[Bug] Player Message stale first frame

[Daft Mugi]

@duzenko I'm not sure if you've worked on the notes that appear in the upper-left corner before. The notes seem to have a similar behavior as this x-ray fade in issue that you just fixed.

Is that something you could look at next?

It's especially reproducible during the training mission, since there are many notes that show in that mission. When the note fades in, it will sometimes be at 100% opacity on its first frame and then fade in from a low (maybe 0%) opacity to 100% opacity. Visually, it looks like it blinks, disappears, and then slowly fades in.

https://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=6117

Edited December 4, 2022 by Daft Mugi

[datiswous]

It's the atdm:gui_message entity with gui tdm_message.gui . The strange thing in the training mission is that the issue doesn't happen with the messages in the starter room. Only the later ones. It also doesn't happen in the archery range. At least in my tests.

Could also have something to do with the trigger maybe?

Edited October 14, 2022 by datiswous

[duzenko]

@Daft Mugi In case it's not always reproducible could you add a getviewpos in the training mission where the text is about to show?

I have been rather busy lately IRL, e.g. this weekend I want to go looking for a used microwave, before that I was traveling, and before that I had some delivery business to attend to. Which is why it's going slow.

[AluminumHaste]

I've seen this before, it's been around a long time.

[AluminumHaste]

@duzenkoThese 3 messages did it for me, but they don't show up in the video. I'm assuming that's because it's doing it for only 1 frame out of 240fps, and the video is only recording at 60 fps, so chances of catching it are low.

 

 

 

Now I haven't tried at 60 fps, that might be worth looking into.

EDIT: So what's happening is that the message shows fully for 1 frame or a few, then disappears, then fades in over a second.

[Daft Mugi]

@duzenko No worries about being busy with real life stuff. I hope you found a microwave you liked.

I've included a series of images that show the bug. I used my phone to record my monitor using 60 fps video capture and the game is running at 60 fps.

The series of images shows that the previous message displays at 100% opacity and disappears. Then, the current message fades in over time.

This was recorded on the training mission.

]getviewpos
1427 -359.26 560.25   3.3 176.1 0.0

Though, it is noticeable with most (or all) messages in that mission and other missions.

@AluminumHaste Thank you for looking into this as well.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Daft Mugi

[Daft Mugi]

Another way to see this bug is to use the stealth stat mod that shows the stats as a message. I've seen this bug a lot in Klatremus' walkthrough YouTube videos where he used that particular mod. These days Klatremus uses a different stealth stat mod that replaces the loot stat instead.

I've attached a series of screenshots from one of Klatremus' videos. It shows a blank message at 100% opacity and disappears. Then, the stealth stat message fades in.

To see it yourself, you can step frame by frame on YouTube by first pausing and then using the "." key to step forwards (and the "," key to step backwards). The video link starts at 1:15:56 and the message appears during 1:15:57.

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Daft Mugi

[duzenko]

@Daft Mugi

I can't repeat this on my end.

Is there a decent free program to capture the game video? I tried Windows game bar but it seems to capture at 30 fps.

Here's the capture file: https://e1.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZW8WQZ1WCAgUYXA98oXTyi3LyFnk0jNChk

[duzenko]

Here's a 60gps phone video, also seemingly right

https://e1.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZd8WQZ8WaOTicVS3jarNa6RLe7ABka9dpX

[datiswous]

I think it happens when you move very quickly to the spot. But in some scenes it does not happen at all (as previously noted).

[Daft Mugi]

On 11/6/2022 at 2:46 AM, duzenko said:

I can't repeat this on my end.

If I "Start This Mission" and "setviewpos", message #2 fades in ok without issue.

However, if I "Start This Mission" and traverse to that position, message #2 fade in has the issue. After seeing message #1, shooting a rope arrow, and climbing it, a save can be made. Then, that save can be loaded to reproduce the issue again and again.

 

// Message #1

Look up for the wooden beam that sticks out.
Shoot a rope arrow into it, jump on the rope,
climb up, and jump off the rope to detach yourself.

 

// Message #2

Jump onto the rope. Stay near its bottom end.
Tap 'Attack' to swing. Repeat as the rope goes
through its mid point to make it swing more.
Then jump over the canal on the far swing.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Daft Mugi

[AluminumHaste]

I've had this issue for years, never really bothered me.

