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  1. #1 Runescape NXT. 
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    R-S Admin Response  Final Information


    The first NXT Closed Beta weekend kicks off at 12:00 UTC on the 19th of February, ending on the 22nd February at 12:00 UTC.
    Beta weekends are going on every weekend until said otherwise.
    Cache size 8.5-9GB.

    Check your eligibility: http://www.rune-server.org/official-...-new-post.html





    Update 9th February 2016






    Following Andy's thread concerning Chrome no longer supporting Java and Firefox soon following, JAGEX have released more information in response to this which do include pictures .

    Mod Phillip has stated that C++ is the "best cross-platform language" which was discussed and debated on a thread on the RuneScape forum.



    Mod Lordgit posted this thread which can also be found on the RuneScape forum.



    Their Wiki article "NXT" provides the information you will need and want to know.

    Dev Blog | NXT - Can I Run It? - News - RuneScape

    R-S Admin Response  Can I run NXT?


    Can I run NXT (YES)?

    With the release of more amazing screenshots and videos of the new NXT client, no doubt the question many of you want answered is whether you can play it without having to go out and buy a new PC.

    Short answer – yes! RuneScape has earned a reputation as a game that can be played on very modest hardware, with some of the lowest system requirements of any actively maintained game. We have no plans to lose that reputation with NXT, and we are pulling out all the stops to make NXT run better than the existing Java-based client on any PC, and look better at the same time.

    OpenGL


    Since we are building a brand new game engine from the ground up, we have complete freedom with our system requirements. Despite that, we able to also support as low as OpenGL 2.0 at a minimum, which was released around the same time as Half-Life 2 – 12 years ago in 2004! Not only that, but we have managed to pull off modern triple-A effects on graphics cards from over a decade ago – so even on really low end hardware, NXT still looks amazing.

    For newer graphics cards, we will be taking advantage of features added in later versions of OpenGL to provide high-fidelity lighting and shadows in the most efficient way possible. We are not holding back modern GPUs, even low powered ones like the Intel HD series – it is our aim to squeeze as much performance as possible out of any given hardware.

    Water Effects


    You’ve never seen RuneScape with water like this.

    There has been some confusion over why we have selected OpenGL instead of DirectX, with misinformation about it being somehow worse than DirectX – this is completely false! Remember that we are starting from scratch – don’t take the current RuneScape DirectX and OpenGL settings as an example of how the two compare.

    We have selected OpenGL because of its superior cross-platform support, as well as backwards compatibility. It allows us to target the greatest range of computers with the fewest compromises.

    That being said, there are some very old graphics cards out there that do not work correctly with OpenGL– for that scenario we are taking a leaf out of Google’s book and using the same system they use in Chrome to run our OpenGL code under DirectX 9 via Angle - a last resort, if your graphics card isn’t up to scratch.

    We hope to support more modern rendering APIs soon, and we have built NXT so it would be easy to add DirectX 12 or Vulkan support in the future. Our state-of-the-art rendering layer also means NXT is completely agnostic of any rendering API, so unlike Java there will not be visual differences between APIs.

    AMD vs. Nvidia

    In terms of GPU brands, we are currently seeing roughly equal performance between equivalent Nvidia and AMD cards. With at least one AMD user on the NXT team, you can rest assured that NXT will run well regardless of which camp you fall into.

    We have spent hundreds of man-hours with specialist tools offered by AMD and Nvidia to get everything possible out of their cards. The end result of our optimisations is higher FPS across the board and equality between cards. As a more concrete example: a Radeon HD 7770 or a GeForce GTX 460 will be able to max out NXT at 1080p 60 fps. Considering some of the modern effects we do at max graphics settings and the fact that we do shadows and irradiance in real time, this is an incredibly low recommended spec compared to other games on the market.

    Real-time shadow rendering

    We render all our shadows in real time - because we can

    Thanks to OpenGL’s excellent backwards compatibility, we are able to scale things down and to support some positively ancient cards too. NXT even works on cards like the Nvidia GeForce 6150 from 2005 and the ATI Radeon 9800 from 2003. We have made every effort to ensure that even people stuck with Shader Model 2 graphics cards from 10+ years ago can enjoy NXT, albeit at lower quality, of course.

    Intel Graphics


    For those with Intel HD graphics, you have not been forgotten about. With a decent CPU (Intel Core i3 or above) you should have no trouble seeing 60 fps with better graphics quality than Java.

    Of course as you increase the draw distance and enable advanced shadows and reflections the framerate will decrease, but we have made every effort to maximise performance and I think it is safe to say we have achieved far more from Intel GPUs than any other modern game engine – many of which do not even work on Intel graphics. Even with some eye candy enabled, we were able to consistently produce 30fps on Intel HD CPUs.

