight > Properties > General > Launch Options
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where joystick RT and LT buttons do not work AT ALL
Fixed a bug where joystick buttons can be assigned but doesn't work in-game
Fixed a bug where joystick preset can lead to erroneous assignments.
Fixed a bug where keyboard preset works even when there isn't any
Fixed a bug where damage-persistent weapons do not inflict ANY damage.
Fixed a bug where multi-hit damage-persistent weapons do not inflict ANY damage.
Fixed a bug where damage-persistent weapons report the incorrect amount of damage dealt to the target and subsequent damage inflicted.
Fixed a bug where the game STUTTERS before almost every wave in all game modes. While the game will still lag with heavy combat situations, it should NOT stutter anymore due to the game itself.
We cannot guarantee stutter-free gameplay if there're many background apps running that may bottleneck the CPU or if the CPU is throttling due to heat or power limitations.
Fixed a weird movement bug in Stage 4 boss where the boss will strangely move off-screen and suddenly pop back into position.
Fixed a weird regression bug whenever you collect Shield Bonus and the incorrect particle appears like a random scrolling of different sprites.
Fixed a weird regression bug in the ending where certain 3D explosions look like multiple small dots.
Optimized the game slightly when it comes to turret creation and re-instantiation of certain effect objects.
Fixed to a certain extent where mines will start blinking when they appear in large numbers. This still appears for certain ships and we'll try to fix it in future patches. They can still be hit; it's just a little jarring.
Fixed a major bug with Survival mode where it'll get stuck in Survival #3 forever.
Conclusion
I've gotten questions like - oh why are you still working on Starlight etc.. thing is - there're 2 points: 1) The game must remain playable without major breaking bugs and controllability issues. 2) The roadmap promised to customers must be fulfilled.
Whether the game is profitable or not or whether there's a huge player base or not is irrelevant.
As long as we have people giving good feedback, we'll do our best to investigate and fix the issue if possible. The only reason why we can't fix it? - that's because we do not have the means to access the issue in its full scenario.
The stuttering issue only came up AFTER we upgraded our test rig to Windows 10. The direct cause of it wasn't even a performance issue but rather a synchronization issue between the logger and its threads who might be waiting to dump logs at the same time. The starvation period is what led to the stuttering.
Therefore, please be assured that we're doing our best. Patches do take time and some changes require the ENTIRE game to be tested from head to tail. For v1.05b that was certainly the case. Apart from the Arcade tutorial, I've tested EVERY SINGLE STAGE, through campaign and survival to ensure that the patch legit works for everyone.
Thanks again for your support! Strides Team
Patch v1.05a Released!
V1.05a
This is a bug fix patch meant to address several issues, some outstanding ones, together at once. No contents added.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where weapons that hit only once but is damage-accumulated inflicts full damage upon contact. Ie, a projectile deals 50 dmg, encounters a 10 dmg bullet, should only inflict 40 dmg on a target.
Fixed a bug where keyboard controls in the options menu while in-game can become somewhat unstable. ie, some keys registered, others aren't.
Fixed a crash bug where if you press multiple joystick buttons at once, it can sometimes lead to a crash.
Fixed a soft-lock bug in Controls where waiting for a key to be pressed causes the game to go into a limbo. This is a regression bug; not an existing bug previously. It was introduced during one of the upgrades that unfortunately broke this part of the game.
Fixed a small issue with players pressing really quickly to traverse menus; a short delay is now added between traversals (ie, Start Game > Arcade Mode). Scrolling the menu itself won't be subjected to the delay.
Fixed a bug where the Planet Atmosphere doesn't appear anymore. Now it does.
Fixed a bug where Right-Side D-pad isn't supported. Now this D-pad is fully supported.
Fixed a bug in the 3D ships where the battles do not have ANY collision between the bullets and the 3D capital ships.
Fixed an internal implementation with the input listener and the single-threaded listener both working at the same time, sometimes causing multiple controls to be triggered at once.
Conclusion
Issues reported will be taken seriously and worked upon once the issue is established to be a bug. Bug fixes tend to be released on Fridays, however, in some cases like these where there's a crash bug, the bug fix patch is released ASAP.
Thanks for reporting the issues; we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Regards, Starlight Team
Survival Mode v1.05 RELEASED!
Patch V1.05 Released!
As promised, v1.05 brings about a new play mode which is free for all existing customers as well as many improvements made to the game's performance.
New Features
Survival Mode
This is a brand new mode that combines waves from different stages and segments in the Campaign and Arcade modes to form a unique challenge and experience. Even so, there're modifications made to increase the level of challenge.