I get this on my Radeon 6800XT, as well as my on my wife's computer with the Nvidia GTX1080ti.

We're both running high FPS on this map, but this happens even with FPS capped at 60fps.

Recorded these videos from my Samsung Galaxy S21.

Slow Mo

 

 

Super Slow Mo

 

[Daft Mugi]

@AluminumHaste The slow mo is pretty awesome. Good idea! Thanks!

[AluminumHaste]

@duzenko

I played the second one back at 0.25X speed, and you can see that it's flashing a blank parchment.

[Daft Mugi]

I worked on this today, but I haven't been able to track down the problem yet.

I found that the previous message or info about the previous message is not cleared from memory completely.

Interesting results happen if:

1. Trigger message.
2. Wait for message to fade out.
3. Save game.
4. Edit "tdm_message.gui" and change "rect" to something else, such as "100,100,206,160".
5. Load game.
6. Trigger next message. (The previous message parchment will blink for a single frame at the previous "tdm_message.gui" "rect" value. The next message parchment will fade in at the current "rect" value.)

(See attached screenshot.)

It seems the messages are not being removed from memory after fade out.

@duzenko @Obsttorte Any ideas? Are scripts completely controlling this feature? If not, where in the game code is it handled?

The following shows the code change made to "guis/tdm_message.gui" for this example to expose part of the issue.

 // A GUI for showing little messages to the player, used f.i. by the training map:

 windowDef parchment
 {
-    rect        0,-10,206,160
+    rect        100,100,206,160
     nocursor  1
     background  "guis/assets/mainmenu/oldparchment_backdrop3"
     matcolor  0,0,0,0

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Daft Mugi

[duzenko]

It appears as gui duplication caused by the standard def "atdm:gui_message".

At the same time, it calls a script function "tdm_gui_message::showMessage" and triggers redraw of "guis/tdm_message.gui" linked via its "gui" property.

The glitch seems to go away when I comment out line 59 in tdm_message.def

    // "gui"                    "guis/tdm_message.gui"

@nbohr1more @stgatilov who can advise on this?

[nbohr1more]

I would remove that line.

It was probably added out of caution to ensure that the correct area is referenced.

[stgatilov]

8 hours ago, duzenko said:

At the same time, it calls a script function "tdm_gui_message::showMessage" and triggers redraw of "guis/tdm_message.gui" linked via its "gui" property.

The glitch seems to go away when I comment out line 59 in tdm_message.def

    // "gui"                    "guis/tdm_message.gui"

@nbohr1more @stgatilov who can advise on this?

I think "gui" spawnarg is used for customizing the message .gui file:

	string gui_name = getKey("gui");
	if (gui_name == "")
	{
		gui_name = "guis/tdm_message.gui";		// the default value
	}
	gui = $player1.createOverlay(gui_name, 10);

You can delete the line, but if someone uses the customization, it won't help them.

What's the duplication exactly?
Does the engine handle "gui" spawnarg automatically?

[duzenko]

1 hour ago, stgatilov said:

I think "gui" spawnarg is used for customizing the message .gui file:

	string gui_name = getKey("gui");
	if (gui_name == "")
	{
		gui_name = "guis/tdm_message.gui";		// the default value
	}
	gui = $player1.createOverlay(gui_name, 10);

You can delete the line, but if someone uses the customization, it won't help them.

 

Well, this is TDM-era script, and the trigger C++ must predate that

Quote

What's the duplication exactly?
Does the engine handle "gui" spawnarg automatically?

On triggers it displays the (separate) message GUI immediately (idEntity::ActivateTargets). Not sure why it's not visible after the first frame - that code makes me sleep

[stgatilov]

I'm afraid it is not a proper fix: it will only help for "default" messages.

There are ton of missions which use "atdm:gui_message" with custom "gui" set, you fix will do nothing for them.
For instance:

// entity 1769
{
"classname" "atdm:gui_message"
"name" "message_citywatch_gate1"
"angle" "-90.000000"
"delay" "0"
"force" "1"
"gui" "guis/volta_sign_small.gui"
"lines" "2"
"origin" "345.751 1089.88 213"
"show" "1"
"text" "Finnley Murray"
}

Just ask almost any mapper around.

