tweak(fps): Decouple WW3D::Sync from render update (#1451)

Author: xezon

Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameClient/Display.h

@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ class Display : public SubsystemInterface
 	virtual	Bool isClippingEnabled( void ) = 0;
 	virtual	void enableClipping( Bool onoff ) = 0;
 
+	virtual void step() {}; ///< Do one fixed time step
 	virtual void draw( void );																		///< Redraw the entire display
 	virtual void setTimeOfDay( TimeOfDay tod ) = 0;								///< Set the time of day for this display
 	virtual void createLightPulse( const Coord3D *pos, const RGBColor *color, Real innerRadius,Real attenuationWidth,

Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameClient/GameClient.h

@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ class GameClient : public SubsystemInterface,
 	virtual void setFrame( UnsignedInt frame ) { m_frame = frame; }			///< Set the GameClient's internal frame number
 	virtual void registerDrawable( Drawable *draw );										///< Given a drawable, register it with the GameClient and give it a unique ID
 
+	void step(); ///< Do one fixed time step
+
 	void updateHeadless();
 
 	void addDrawableToLookupTable( Drawable *draw );			///< add drawable ID to hash lookup table

Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/GameEngine.cpp

@@ -85,7 +85,6 @@
 #include "GameLogic/SidesList.h"
 
 #include "GameClient/ClientInstance.h"
-#include "GameClient/Display.h"
 #include "GameClient/FXList.h"
 #include "GameClient/GameClient.h"
 #include "GameClient/Keyboard.h"
@@ -732,6 +731,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 		{
 			if (TheNetwork->isFrameDataReady())
 			{
+				TheGameClient->step();
 				TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 			}
 		}
@@ -752,6 +752,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 				if (useFastMode || !enabled || logicTimeScaleFps >= maxRenderFps)
 				{
 					// Logic time scale is uncapped or larger equal Render FPS. Update straight away.
+					TheGameClient->step();
 					TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 				}
 				else
@@ -764,6 +765,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 					if (m_logicTimeAccumulator >= targetFrameTime)
 					{
 						m_logicTimeAccumulator -= targetFrameTime;
+						TheGameClient->step();
 						TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 					}
 				}

Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameClient.cpp

@@ -735,6 +735,11 @@ void GameClient::update( void )
 	}
 }  // end update
 
+void GameClient::step()
+{
+	TheDisplay->step();
+}
+
 void GameClient::updateHeadless()
 {
 	// TheSuperHackers @info helmutbuhler 03/05/2025

Generals/Code/GameEngineDevice/Include/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DDisplay.h

@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ class W3DDisplay : public Display
 	virtual Bool	isClippingEnabled( void ) 	{ return m_isClippedEnabled; }
 	virtual void	enableClipping( Bool onoff )		{ m_isClippedEnabled = onoff; }
 
+	virtual void step(); ///< Do one fixed time step
 	virtual void draw( void );  ///< redraw the entire display
 
 	/// @todo Replace these light management routines with a LightManager singleton
@@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ class W3DDisplay : public Display
 	void calculateTerrainLOD(void);						///< Calculate terrain LOD.
 	void renderLetterBox(UnsignedInt time);							///< draw letter box border
 	void updateAverageFPS(void);	///< figure out the average fps over the last 30 frames.
+	static Bool isTimeFrozen();
 
 	Byte m_initialized;												///< TRUE when system is initialized
 	LightClass *m_myLight[LightEnvironmentClass::MAX_LIGHTS];										///< light hack for now

Generals/Code/GameEngineDevice/Source/W3DDevice/GameClient/W3DDisplay.cpp

@@ -1606,6 +1606,53 @@ Int W3DDisplay::getLastFrameDrawCalls()
 	return Debug_Statistics::Get_Draw_Calls();
 }
 
+Bool W3DDisplay::isTimeFrozen()
+{
+	if (TheTacticalView->isTimeFrozen() && !TheTacticalView->isCameraMovementFinished())
+		return true;
+
+	if (TheScriptEngine->isTimeFrozenDebug())
+		return true;
+
+	if (TheScriptEngine->isTimeFrozenScript())
+		return true;
+
+	if (TheGameLogic->isGamePaused())
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+// TheSuperHackers @tweak xezon 12/08/2025 The WW3D Sync is no longer tied
+// to the render update, but is advanced separately for every fixed time step.
+void W3DDisplay::step()
+{
+	// TheSuperHackers @info This will wrap in 1205 hours at 30 fps logic step.
+	static UnsignedInt syncTime = 0;
+
+	extern HWND ApplicationHWnd;
+	if (ApplicationHWnd && ::IsIconic(ApplicationHWnd)) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (TheGlobalData->m_headless)
+		return;
+
+	Bool freezeTime = isTimeFrozen();
+
+	if (!freezeTime)
+	{
+		syncTime += (UnsignedInt)TheW3DFrameLengthInMsec;
+
+		if (TheScriptEngine->isTimeFast())
+		{
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+
+	WW3D::Sync( syncTime );
+}
+
 //DECLARE_PERF_TIMER(BigAssRenderLoop)
 