There're 4 different Survival stages, and you'll start with a certain amount of crystals and capsules at the weapon shop to spec your fighter. At the end of each survival stage, you'll be brought back to the weapon shop to utilize your earnings. There'll at most be sub-bosses in this mode. Any bosses that might appear will not stand as a defining objective to be destroyed in order to pass. We hope you'll have fun with this new game mode.
P.S. You don't have to complete any modes to unlock Survival. New players may try it out to get a taste of things in the Campaign and Arcade modes. Also, the Survival weapon shops are in full tech level; meaning you'll have access to ALL weapons and upgrades right from start.
Changes
EMP Cannon Level 3 is now permanently dicing; it'll almost never expire.
Increased use of threads across several components. This means the game is less likely to lag due to external influence.
Controls are now real-time sensitive. That means its sensitivity is at its highest and the fighter will react accordingly. Do not be alarmed if your fighter seems to be moving slowly; just hold on to the D-pad and it should pick up speed quickly. The feeling should still be the same as before the patch though the visuals are far more interpolated.
Added a short input blockage between menu transitions. This is to reduce the risk of an accidental button hold, causing the menu navigation to by default go to Start Game > Campaign > Normal - and the game begins in an unwarranted fashion. The blockage doesn't resolve the issue but it does give the player some time to react.
Bug Fixes
Stream Laser Level 1 now has an upgrade cost. Previously it was free and that wasn't meant to be the case.
Fixed a bug where a fresh install using FSWM V-sync will cause the game to run at 1/3 of the speed. This is now fixed to handle both 60Hz FSWM and > 60Hz FSWM
Fixed a bug where mines blowing up within proximity wasn't working. Now if you go near a mine, it will blow up.
Fixed a bug where if you're invulnerable, your bullets will ignore hitting enemy shields.
Known Limitations
Survival mode will be much more intensive than the Arcade or Campaign mode. As a result, the game WILL slow down but will not skip that many frames. But do expect the game to slow down when playing Survival mode.
Known Issues
These are some issues that are known but couldn't be fixed in time or there isn't consistency with it.
Weapon shop UI may sometimes disappear upon 2nd visit onwards. The weapon shop still works but the lack of a background UI is mystifying. Only occurs in the Steam version with overlay so far.
The new build v1.05 uses the new engine's features; as such there might be a chance where the game might still be unstable though so far our tests have come up empty even when it's pushed to its limits.
3D ships in the new build may suddenly get destroyed. This may be fixed over the next 1-2 quick patches if it causes a stability issue.
Conclusion
We still have Boss Rush and Uber Boss Rush to be released. However, the team will be taking a month's break from creating any new DLCs unless it's an emergency bug fixing patch.
We might still introduce new weapons though.
Thanks for your support as always! Hope you'll have fun with the new mode!
Regards, Strides Team
Starlight: Eye of the Storm v1.04 Released!
V1.04 Patch
This patch is a maintenance patch with a new weapon being added. The biggest change is underneath where the game's rendering is properly redesigned at the engine level. The amount of stuttering will be reduced.
New Contents
- Added new weapon: Disruptor - The disruptor is an offensive weapon that has 3 levels. It's a low level weapon open to players right from start (after arcade stage 1) to provide more options. Its unique ability is the chance to inflict double damage. When in effect, it'll further by doubled if there's a double damage bonus.
Changes
- Improvements were made to the engine which indirectly improved the overall performance of Starlight. The key improvement is that stuttering occurs almost every other second. - Improved Mission 5/Stage 6 boss where the need to take down the shield generators is prompted and counted. While it's not a primary objective, it's there to help players identify what to shoot before taking on the platforms.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where players without targeting computer will not be able to preview Micron Laser in the weapon shop. - Fixed a specific bug where if V-sync is ON and refresh rate is higher than 60Hz, and the game is run in Windowed mode, the game will suddenly go into permanent bullet-time mode. It runs slow, but not laggy. This is now fixed.
Performance Issues
There might have been some misconception with recommended and minimum hardware.
