Online Game Development Course (6)

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6. Game Optimization and Bug Fixes

Hello! Welcome to the sixth installment of our online Snake game development tutorial. Today, we will discuss methods to enhance game performance and address common bugs.

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1. Performance Optimization

a) Frontend Optimization

// Implementing Object Pooling
const objectPool = {
    segments: [],
    getSegment() {
        return this.segments.pop() || { x: 0, y: 0 };
    },
    returnSegment(segment) {
        this.segments.push(segment);
    }
};

// Rendering Optimization
function draw() {
    if (!gameState) return;

    // Only redraw changed parts
    const changedCells = getChangedCells();
    changedCells.forEach(cell => {
        drawCell(cell.x, cell.y, cell.color);
    });
}

// Minimize unnecessary DOM manipulation
const scoreElements = players.map(player => {
    const el = document.createElement('div');
    document.getElementById('scoreBoard').appendChild(el);
    return el;
});

function updateScores() {
    players.forEach((player, index) => {
        scoreElements[index].textContent = `Player ${index + 1}: ${player.score}`;
    });
}

b) Backend Optimization

// Optimize Game State Updates
function updateGameState(roomCode) {
    const game = games.get(roomCode);
    const changedState = game.getChangedState();
    io.to(roomCode).emit('gameStateUpdate', changedState);
}

// Minimize Data Transfer
function compressGameState(state) {
    return JSON.stringify(state).replace(/"(\w+)":/g, '$1:');
}

// Distribute Server Load Asynchronously
setImmediate(() => {
    games.forEach((game, roomCode) => {
        updateGameState(roomCode);
    });
});

2. Cross-Browser/Device Compatibility

// Integrate Touch and Mouse Events
function handleInput(event) {
    let x, y;
    if (event.type.startsWith('touch')) {
        x = event.touches[0].clientX;
        y = event.touches[0].clientY;
    } else {
        x = event.clientX;
        y = event.clientY;
    }
    // Input handling logic
}

canvas.addEventListener('mousedown', handleInput);
canvas.addEventListener('touchstart', handleInput);

// Adjust Game Area Based on Screen Size
function resizeGame() {
    const gameArea = document.getElementById('gameArea');
    const widthToHeight = 4 / 3;
    let newWidth = window.innerWidth;
    let newHeight = window.innerHeight;
    let newWidthToHeight = newWidth / newHeight;

    if (newWidthToHeight > widthToHeight) {
        newWidth = newHeight * widthToHeight;
    } else {
        newHeight = newWidth / widthToHeight;
    }

    gameArea.style.width = newWidth + 'px';
    gameArea.style.height = newHeight + 'px';
}

window.addEventListener('resize', resizeGame);
resizeGame();

3. Common Bug Fixes

a) Collision Detection Bug

function checkCollision(head, segments) {
    return segments.some(segment => 
        Math.abs(segment.x - head.x) < 0.1 && Math.abs(segment.y - head.y) < 0.1
    );
}

b) Simultaneous Input Handling Bug

let lastInputTime = 0;
const INPUT_DELAY = 50; // ms

function handleDirection(direction) {
    const now = Date.now();
    if (now - lastInputTime > INPUT_DELAY) {
        socket.emit('changeDirection', direction);
        lastInputTime = now;
    }
}

c) Game Restart Bug

function restartGame() {
    // Reset all game state
    players = [];
    foods = [];
    gameStarted = false;

    // Reset UI
    document.getElementById('gameOverScreen').style.display = 'none';
    document.getElementById('gameScreen').style.display = 'block';

    // Request server to restart game
    socket.emit('restartGame', roomCode);
}

4. Error Logging and Monitoring

// Client-side Error Logging
window.addEventListener('error', (event) => {
    console.error('Uncaught error:', event.error);
    // Send error information to server
    socket.emit('clientError', {
        message: event.error.message,
        stack: event.error.stack
    });
});

// Server-side Error Handling
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
    console.error('Server error:', err);
    // Send error information to logging service (e.g., Sentry, LogRocket)
    logErrorToService(err);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal server error' });
});

5. Incorporating User Feedback

<!-- Feedback Submission Form -->
<form id="feedbackForm">
    <textarea id="feedbackText"></textarea>
    <button type="submit">Submit Feedback</button>
</form>

// Handle Feedback Submission
document.getElementById('feedbackForm').addEventListener('submit', (event) => {
    event.preventDefault();
    const feedback = document.getElementById('feedbackText').value;
    socket.emit('submitFeedback', feedback);
    alert('Thank you for your feedback!');
});

// Server-side Feedback Storage
socket.on('submitFeedback', (feedback) => {
    saveFeedbackToDatabase(feedback);
});

Conclusion

In this post, we explored various techniques for game optimization and bug fixing. We covered performance enhancement methods, ensuring cross-browser/device compatibility, addressing common game development bugs, error logging, and incorporating user feedback.

These optimization and bug-fixing processes significantly improve game quality and user experience. Continuous monitoring and user feedback help in the ongoing development and refinement of the game.

In our next and final post, we will discuss the deployment process and future plans for the game. We will cover cloud platform selection, deployment steps, and expansion plans. Thank you!

Previous Related Posts

• Project Outcome: Multiplayer Snake Game for 4 Players – CSAI
• Online Game Development Course (1)- CSAI
• Online Game Development Course (2)- CSAI
• Online Game Development Course (3) – CSAI
• Online Game Development Course (4) – CSAI
• Online Game Development Course(5) – CSAI