Here is e.g. a list of missions which all probably suffer from the problem:

"gui" "guis/tdm_message_no_art.gui"
   hazard/hazard.pk4 -> maps/hazard_night.map
   northdale2/northdale2.pk4 -> maps/m2.map
   sirt/sirt.pk4 -> maps/sirt.map
   ac1/ac1.pk4 -> maps/ac1.map
   painterswife/painterswife.pk4 -> maps/city.map
   ac2/ac2.pk4 -> maps/ac2_autosave.map
   itb/itb.pk4 -> maps/itb.map
   nobleaffairs/nobleaffairs.pk4 -> maps/noble_affairs.map
   northdale1/northdale1.pk4 -> maps/m1.map
   ws1_north/ws1_north.pk4 -> maps/ws1_north.map
   away0/away0.pk4 -> maps/away0.map
   ac2/ac2.pk4 -> maps/ac2.map
   ws5_commerce/ws5_commerce.pk4 -> maps/ws5_commerce.map
   snowed_inn/snowed_inn.pk4 -> maps/snowed_inn.map
   airpocket/airpocket.pk4 -> maps/airpocket.map

And that is just one particular value of "gui" spawnarg on messages, there are many others.

 

[duzenko]

8 hours ago, stgatilov said:

I'm afraid it is not a proper fix: it will only help for "default" messages.

There are ton of missions which use "atdm:gui_message" with custom "gui" set, you fix will do nothing for them.
For instance:

// entity 1769
{
"classname" "atdm:gui_message"
"name" "message_citywatch_gate1"
"angle" "-90.000000"
"delay" "0"
"force" "1"
"gui" "guis/volta_sign_small.gui"
"lines" "2"
"origin" "345.751 1089.88 213"
"show" "1"
"text" "Finnley Murray"
}

Just ask almost any mapper around.

Here is e.g. a list of missions which all probably suffer from the problem:

"gui" "guis/tdm_message_no_art.gui"
   hazard/hazard.pk4 -> maps/hazard_night.map
   northdale2/northdale2.pk4 -> maps/m2.map
   sirt/sirt.pk4 -> maps/sirt.map
   ac1/ac1.pk4 -> maps/ac1.map
   painterswife/painterswife.pk4 -> maps/city.map
   ac2/ac2.pk4 -> maps/ac2_autosave.map
   itb/itb.pk4 -> maps/itb.map
   nobleaffairs/nobleaffairs.pk4 -> maps/noble_affairs.map
   northdale1/northdale1.pk4 -> maps/m1.map
   ws1_north/ws1_north.pk4 -> maps/ws1_north.map
   away0/away0.pk4 -> maps/away0.map
   ac2/ac2.pk4 -> maps/ac2.map
   ws5_commerce/ws5_commerce.pk4 -> maps/ws5_commerce.map
   snowed_inn/snowed_inn.pk4 -> maps/snowed_inn.map
   airpocket/airpocket.pk4 -> maps/airpocket.map

And that is just one particular value of "gui" spawnarg on messages, there are many others.

 

You're right of course, but what would be the final solution? The gui code confuses me.

Simplest way might be to use a different spawnarg (other than "gui") to pass gui name to the standard script. But we'd have to fix it on each mission level - too much stress.

Then we could add more hacks to the gui code, such as ignore standard "gui" for "some" entities - but what would be the filtering criteria?

[stgatilov]

Maybe use a spawnarg which disables builtin "gui" behavior?

Maybe there is already an existing one?
@Dragofer @kingsal

 

[stgatilov]

You can replace the loop in idEntity::ActivateTargets with a call to TriggerGuis.
Then you can probably add a condition to TriggerGuis, which would skip gui if its "gui_trigger" / "gui_enable_trigger" is zero?

[Dragofer]

So there's this:

• When reproducing this bug, it seems there are always multiple messages involved. The first message in the training mission isn't affected, so it suggests the bug begins with the 2nd message. Also supported by the fact that if you view the 2nd message first it's fine, too.
• This comment in tdm_gui_message::showMessage() seems to be aware of a flickering issue due to "multi-trigger" and therefore checks whether a gui has already been created for that particular message entity. However, the value of the float variable "gui" is unique to each message entity, so the check doesn't work if a different message entity has created a gui.