    NXT at minimum settings

    Our minimum settings are still really pretty, with things like global illumination as standard

    Even if you have an Intel GPU from before the HD series – things like the X3100, GMA 945, 'Intel 4 series', etc. from as far back as 2005 –we have you covered. Literally no other modern game engine even considers targeting these cards, because from a developer’s perspective they are fundamentally broken as well as painfully slow. And yet we actually managed to get NXT working on them – you can expect around 10-15 fps on a PC equipped with one of these, which is slightly higher than the Java client and still manages to look slightly better.

    4K and 144Hz monitors

    Unfortunately, our 4K support has not changed. As with Java, it will work, but the interface will not scale up. This is something we plan to correct. On the bright side, 2K/1440p monitors look really good, and are actually what we use for development.

    Unlike Java, we have no FPS limit, so more powerful computers can take full advantage of 144Hz monitors. We also offer a range of VSync options – beyond the standard on/off we also offer support for Adaptive VSync, which automatically turns off VSync when the framerate dips to give you the smoothest possible experience while also minimising tearing.

    Global illumination - off Global illumination - on

    Our irradiance system brings global illumination to Runescape, simulating the effect of sunlight bouncing off surfaces and adding a whole new depth to the lighting (off above, on below)


    CPU requirements

    In terms of CPU, generally anything that can run the Java client will have no issues keeping up with NXT. At the lower graphics quality settings, NXT requires dramatically less CPU power than Java, so if CPU was previously your bottleneck you will see increased framerates.

    Multithreading comes up regularly, and there has been some confusion about our answers on this front in the past. We do use threads, but in an MMO game such as RuneScape there is actually very little work that needs to be done on the CPU – unlike other games, we have no client-side AI or physics to worry about. So while we do make use of threads for things like asset loading and audio, do not be surprised to see disproportionately high main thread CPU usage.

    We have not neglected CPU optimisation, but rather we have focused on SIMD and memory/cache optimisation over adding additional threads, so even players with single core CPUs can experience good performance – and only 2 cores are necessary to achieve ideal in-game performance. Loading times and the degree of stutter when moving between areas will still improve further with more than 2 cores.

    Optimisation in action

    Some of our optimisation magic in action – the boxes represent unseen things that we are able to intelligently skip sending to the GPU using our innovative dynamic hybrid occlusion culling

    As we are using SIMD instructions to boost performance, we require a CPU that supports at least SSE 2. If you are running Windows 8+, your CPU definitely supports SSE 2. If your CPU was made this side of the millennium and isn’t an AMD Athlon XP (1999-2004), your CPU supports SSE 2. It’s probably not something anyone needs to worry about.

    For AMD CPU users, we have seen generally slower performance than Intel CPUs (which is to be expected from their specs), though for the most part it is not something that you need to be concerned about unless you are aiming for 60 fps on max settings. The impact is lessened if you have an Nvidia graphics card, which we have observed to have a lower CPU overhead than an equivalent AMD graphics card. We are continuing to work on optimising the performance on AMD CPUs and hopefully stable 60 fps on max settings on an AMD CPU + AMD GPU will become a reality.

    We will support both 32-bit and 64-bit computers, and will be shipping a native 64-bit executable to machines that support it. Performance may be marginally better for 64-bit, but there shouldn’t be too much difference. For anyone using Linux, we will only be supporting 64-bit at launch. On Windows, 32-bit is fine - we'll even be supporting Windows XP!

    RAM


    Currently 2 GB of RAM is enough to run NXT at lower draw distances, while 3 GB is necessary for higher settings (we officially recommend 4 GB to be on the safe side). These figures are total system memory – the actual consumption stands at around 1GB at lower settings to around 2GB at max. If necessary you can get away with less, particularly with a dedicated graphics card – we have run NXT successfully on a machine with just 1 GB of dedicated RAM.

    Irradiance comparison - Java Irradiance comparison - NXT


    Our real-time irradiance, shadows and SSAO bring a new level of detail and depth to Runescape’s lighting (Java above, NXT below)

    Disk space

    In one of our live streams, it was stated that 10 GB of disk space would be required for NXT. Some people misunderstood this to mean that you would need to download 10 GB of data before being able to play NXT. That is not the case – NXT works exactly like the current Java client and will allow you to play immediately after downloading the client itself, which is just a few megabytes. The cache - which is what 10 GB referred to - will be downloaded in the background while you play, just like it is currently. The total download size is actually much less than 10GB (about 1.9GB), as the data is all compressed during transmission. Also, 10 GB is a conservative estimate and it will likely use around 75% of that. The current client already uses almost as much, so hopefully this will not be a problem.

