iOS 4 on iPhone 2 kills the performance - Fixed in V1.6(?)

[mickeymammoth]

I upgraded my 2nd gen iPhone to the latest OS, and now rogue touch is 1/3 as fast as it was, and it wasn't very fast. Now the game is unplayable!!! Can we get a bug fix?

[CommanderData]

I upgraded my 2nd gen iPhone to the latest OS, and now rogue touch is 1/3 as fast as it was, and it wasn't very fast. Now the game is unplayable!!! Can we get a bug fix?

By 2nd Gen iPhone, do you mean the iPhone 3G?

1st gen iPhone is the original 2007 metal back model that works only on EDGE networks
2nd gen iPhone is the iPhone 3G
3rd gen iPhone is the iPhone 3GS

iOS 4.0 only installs on the 3G, 3GS, and iPhone 4 as far as I know. Please let me know if you're on a 3G model. If you did manage to get it to work on an old EDGE network iPhone let me know, that could be part of your problem


Any iPod Touch owners that have made the jump yet? Care to chime in with what generation you have, and how Rogue Touch behaves for you?


I haven't even downloaded the 4.0 SDK yet (have to upgrade to Snow Leopard to get it to run, and haven't done that!), and don't have a device with 4.0 yet to test with, but hope to have one soon. Note that any changes I make to help this speed issue will make it incompatible with OS 2.0 - OS 2.2.1, so anyone with a device running that firmware will need to upgrade to play in the future.

[CommanderData]

Actually received one of my two iPhone 4s early! Got here at 9:15 today, June 23rd! I don't have the developer environment set up to support it yet, but was able to download the iTunes store version of Rogue Touch to it...

There is definitely something odd about how iOS 4.0 draws to the screen, because the iPhone 4 should be *faster* than my 3GS, but instead it draws the screen somewhat slower. Not intolerable to play on that fast device, but definitely slower than it would be on any other device prior to 4.0. I can imagine this being much worse on anything less than a 3GS!

That means some changes will be necessary for smooth gameplay, but I don't know what yet until I can get set up to handle it. Also noted that some people have had trouble with iNethack and Slash'Em being slower on iOS 4.0. It would be great if Apple gave some clues about what was changed in basic screen updating

[iCarbon]

I just update my 3G phone yesterday, and Roguetouch is so slowed that its essentially uplayable. I'm glad to see that you're aware of the problems (I wish Apple had sent all app developers the update early so you'd have had more time).

Its interesting, some aspects are the same speed as always -- scrolling through items, whether to do something or after casting identify works fine. Walking is the real problem, it takes 1-2s per step, and getting the double tap to register for running is very difficult. Fighting is also slowed down.

Just adding some feedback so you have more input -- I'll be getting my iPhone4 tomorrow, and I'll let you know if I see anything different from what you described (I'm guessing I wont).

Thanks for a great game!

[CommanderData]

I just update my 3G phone yesterday, and Roguetouch is so slowed that its essentially uplayable. I'm glad to see that you're aware of the problems (I wish Apple had sent all app developers the update early so you'd have had more time).

Its interesting, some aspects are the same speed as always -- scrolling through items, whether to do something or after casting identify works fine. Walking is the real problem, it takes 1-2s per step, and getting the double tap to register for running is very difficult. Fighting is also slowed down.

Just adding some feedback so you have more input -- I'll be getting my iPhone4 tomorrow, and I'll let you know if I see anything different from what you described (I'm guessing I wont).

Thanks for a great game!

I agree with your assessment that some things are unaffected by the iOS 4.0 update... Pretty much anything that does not require the dungeon background to redraw seems to be fine. So yes, walking/running and fighting are being bogged down. Much less so on an iPhone 4, but if you see a 1 or 2 second lag on an iPhone 3G I guess that just shows us how much faster and more powerful an iPhone 4 really is!