1) All recommendations are based on well-maintained, well-powered VRMs and isn't thermally compromised hardware. 2) A GTX 1080 TI on a laptop may be more than enough to run this game. This is correct but if the laptop's thermals had been compromised, it'll throttle so much that it'll slow down the game. 3) Starlight uses ~40% of GPU in a GTX 1650 SUPER and is still pretty much CPU bound ~70% of 1 core. 4) Starlight isn't an emulated modification; this is a full-fledged game using 3D hardware acceleration and rendering pipelines. It's not a sprite-only game! 5) Do not run Starlight under power-saver option. You'll most likely get a much below par performance. 6) Do not run Starlight when you've opened a lot of applications in the background. 7) Do not run Starlight in windowed mode under 144Hz where you've set the resolution to 60Hz. 144Hz meant that the game has to render 144 frames per second interpolated across 1 second. This means the game has to work more than twice as hard to deliver. 8) All recommendations are based on 60Hz performance in FHD (1920x1080). Not 144Hz!! 9) Always go full-screen mode, ie, Windowed Mode: OFF to enjoy full acceleration.
Conclusion
We'll be implementing the Survival Mode soon which will roughly contain about 50 waves with just 1 weapon shop visit at the beginning. No bosses.
After that, Boss Rush Mode will be implemented. All the bosses will be presented 1 by 1.
Meanwhile, we might still implement 1-2 more weapons.
Have fun!!!
Regards, Jeremy
Starlight: Eye of the Storm performance issues
Performance Issues
We've received word that the game has minor patches of fps dropping during gameplay. This is concerning because we've graded the game to run on the following hardware:
CPU: i5-6500 HDD: Normal magnetic 1TB HDD RAM: 16GB GPU: GTX 1650 SUPER with 4GB VRAM OS: Windows 7
This is the recommended specs for an optimal performance.
Optimal Performance
Optimal performance is defined as follows:
Display: FHD 1920x1080x60Hz Frame Rate: 60fps with V-sync Settings: LOD High, Textures High, all effects turned on.
Expected degradation in performance:
1) High concentration of bullets ~500 on screen at once. 2) High concentration of 2D and 3D action; ie, 3D ships firing at each other while 2D ships coming on to shoot at you. (ie, Arcade Stage 6 beginning)
In those cases, a drop of 10-12 fps was observed for a very brief period of time.
NO LOCKUPS expected by definition.
Possible Causes for lag
1) Anti-virus - why? Because Starlight does produce logs in case the game crashes or encounters a bug far beyond our reach to test for it. The write cycles may cause the anti-virus software or even Windows defender to act upon it. -- Solution: Add an exception to the Starlight folder not to be scanned.
2) Language Keyboard clashes - why? If you have more than 1 language installed, sometimes you might have inadvertently changed the language and causing the IME to pop up. When that happens and if you're shooting halfway, the game WILL suddenly jerk-lag. -- Solution: Rebind the keys to avoid Alt and Shift keys. Or use a joystick instead.
3) Windows Update - this is not a fault of ours but sometimes Windows can be doing an update on your machine, causing a massive lag due to its CPU and HDD usage. --- Solution: Wait out the update before playing. Starlight is just like any other games, AAA or not, indie games will still suffer from external interference.
4) Outdated drivers - this may actually cause a more serious problem over time other than lagging. Ie, the game might suddenly crash or even cause a BSOD. --- Solution: Keep your GPU drivers updated.
5) Windows 10 on older hardware - It has been observed that Win10 running on 2016 and earlier hardware tend to slow down over time. It's happening to our development machine too. --- Solution: Quick way is to restart your machine. A more permanent way is to shut down Explorer.exe from your task manager. But take note - without the main explorer running, you'll need to ensure at least a command prompt or task manager is open. Otherwise you'll have no means to shut down your machine!
6) Incorrect expectations of frame rate - While it's cool to run the game under a 144hz monitor, a mode we support technically, but by design, we did not promise that the game will perform swimmingly under 144hz V-sync. There's a misconception that refresh rate has nothing to do with performance; that's completely wrong. If V-sync is turned on, the game is forced to render 144 frames per second, finely spliced into 1/144 factors to give you that smooth looking graphics. At this rate, the game might perform well in the main menu, but will also tend to drop fps far more easily due to its need to work MUCH harder even when you're using a RTX3080. --- Solution: Try selecting a 60Hz or 90Hz resolution. I know some folks have an issue seeing anything below 120Hz, therefore, if there's such a condition, please keep it at 120Hz.
7) Incorrect expectation of resolution - We've spoken about frame rates, but not resolutions. The game runs well on a 2560x1440 resolution in 60 fps. But to drag the game up to 4k, you'll have to make sure you have enough VRAM for all the frame buffers we have in the game. The higher you go, the more sensitive the game is towards dropping frame rate. --- Solution: Our optimal resolution is still FHD 1920x1080x60hz. You may try to go 2560x1440x60hz to see if it's good enough for you.