    As NXT displays many fewer loading screens, those of you with faster, less fragmented disks will experience less stuttering when moving between areas. This is exactly the same situation as any other open-world game. Overall, you won’t be disappointed in the loading performance even if you are stuck on a 5400 RPM hard disk. You don't need to buy an SSD just to play RuneScape!

    Summary

    Any computer that can run NXT will run it smoother and with better quality than the current Java client.
    We are aiming for over 99% of players to be able to use NXT on their current computers.
    You can run NXT on high at 1080p 60 fps with an i3 CPU and GTX 460 / Radeon HD 7770.




    R-S Admin Response  Features

    The client aims to deliver better performance over the existing client, better graphics than the HTML5 client, and more platform and operating system support.
    A new material system may make bump mapping support a possibility. Other graphics improvements will include global illumination, atmospheric light scattering, cascaded shadow maps, screen space ambient occlusion, improved post-processing and reflections, gamma correction, and high-dynamic-range rendering.

    One of the core design goals of the new client is the ability to load a larger map area and preload maps in the background

    New:

    Increased draw distance and ability to see players and NPCs from further away than before. The player will be able to see a bit less than the "size of Lumbridge Castle around you in a square" when playing on maximum settings.
    Fully dynamic lighting and shadows. Shadows will be cast in real time, rather than being spot shadows, and will fall onto the player's character and other scenery rather than being cast onto walls and floors.
    Improved water with normal mapping of waves; real-time reflection of objects and shadows, including the character's shadow, in the water; and refraction (seeing objects through water when objects are underwater).
    Fog augmented with physically correct atmospheric scattering. This will stop there being harsh cut-offs in fog, with a fade to "haze" in the distance.
    Use of MSAA anti-aliasing rather than the previously used FXAA anti-aliasing.
    NXT will be going back to using Java sky domes, rather than the current cubic environment maps from HTML5, so that the Art Team do not have to maintain 2 sets of sky boxes.
    Will support normal mapping.

    Ability to zoom in and out on the minimap. The minimap will be rendered from above rather than being built out of metadata.
    The world map will look the same but will have faster loading times.
    Audio aspects will still be distributed in the same way but they will be streamed dynamically, eliminating some of the lag between audio being downloaded and it being played.
    A full screen client option will be supported for all operating systems. There will be a borderless full screen window mode.
    Better performance and visuals than Java-based client on all machines. More capable PCs will have exponentially better performance.
    No difference between DirectX and OpenGL graphics modes. DirectX will be indirectly supported as a fallback for OpenGL.
    More efficient processor core management. Multiple cores will be made use of in loading and creating new rendering assets as well as helping with increased draw distance.
    Will support dedicated and mobile graphics cards, automatically using the dedicated graphics card when possible.
    NXT will have support for 32 and 64 bit Windows, with its installer automatically detecting which version is needed. Initially there will only be support for a 64 bit version for Linux.
    Will be possible to run multiple clients at the same time, but this will affect performance especially on older, single core PCs.
    There will be less loading times and can be expected to not have any loading times when walking/running between areas.
    Players can enable Vsync to lock the FPS to the monitor's refresh rate, however this can be turned off to provide an uncapped FPS


    Beta Details (OMFG!) New Game Client | Closed Beta Weekends - News - RuneScape






    R-S Admin Response  Media



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  2. #2  
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    This is exciting news for the real RuneScape world. I feel like RS3 left a sour taste in many years-long players' mouths, including my own. There are some aspects of it that I like (the graphics DID improve heavily over the years, although many of those changes were also present in the closing era of RS2), but there are also many that I collectively did not favor, and have caused me to avoid playing real RS at all. Although I'm sure those changes will (mostly) stay the same regardless of the new client, I feel like this is infinitely bigger of a change than the transition to RS3. That is just an opinion, though. I can tell you, without a doubt, that the media they shared are VERY promising. It looks absolutely gorgeous compared to the Java client as-is, and I am excited to see where it is once it is actually deployed.

    That being said, I wonder what this means for RSPS development? A quick Google search has told me that reverse-engineering compiled C++ applications is damn near impossible - which makes perfect sense - and this is highly discouraging. Is the end in sight? I guess we will have to wait and see how Jagex chooses to actually deploy the C++ client.
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    Quote Originally Posted by cascading-style View Post
    That being said, I wonder what this means for RSPS development? A quick Google search has told me that reverse-engineering compiled C++ applications is damn near impossible - which makes perfect sense - and this is highly discouraging. Is the end in sight? I guess we will have to wait and see how Jagex chooses to actually deploy the C++ client.
    We'll find a way, eventually.
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    Quote Originally Posted by cascading-style View Post
    This is exciting news for the real RuneScape world. I feel like RS3 left a sour taste in many years-long players' mouths, including my own. There are some aspects of it that I like (the graphics DID improve heavily over the years, although many of those changes were also present in the closing era of RS2), but there are also many that I collectively did not favor, and have caused me to avoid playing real RS at all. Although I'm sure those changes will (mostly) stay the same regardless of the new client, I feel like this is infinitely bigger of a change than the transition to RS3. That is just an opinion, though. I can tell you, without a doubt, that the media they shared are VERY promising. It looks absolutely gorgeous compared to the Java client as-is, and I am excited to see where it is once it is actually deployed.

