Which mode of CocosDenshion should I use?

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Which mode of CocosDenshion should I use?

(13 posts) (6 voices)

Started 2 years ago by markww
Latest reply from itlgames

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markww
Member

Hi,

I'm running my game at about 60 fps. I tried looping a background mp3 using AVAudioPlayer directly. The performance is pretty bad, the framerate drops significantly. If I just play an mp3 through iPod and let it run in the background with my game, performance is great. So I'm sure it's possible to get decent performance somehow.

Anyway I was wondering if someone could tell me which of the modes of CocosDenshion I should be using - I want to be able to play a background mp3, and also need to play multiple sound effects simultaneously, very quickly (like when a weapon fires). I'm guessing I should be using CDSoundEngine? The class header says it's built around OpenAL which Apple recommends for best performance?

Thanks

Posted 2 years ago #
Acceleroto
Member

If your performance drops when you play an mp3 using AVAudioPlayer, it's probably not playing the mp3 using the hardware acceleration. Since there's only 1 hardware decoder for audio, make sure you're not trying to play more than 1 mp3 at a time.

One trick that a couple devs & even an Apple engineer shared at WWDC this year was to initialize your audio session using the MediaPlayback category, then switch it to the session category you'd like. Here's a snip from one of my games:

AudioSessionInitialize(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL); // before instantiating the recording audio queue object, // set the audio session category UInt32 sessionCategory = kAudioSessionCategory_MediaPlayback; //reclaims the hardware codec AudioSessionSetProperty ( kAudioSessionProperty_AudioCategory, sizeof (sessionCategory), &sessionCategory ); AudioSessionSetActive(TRUE); // UInt32 sessionCategory = kAudioSessionCategory_AmbientSound; //lets user play music from "iPod" while playing game sessionCategory = kAudioSessionCategory_SoloAmbientSound; //turns off the iPod AudioSessionSetProperty ( kAudioSessionProperty_AudioCategory, sizeof (sessionCategory), &sessionCategory );

Posted 2 years ago #
Steve Oldmeadow
Administrator

The code that Acceleroto has listed is already incorporated in CocosDenshion but make sure you are using the latest version. Your choices are to use either SimpleAudioEngine or CDAudioManager. I'd say start with SimpleAudioEngine since it is extremely easy to use and covers the requirements you listed.

Posted 2 years ago #
Acceleroto
Member

I soooo need to ditch my old SoundEngine.cpp junk & moved to CocosDenshion. :)

-Bryan

Posted 2 years ago #
markww
Member

Ok thanks guys, I'll give it a shot,

Mark

Posted 2 years ago #
markww
Member

Ok just as a quick follow up, Denshion works about 14 times better then my initial attempt with using plain AVAudioPlayer,

Thanks

Posted 2 years ago #
sunsu
Member

only 14? I'd say at LEAST 15 :P

Posted 2 years ago #
crmagicxxx
Member

I am still using old SoundEngine.cpp wrapped in my classes/methods because it can play music even on OS 2.0. It plays mp3 also on hardware/software depending on AudioSession settings, but everything works flawlessly for me.

@Steve Oldmeadow
Do you maybe plan to make your own methods for playing background music instead of AVAudioPlayer support?

Posted 2 years ago #
Steve Oldmeadow
Administrator

@crmagicxxx - I have no plans to support other methods for playing background music. I assume you only want this for 2.0 compatibility? Someone else is more than welcome to contribute a patch though. As for SoundEngine.cpp....

From Apple developer Rincewind:
"The SoundEngine code has significant issues, which is part of the reason why it was pulled. It is highly recommended that you either use AVAudioPlayer, AudioQueues, or OpenAL as appropriate to your application."

https://devforums.apple.com/message/57763#57763

Posted 2 years ago #
crmagicxxx
Member

@Steve Oldmeadow

I know what they say about that engine, but I made a few fixes on it (from different sources) and it doesn't leak memory. Actually it leaks but like 100 bytes per unloaded sound. However I don't unload sounds because I don't need to, so it's fine with me. Never saw any real problem with that engine so far, no crashes, nothing.

Btw, it would be nice if someone post a patch for background music. I don't have enough knowledge for that though :(

Posted 2 years ago #
itlgames
Moderator

HI, I know this post is 6 months older, but I was having performance issues with AVAudioPlayer, drops from time to time on the fps on my game, was driving me mad, I did implement a simple sound manager for background tracks and effects, and was using AVAudioPlayer for the tracks.

Then today I just realized the issue:

If I set the session category to be able to play iPod on background, fps drops from time to time:
sessionCategory = kAudioSessionCategory_AmbientSound; //lets user play music from "iPod" while playing game

So only work around was to do:
sessionCategory = kAudioSessionCategory_SoloAmbientSound; //turns off the iPod

So always disabling iPod music. Then my fps is stable.

Does it makes sense to any one? Or am I doing anything wrong?

Thanks.

Posted 1 year ago #
Steve Oldmeadow
Administrator

@itlgames - what format are your audio files?

Posted 1 year ago #
itlgames
Moderator

Sorry Steve, jsut saw your response, it's difficult to follow lot of forums at the same time! I would need to setup the mail gateway...

I used mp3 for background tracks, and wav for effects.

Posted 1 year ago #

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