Fps lowering with only one light

[inertias]

Hey everyone, so I was looking at this tutorial to make a lighting system:

I got it working, but am having an issue with the fps dropping dramatically.

Only spawning one light cuts my fps in half (60 down to 30). Here is the code:

2 objects, 1 called obj_surface_light and obj_lightsource

in obj_surface_light:

create event

depth = -100;
light_surf = surface_create(room_width, room_height);

step event

if (surface_exists(light_surf))
{   
    surface_set_target(light_surf);
    draw_clear(c_black);
    with (obj_lightsource) //take control of light source object
    {
        
        gpu_set_blendmode (bm_zero);
        draw_sprite_ext(spr_lightmap, 0, x, y, x_radius, y_radius, 0, c_black, 1);
        gpu_set_blendmode(bm_zero);
        draw_sprite_ext(spr_lightmap, 0, x, y, x_radius, y_radius, 0, c_orange, 0.1);
        gpu_set_blendmode(bm_normal);
    }
    surface_reset_target();
    draw_surface_ext(light_surf, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, c_white, 0.8);
}

else {light_surf = surface_create(room_width, room_height)}

the obj_lightsource just has x_radius and y_radius set to 2 in the create event.

So yeah, was wondering if anyone can spot where there are performance issues with this. Thanks!

 

[Relic]

How big is your room?

 

[guyinboots]

Surfaces can lag you out I think if their the size of a really big room. Check how big your room is and try to make the surface only the size of the actual screen ,

 

[flyingsaucerinvasion]

The surface should be the size of your view port. When drawing to it, you'll want to set a view and projection equal to your "view".

Additionally, don't set the blendmode inside of the with statement.

 

[inertias]

The surface should be the size of your view port. When drawing to it, you'll want to set a view and projection equal to your "view".

Additionally, don't set the blendmode inside of the with statement.

So i'm a bit confused as to how this is supposed to work. If I make the surface the size of the view, it's not actually following the view, so if I move my player outside the view I won't have my lighting effects follow me. How can I make the surface move with my camera view?

Also, for those talking about room size, yeah I realized this will be an issue. What I wrote above is asking about that. I actually added a "draw_clear_alpha(c_black, 1);" line under the "draw_clear(c_black);" and it seems to have improved the fps back to 60 without any noticeable differences to the light effect. Maybe this is a proper solution?

 

[Relic]

The only proper solution is one where you understand the cause of the problem and then enact a solution to fix the problem.

I don’t know why that extra line would improve anything- I would have assumed it would make it worse (even more draw code=slower FPS)

If you do run in to the issue again, you draw the surface at the view coordinates of the camera, not the room.

 

[inertias]

The only proper solution is one where you understand the cause of the problem and then enact a solution to fix the problem.

I don’t know why that extra line would improve anything- I would have assumed it would make it worse (even more draw code=slower FPS)

If you do run in to the issue again, you draw the surface at the view coordinates of the camera, not the room.

You're right, I think I spoke too soon. I'm not entirely sure what was causing the slowdown in the first place, but this just goes to show I need to learn more about this stuff before jumping in.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Online Handle]

Large surfaces are awful for rendering. You'll need to draw the surface just a little larger than your viewport, then have your lights offset and drawn onto the surface. This is how I handle lighting in my game after running into a similar issue.

 

[Nocturne]

So i'm a bit confused as to how this is supposed to work. If I make the surface the size of the view, it's not actually following the view, so if I move my player outside the view I won't have my lighting effects follow me. How can I make the surface move with my camera view?

You draw the surface at the VIEW position, and then in the code that draws to the surface you subtract the view x/y positions, so:

var _xoff = camera_get_view_x(view_camera[0]);
var _yoff = camera_get_view_y(view_camera[0]);
surface_set_target(surf);
draw_sprite(sprite_index, image_index, x - _xoff, y - _yoff);
surface_reset_target();

This will ensure that everything draws to the surface correctly, while keeping the size of the surface to a minimum.