* Please note that Starlight: Eye of the Storm isn't an emulator-type game. No doubt it's a 2D shooter in 3D space, it's still based on our engine that is made to maximize the use of your hardware to present the game as crisp and high-res as possible.
8) Using FRAPS or GeForce Experience to record, Twitch Steaming or Discord Streaming while playing - While streaming the game is highly encouraged, you might want to take into account the amount of CPU/GPU these activities will tax on your hardware as well. --- Solution: If you're streaming, you may want to keep it at 720p unless your hardware is really top-notch. If you're recording, you can try using lossy RGB instead or record it on a SSD (modern SSDs have a much higher write cycle limitation).
Unlikely causes for lag
1) Firewall - Unlikely since Starlight doesn't even have a network module initialized 2) Steam Overlay - Unlikely since we've graded the game under the Steam Overlay as well. There might be some frame rate drops but not significant.
Conclusion
This announcement is made in view of some who have complained about the drop in frame rate despite having far superior hardware than our grading machine.
We've made every effort to make this game enjoyable for most people and those who might still be having average hardware for today's standards. Let's work together to keep the game fun for everyone! Feel free to drop a post, a comment or even just reply to this announcement and we'll definitely reply!
Have a nice day!!
Jeremy
Starlight: Eye of The Storm Patch v1.03 released!
Patch v1.03
This patch was delayed by 1 week due to additional bugs found during streaming. These bugs were found only because they manifest beyond what a solo dev can afford to find out. Ie, completion with 2 or more players in the Campaign mode.
New Features
New Weapons!
Liquidator Bomb - A proximity-like bomb that explodes with a temporary AoA splash on the spot. Highly toxic and definitely helps in stacking any poison damage.
Napalm Flamethrower - A close-range burst of napalm liquid burning itself with a bubble of oxygen, this weapon deals substantial damage by stacking fire damage over time.
New Features:
NEW: End Shopping for All - in the weapon shop to quickly end shopping for all players.
NEW: Retire Players - Feature that exists in both Campaign Map and Weapon Shop - serves to properly retire a player from the game. For Arcade mode, the retirement is permanent. A new player that joins can inherit the old fighter's weapons but not the scores, crystals or capsules. For Campaign mode, all the crystals and capsules are preserved under the player's local account.
These features are meant to help players hosting Steam Remote Play to get on with the game even when the remote players no longer wants to be a part of it. (ie, disconnected)
Optimizations
Made huge optimizations in regards to heavy firing sequences. You might have noticed in the past where bosses tend to slow the game down when firing, even when the bullets have left the screen. This is now optimized.
Although, in cases of large number of particles, the game will still slow down (rightfully so).
Changes
There're a few changes made to the game:
Buffed EMP Cannon 2 and 3 to have more resilience towards enemy firepower.
Buffed EMP Cannon 3 to have more dicing hits. That means more overall damage and defensive cover.
Buffed Bonus Magnet Level 1 to have a radius similar to Level 2 but retain the slower speed of bonus attraction.
Re-arranged some items in the Weapon Shop so that only the most powerful weapons appear at the bottom of the list.
Made the prompt message box in the game slightly larger to accommodate the new commands in the navigation menu. This might appear a little jarring initially.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug in the Campaign Map where the loading screen rubberbands back and forth. This is because the wrong set of textures (compressed ones) were provided for med and low texture details.
Fixed a bug in the Campaign Map where certain missions might go missing for some reasons unknown. All missions that were BEFORE the current discovered mission will now be discovered regardless of their completion status.
Fixed a bug where Campaign mode scores weren't combined as one upon completion.
Fixed a bug where if Player 2 or Player 3 completes Campaign mode, the game simply hangs in a limbo, doesn't crash but doesn't allow Options to be opened either.
Fixed a bug where upon Campaign completion, Player 2 or Player 3 cannot enter hi-score on behalf of Player 1 who might have been killed in action.
Fixed an invulnerability bug exploit where players might enjoy an instance of invulnerability through the entire mission if it was mixed with warheads and special powers towards the end of an AREA.
Fixed the lighting doodad placement in the side mission "Foresight"
Fixed a bug where the last weapon in the weapon shop is sometimes not detected even when you own it and the weapon is there legitimately. This means it doesn't center upon the shop item even when it's there.
Conclusion
It has been a great week sorting out the bugs and implementing the new weapons. There should be more weapons coming in 2 weeks' time before we embark on our next part of the roadmap - the Boss Rush modes. (Yes, modes.)
Next week, we'll take a short break from Starlight and any patches will solely be on bug fixes. We'll have to get on with our Game Engine upgrade in preparation for the future.
