Serious Sam 3 Update 199392 - public beta

[Robert]

Build 199392 for Serious Sam 3 is now available in beta "publicbeta", which does not require a password.

To install the beta, do this:
- locate the game (Serious Sam 3 in this case) in the Steam's "Library" panel
- right click and invoke "Properties"
- select the "Betas" tab
- choose "publicbeta"

Here are the changes:

Bug fixes:

- Fixed a crash if opening a menu while loading saved game.
- Rodolfo character is now awarded on profile load to everyone that decorated the Christmas tree on each level.
- Fixed several issues with GI solver causing it to produce wrong output.
- Fixed several issues with importing/exporting .fbx files in Serious Editor.

Features:
- Redesigned split screen menus.
- Serious Editor can now edit .xml files.

[Terepin]

I was hopping for DX11. :(

[Nicholas Steel]

Originalmente postado por Terepin:

I was hopping for DX11. :(

What benefit would it bring? Simply adding support for it would be pointless since there is currently nothing taking advantage of what it has to offer.

DirectX 11 special effects requires a lot of work to create and integrate well, within the existing environments and is needed in addition to implementing DirectX 11 support if you want to see any benefit from adding DirectX 11 support. The new graphical assets, lighting engine etc. etc. would require quite a bit of work and cost a fair bit for devs to develop and create.

[Turnip Lord]

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

Originalmente postado por Terepin:

I was hopping for DX11. :(

What benefit would it bring? Simply adding support for it would be pointless since there is currently nothing taking advantage of what it has to offer.

DirectX 11 special effects requires a lot of work to create and integrate well, within the existing environments and is needed in addition to implementing DirectX 11 support if you want to see any benefit from adding DirectX 11 support. The new graphical assets, lighting engine etc. etc. would require quite a bit of work and cost a fair bit for devs to develop and create.

well everything you just said is completely wrong, considering that they already added dx11 months ago and it improves framerate drastically.

[Terepin]

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

Originalmente postado por Terepin:

I was hopping for DX11. :(

What benefit would it bring? Simply adding support for it would be pointless since there is currently nothing taking advantage of what it has to offer.

DirectX 11 special effects requires a lot of work to create and integrate well, within the existing environments and is needed in addition to implementing DirectX 11 support if you want to see any benefit from adding DirectX 11 support. The new graphical assets, lighting engine etc. etc. would require quite a bit of work and cost a fair bit for devs to develop and create.

Priceless! :D

[Nicholas Steel]

Originalmente postado por Bruhmis Napton:

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

What benefit would it bring? Simply adding support for it would be pointless since there is currently nothing taking advantage of what it has to offer.

DirectX 11 special effects requires a lot of work to create and integrate well, within the existing environments and is needed in addition to implementing DirectX 11 support if you want to see any benefit from adding DirectX 11 support. The new graphical assets, lighting engine etc. etc. would require quite a bit of work and cost a fair bit for devs to develop and create.

well everything you just said is completely wrong, considering that they already added dx11 months ago and it improves framerate drastically.

They did? Huh, I haven't really been paying attention to this game and its updates. Still though, although we both ended up being wrong I still made a pretty solid case against those clamouring for DirectX11 being added to every game under the sun even when it makes no sense :P

DirectX 11 support was probably always planned as a late addition in this case, then. It seriously does take quite a bit to both incorporate a new graphics renderer and then take advantage of what it has to offer and I doubt a large company would just do all that on a whim.

[Turnip Lord]

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

Originalmente postado por Bruhmis Napton:

well everything you just said is completely wrong, considering that they already added dx11 months ago and it improves framerate drastically.

They did? Huh, I haven't really been paying attention to this game and its updates. Still though, although we both ended up being wrong I still made a pretty solid case against those clammouring for DirectX11 being added to every game under the sun even when it makes no sense :P

directx is an api that is used to code games for different hardware specifications, not a magic ''add shiny graphics'' plugin. if you use an outdated version of the API you're going to get poor support of modern hardware, which was exactly the problem with SS3 up until they added dx11 support.

[Turnip Lord]

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

DirectX 11 support was probably always planned as a late addition in this case, then. It seriously does take quite a bit to both incorporate a new graphics renderer and then take advantage of what it has to offer and I doubt a large company would just do all that on a whim.

it wasn't always planned. the reason it's making it in now is because it's an experimental implementation that's going to pave the way for Serious Sam 4.

[Nicholas Steel]

Originalmente postado por Bruhmis Napton:

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

They did? Huh, I haven't really been paying attention to this game and its updates. Still though, although we both ended up being wrong I still made a pretty solid case against those clammouring for DirectX11 being added to every game under the sun even when it makes no sense :P

directx is an api that is used to code games for different hardware specifications, not a magic ''add shiny graphics'' plugin. if you use an outdated version of the API you're going to get poor support of modern hardware, which was exactly the problem with SS3 up until they added dx11 support.

Well, a older API generally doesn't mean worse performance unless it is utilized poorly. Based on your latter post I would argue that either they poorly shoehorned DirectX 9/10 support in at the last moment as a stepping stone towards DirectX 11 (DX11 wasn't quite ready by the games release date), or because Serious Sam 4 is basically using a souped up version of the same game engine it was relatively painless to backport the renderering code and so most of the work involved graphical asset creators and not coders.

[Turnip Lord]

Originalmente postado por Nicholas Steel:

Originalmente postado por Bruhmis Napton:

directx is an api that is used to code games for different hardware specifications, not a magic ''add shiny graphics'' plugin. if you use an outdated version of the API you're going to get poor support of modern hardware, which was exactly the problem with SS3 up until they added dx11 support.

Well, a older API generally doesn't mean worse performance unless it is utilized poorly. Baseed on your latter post I would argue that either they shoehorned DirectX 9/10 support in at the last moment as a stepping stone towards DirectX 11 (DX11 wasn't quite ready by the games release date), or because Serious Sam 4 is basically using a souped up version of the same game engine it was relatively painless to backport the renderering code and so most of the work involved graphics people and not coders.

dx9 isn't capable of fully utilizing dx11 hardware. on a game like left 4 dead 2 dx11 wouldn't do much of anything but in SS3 dx9 was a problem for everyone with high end hardware.

[Nicholas Steel]

Yeah I would probably be inclined to blame nvidia/ATI for having terrible driver support for the game until roughly the time the game was updated to DirectX 11, alternatively the devs implemented work-arounds to the performance issues in the drivers, directly in to the new renderer.

[Zsömle]

Hi

[Finzy]

The current D3D11 beta support works pretty well for me. Get around a +10 fps (maybe 25-50%, depending on the level) boost overall, and my system is pretty low end laptop with AMD 6650M + 6620G dual graphics, not noticing any noticeable artifacts either apart from some outlining issues with lighting (which imo look pretty cool actually, it's like an edge sharpen effect :P).

[DT]

Dev, please check my topic on the bug I'm encountering. Thanks a lot.

[Terepin]

Originalmente postado por FunkyFinzy:

The current D3D11 beta support works pretty well for me.

I wish I could say the same. But it's better - I can start the game, though it crashes when trying to load any level: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35443524/Sam3.log

[Terepin]

Soooo, can anyone from CT tell me if I can fix it by myself?