So a possible attempt at a solution could be to turn the gui handle into a global variable shared between all message entities (I renamed it to dragofer_gui to ensure there are no conflicts with other scriptobjects that have some kind of "gui" variable):

tdm_message.script

Would be nice if someone who can reproduce the bug can try whether this makes any difference.

In this implementation it will not show the next message overlay if the old message overlay is still present. If this approach works we might consider destroying the existing message overlay.

[Dragofer]

After some further research, it really seems to be caused by the inbuilt trigger behaviour for any entity that has a "gui" spawnarg. I created a random func_static, gave it a valid "gui" spawnarg and triggered it twice which resulted in flashing a blank parchment for a frame (after some reloading). So it's unlikely the fault is with the scriptobject..

The question is: does any entity in any map rely on this inbuilt "gui" behaviour? If no we can just remove TriggerGUIs from idEntity::Activate. Do we have a way to extract all entities from all released maps that have a "gui" spawnarg?

Edit: extracted all existing "gui" spawnargs from released maps, removed duplicates and removed those that contain words like "message", "map", "text" etc. in order to look for potential non-message GUIs. I looked up the remaining 32 entries in their respective maps to check what kind of entities they're given to with the following results:

Spoiler

gui	found in	entity class
guis/code1.gui	at1_lucy/maps/lucy.map	atdm:secret_messages
guis/cuckolds_pages.gui	at1_lucy/maps/lucy.map	atdm:moveable_custom_item
guis/le_guin_pages1.gui	at1_lucy/maps/lucy.map	atdm:map_of
guis/cutscene_video_nsfw.gui	away0/maps/away0.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/cutscene_video_sfw.gui	away0/maps/away0.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/final_cutscene_replacement_slide.gui	away0/maps/away0.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/first_cutscene_replacement_slide.gui	away0/maps/away0.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/success_cutscene_video.gui	away0/maps/away0.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/memory_sketch.gui	black_mage/maps/tbm.map	atdm:static_custom_item
guis/lookbehind.gui	blackgrove/maps/manor.map	atdm:mover_door
guis/nameplates.gui	braeden_church/maps/braeden_church.map	func_static
guis/rooms.gui	braeden_church/maps/braeden_church.map	func_static
guis/sewer/deplankkseal.gui	dufford/maps/dufford.map	func_static
guis/FirstFloor.gui	fever/maps/fever.map	atdm:map_of
guis/SecondFloor.gui	fever/maps/fever.map	atdm:map_of
guis/abOutpostClock.gui	flakebridge/maps/aboutpostii.map	func_static
guis/abOutpostDoorNo.gui	flakebridge/maps/aboutpostii.map	func_static
guis/abOutpostGraveName.gui	flakebridge/maps/aboutpostii.map	func_static
guis/waterworks.gui	good/maps/good.map	func_static
guis/debrief.gui	hareinthesnare/maps/man2.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/frobscreenread.gui	iris/maps/iris.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/welli_memento.gui	iris/maps/iris.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/sotha_pagan_mage.gui	mandrasola/maps/mandrasola.map	func_static
guis/finale.gui	nowandthen/maps/nowandthen.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/manor1.gui	pearlsnswine/maps/pearls8.map	atdm:map_of
guis/manor2.gui	pearlsnswine/maps/pearls8.map	atdm:map_of
guis/black_fade.gui	reap/maps/reap.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/epilogue.gui	reap/maps/reap.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/ice_fade.gui	reap/maps/reap.map	atdm:gui_message
guis/john01.gui	samhain/maps/samhain.map	func_static
guis/degrenefelds.gui	transaction/maps/transaction.map	func_static
guis/key_bindings.gui	volta1_3/maps/snapshots/volta_v1.map.0.map	shopitem_map_of

Turns out that quite a few of these entities (i.e. the func_statics) rely on TriggerCall being part of the base idEntity::Activate method in order to call up their GUIs. So it's not some forgotten legacy code we can remove.

We could add a custom spawnarg to the entityDef for atdm:gui_message to disable this behaviour for them - no FM overrides this entityDef, btw, so it'll apply to all FMs - but it won't fix other entities that call GUIs and don't have this spawnarg.