Re: Profiing windows apps

[Ralph Little]

Hi Stefan,
> If the testing doesn't reveal anything, look out for IDirectDraw::GetCaps 
> calls in the logs or IDirect3Dx::EnumZBufferFormats. IDirectDraw::GetCaps 
> returns a DDCAPS structure which has dwZBufferBitDepths containing some flags 
> for z buffer bit depths. EnumZBufferFormats calls a callback multiple times 
> with available DDPIXELFORMAT structures. The application may not like some 
> flags we set there.

You know, my gut says that this is the right place to look, particularly  IDirect3Dx::EnumZBufferFormats.

I see why you suggest this: what if none are returned to the application?
I will look into it. What The Sims is passing to CreateSurface just looks wrong.

In the meantime, I will generate a full ddraw trace and add it to the bug log as you suggest and then check it through.

Cheers, and thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

Ralph
> From: Stefan Dösinger 
> To: [e-mail]; Ralph Little  
> Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 11:52:15 AM
> Subject: Re: Profiing windows apps
>
> Hi,
>
> Am Dienstag, 31. Januar 2012, 21:51:01 schrieb Ralph Little:
> > IDirectDraw * pDD = NULL;
> > IDirectDrawSurface * pDDSPrimary = NULL;
> > DDSURFACEDESC ddsd;
>
> Take a look at dlls/ddraw/tests/ddraw*.c
> > ...<initialisation etc>...
>
> Make sure you use the version of the interface the game uses. There are some 
> behavioral differences between them. E.g. with zbuffers 
> DDSURFACEDESC(IDirectDraw, IDirectDraw2) has dwZBufferBitDepth(and 
> DDSD_ZBUFFERBITDEPTH), while DDSURFACEDESC2(IDirectDraw4, IDirectDraw7) always 
> uses a pixel format.
>
> As far as I can see from the bug report the game is using IDirectDraw4.
> > memset(&ddsd, 0, sizeof(ddsd));
> > ddsd.dwSize  = sizeof(ddsd);
> > ddsd.dwFlags = DDSD_CAPS | DDSD_PIXELFORMAT | DDSD_HEIGHT | DDSD_WIDTH;
> > ddsd.ddsCaps.dwCaps = DDSCAPS_SYSTEMMEMORY | DDSCAPS_ZBUFFER;
>
> Is it really trying to create a system memory z buffer? (Ok, I just saw this 
> in the logs attached to the bug report - that's really odd).
> > ddsd.dwHeight = 600;
> > ddsd.dwWidth  = 800;
> > ddsd.ddpfPixelFormat.dwSize  = sizeof(DDPIXELFORMAT);
>
> Try to set ddsd.ddpfPixelFormat.dwZBufferBitDepth to e.g. 16 and 
> ddsd.ddpfPixelFormat.dwZBitMask to 0x0000ffff. Keep dwFlags set to 0. Als try 
> to keep dwSize at 0.
> > I assume that if the caller specifies DDSCAPS_ZBUFFER, the you must also
> > specify some PIXEL format information. DDSD_PIXELFORMAT is present, but
> > there are no format flags.
>
> Basically that, or dwZBufferBitDepth. See zbufferbitdepth_test in 
> dlls/ddraw/tests/dsurface.c for some tests on this. (Don't add any new tests 
> there btw - use tests/ddraw*.c).
> > I have to admit that I am a bit of a novice when it comes to DirectX so any
> > guidance here would be helpful. I see that the lpSurface is NULL, which I
> > thought was an error. However, I see that this is optional if the caller
> > wishes the system to manage the surface memory.
>
> Correct.
> > Any error returned by this function the Sims at this point to causes it to
> > crash. Therefore, it seems to me that if it succeeds in Windows, it must
> > have passed something different. If only we could see the source :D
>
> If the testing doesn't reveal anything, look out for IDirectDraw::GetCaps 
> calls in the logs or IDirect3Dx::EnumZBufferFormats. IDirectDraw::GetCaps 
> returns a DDCAPS structure which has dwZBufferBitDepths containing some flags 
> for z buffer bit depths. EnumZBufferFormats calls a callback multiple times 
> with available DDPIXELFORMAT structures. The application may not like some 
> flags we set there.
>
> Also please attach a full +ddraw log to the bug report. If it is too big 
> compress it. bzip2 should do a pretty decent job, if all fails try lrzip.