    That being said, I wonder what this means for RSPS development? A quick Google search has told me that reverse-engineering compiled C++ applications is damn near impossible - which makes perfect sense - and this is highly discouraging. Is the end in sight? I guess we will have to wait and see how Jagex chooses to actually deploy the C++ client.
    It's not impossible, but certainly considerably more difficult than Java. When the client was originally announced Jagex stated they would be keeping the Java client around after the C++ client is released, but they might have changed their mind about that now.

    If the Java client does get scrapped then people better get used to combing through assembly (or hope that IDA can decompile the parts you need).
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    Quote Originally Posted by Major View Post
    It's not impossible, but certainly considerably more difficult than Java. When the client was originally announced Jagex stated they would be keeping the Java client around after the C++ client is released, but they might have changed their mind about that now.

    If the Java client does get scrapped then people better get used to combing through assembly (or hope that IDA can decompile the parts you need).
    I am excited at the advent of C++-driven servers, though. If the community may successfully decompile the C++ client, it would be incredibly interesting to see what we may develop on the server end using the power of C++.
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    Quote Originally Posted by cascading-style View Post
    I am excited at the advent of C++-driven servers, though. If the community may successfully decompile the C++ client, it would be incredibly interesting to see what we may develop on the server end using the power of C++.
    I think java language is way much more suitable for such game server development than c++ and to be honest, the answer is:
    "we" will develop nothing new
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    Quote Originally Posted by mgi125 View Post
    I think java language is way much more suitable for such game server development than c++
    Why do you say that? I have yet to learn C++, but I have been learning more about it recently from some research here-and-there, and it does not seem like it would, by any means, be a bad idea. Aside from the obvious I/O speed benefits, though, I am unsure how beneficial it would be. Not to mention, the familiarity the community already has with Java - and the fact that Java is significantly easier to pick up than C++ - makes Java a solid option.

    I think Jagex made the right move on the client, though; that's a totally different context. The benefits C++ brings with graphics control are massive (clearly, as we can see by the screenshots).
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    Quote Originally Posted by cascading-style View Post
    Why do you say that? I have yet to learn C++, but I have been learning more about it recently from some research here-and-there, and it does not seem like it would, by any means, be a bad idea. Aside from the obvious I/O speed benefits, though, I am unsure how beneficial it would be. Not to mention, the familiarity the community already has with Java - and the fact that Java is significantly easier to pick up than C++ - makes Java a solid option.

    I think Jagex made the right move on the client, though; that's a totally different context. The benefits C++ brings with graphics control are massive (clearly, as we can see by the screenshots).
    I/O speed benefits eh? Doubt there would be any noticeable difference at all, it's not like you're writing a torrent client downloading/uploading at 1gbps+
    Also, the "graphics control" as you said is pretty much the same on java, the difference is in the speed of computations to be performed.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pea2nuts View Post
    you cannot decompile c++ into runnable code. It is compiled into machine code and
    Code:
    int add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
    int shit() {
        return add(5, 3);
    }
    
    int main() {
        return shit();
    }
    may be compiled into

    Code:
    main:
    mov eax, 8;
    ret;
    I can really only see people maybe hex editing clients to connect to their server and maybe some of the more advanced members able to make some tools like cache library but not decompiling the client into something editable and runnable
    https://www.hex-rays.com/products/decompiler/
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pea2nuts View Post
    you cannot decompile c++ into runnable code. It is compiled into machine code and
    Code:
    int add(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
    int shit() {
        return add(5, 3);
    }
    
    int main() {
        return shit();
    }
    may be compiled into

    Code:
    main:
    mov eax, 8;
    ret;
    I can really only see people maybe hex editing clients to connect to their server and maybe some of the more advanced members able to make some tools like cache library but not decompiling the client into something editable and runnable
    You can, it's just very difficult, and you're almost certainly going to lose a lot of information. But it's still possible to convert machine code back into C source (as mgi pointed out, IDA is renown for this).

    Quote Originally Posted by cascading-style View Post
    I am excited at the advent of C++-driven servers, though. If the community may successfully decompile the C++ client, it would be incredibly interesting to see what we may develop on the server end using the power of C++.
    The vast majority of people on here can't even write Java to a decent standard, I dread to think of the same people trying to write code in a language without a gc
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