Apple does actually supply preview builds of the OS to developers, but they are notoriously unstable and may show performance problems that do not exist in the final version. In addition, I refused to update my 3GS above OS 3.0, so I would have something to test backwards compatibility with (and have a reliable device to receive calls on )

Please do let me know what you see on your iPhone 4 tomorrow, so I can have more than one data point! Everyone else, please chime in on your device type in use with iOS 4.0 and what you see for performance (maybe before and after rebooting, and note if you have any multitasking apps in the background).

Final thoughts I will definitely try to address this somehow, and soon- I want to keep playing as much as you guys and girls do! First I need to get Snow Leopard on my iMac (or pick up a MacBook Pro like I've been wanting to do for a while) so I can run the 4.0 SDK and tools

[mickeymammoth]

Yes, by 2nd gen, I meant the 3G. Prior to this update, it was playable, but much slower than my husband's 3GS. Luckily, I'm getting the iPhone 4 tomorrow, so maybe it'll be playable. But it should scream! I'm afraid it may need some major reworking.

[CommanderData]

Yes, by 2nd gen, I meant the 3G. Prior to this update, it was playable, but much slower than my husband's 3GS. Luckily, I'm getting the iPhone 4 tomorrow, so maybe it'll be playable. But it should scream! I'm afraid it may need some major reworking.

On the iPhone 4, it is visually fine, and playable, but noticeably slower than playing on other iDevices with OS versions 3.1.3 and lower, all the way down to OS 2.0. I am very concerned about what Apple may have done to the functionality of CALayers and custom drawing routines using them in iOS 4.0, hopefully I will have some news to report here ASAP.

I have thought about doing a Rogue Touch "EX" edition, rewriting the display code to use OpenGL and animation similar to the work in progress on Spirit Hunter Mineko (not quite as detailed, but you get the idea). This would definitely solve the iOS 4.0 issues, but would be so much work it would essentially be a brand new game. Not that this is a bad thing, I think there are a LOT of people out there who would gain an appreciation for classic roguelikes if they were a bit prettier to look at

We'll see if I can find a short term "quick fix" that helps speed in the existing game code, and keep the EX edition for down the road a bit.

I'm going to need a couple of forum member volunteers who have iOS 4.0 installed on their iPhone 3G, 3GS, or iPod Touch 2nd and 3rd generation devices to help test the speeds when I figure out what is going on. If any of you are familiar with running AdHoc builds and have the time to provide detailed feedback, please respond here and I'll choose a few people to help as soon as I've identified what Apple broke in iOS 4.0

[Nighthawk]

Speed on the 3GS with iOS4 is definitely a little slower, but not unplayable. Anything that's an animation or movement within the dungeon is slowed about 25%, menus are fine. I noticed that running is faster (almost the same as OS 3.1.3) when the game only has to show walls and floor (like in a long thin room). As soon as it has to show a door, running slows down again. Not sure if that will help you find a bottle-neck or not.

I've done Ad Hoc before, beta testing a backgammon app. You should already have my UID; if not, let me know and I'll resend it to you.

[kharstin]

Just updated to OS 4.0. Rogue Touch is very sluggish and eats the battery power like nothing I have seen before. I assume we have some kind of compatibility problem. I have tried a complete shut down and restart.

[CommanderData]

Just updated to OS 4.0. Rogue Touch is very sluggish and eats the battery power like nothing I have seen before. I assume we have some kind of compatibility problem. I have tried a complete shut down and restart.

kharstin, I moved this post into the thread we've got here discussing it already.

Nighthawk has volunteered to test a few changes I have in mind, I really need to find someone with an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.0 that can test as well, since a 3G is much slower than a 3GS.

Right now, I am unsure exactly what Apple changed in CoreGraphics screen drawing, but I think it's something with CALayer redraws, possibly a change to defaults for AntiAliasing of the images drawn (which would not be necessary, and eat speed/power for breakfast).

Keep watching this space for new info!