 // W3DDisplay::draw ===========================================================
@@ -1615,7 +1662,6 @@ Int W3DDisplay::getLastFrameDrawCalls()
 void W3DDisplay::draw( void )
 {
 	//USE_PERF_TIMER(W3DDisplay_draw)
-	static UnsignedInt syncTime = 0;
 
 	extern HWND ApplicationHWnd;
 	if (ApplicationHWnd && ::IsIconic(ApplicationHWnd)) {
@@ -1690,21 +1736,19 @@ void W3DDisplay::draw( void )
   	//
 	//PredictiveLODOptimizerClass::Optimize_LODs( 5000 );
 
-	Bool freezeTime = TheTacticalView->isTimeFrozen() && !TheTacticalView->isCameraMovementFinished();
-	freezeTime = freezeTime || TheScriptEngine->isTimeFrozenDebug() || TheScriptEngine->isTimeFrozenScript();
-	freezeTime = freezeTime || TheGameLogic->isGamePaused();
+	Bool freezeTime = isTimeFrozen();
 
 	// hack to let client spin fast in network games but still do effects at the same pace. -MDC
 	static UnsignedInt lastFrame = ~0;
-	freezeTime = freezeTime || (lastFrame == TheGameClient->getFrame());
+	freezeTime = freezeTime || (TheNetwork != NULL && lastFrame == TheGameClient->getFrame());
 	lastFrame = TheGameClient->getFrame();
 
 	/// @todo: I'm assuming the first view is our main 3D view.
 	W3DView *primaryW3DView=(W3DView *)getFirstView();
+
 	if (!freezeTime && TheScriptEngine->isTimeFast())
 	{
 		primaryW3DView->updateCameraMovements();  // Update camera motion effects.
-		syncTime += TheW3DFrameLengthInMsec;
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -1733,21 +1777,9 @@ void W3DDisplay::draw( void )
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (!freezeTime)
-	{
-		/// @todo Decouple framerate from timestep
-		// for now, use constant time steps to avoid animations running independent of framerate
-		syncTime += TheW3DFrameLengthInMsec;
-		// allow W3D to update its internals
-		//	WW3D::Sync( GetTickCount() );
-	}
-	WW3D::Sync( syncTime );
-
-	// Fast & Frozen time limits the time to 33 fps.
-	Int minTime = 30;
-	static Int prevTime = timeGetTime(), now;
-
+	static Int now;
 	now=timeGetTime();
+
 	if (TheTacticalView->getTimeMultiplier()>1)
 	{
 		static Int timeMultiplierCounter = 1;
@@ -1757,12 +1789,6 @@ void W3DDisplay::draw( void )
 		timeMultiplierCounter = TheTacticalView->getTimeMultiplier();
 		// limit the framerate, because while fast time is on, the game logic is running as fast as it can.
 	}
-	else
-	{
-		now = timeGetTime();
-		prevTime = now - minTime;		 // do the first frame immediately.
-	}
-
 
 	do {
 

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameClient/Display.h

@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ class Display : public SubsystemInterface
 	virtual	Bool isClippingEnabled( void ) = 0;
 	virtual	void enableClipping( Bool onoff ) = 0;
 
+	virtual void step() {}; ///< Do one fixed time step
 	virtual void draw( void );																		///< Redraw the entire display
 	virtual void setTimeOfDay( TimeOfDay tod ) = 0;								///< Set the time of day for this display
 	virtual void createLightPulse( const Coord3D *pos, const RGBColor *color, Real innerRadius,Real attenuationWidth,

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameClient/GameClient.h

@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ class GameClient : public SubsystemInterface,
 	virtual void setFrame( UnsignedInt frame ) { m_frame = frame; }			///< Set the GameClient's internal frame number
 	virtual void registerDrawable( Drawable *draw );										///< Given a drawable, register it with the GameClient and give it a unique ID
 
+	void step(); ///< Do one fixed time step
+
 	void updateHeadless();
 
 	void addDrawableToLookupTable( Drawable *draw );			///< add drawable ID to hash lookup table

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/GameEngine.cpp

@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@
 #include "GameLogic/SidesList.h"
 
 #include "GameClient/ClientInstance.h"
-#include "GameClient/Display.h"
 #include "GameClient/FXList.h"
 #include "GameClient/GameClient.h"
 #include "GameClient/Keyboard.h"
@@ -907,6 +906,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 		{
 			if (TheNetwork->isFrameDataReady())
 			{
+				TheGameClient->step();
 				TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 			}
 		}
@@ -927,6 +927,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 				if (useFastMode || !enabled || logicTimeScaleFps >= maxRenderFps)
 				{
 					// Logic time scale is uncapped or larger equal Render FPS. Update straight away.
+					TheGameClient->step();
 					TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 				}
 				else
@@ -939,6 +940,7 @@ void GameEngine::update( void )
 					if (m_logicTimeAccumulator >= targetFrameTime)
 					{
 						m_logicTimeAccumulator -= targetFrameTime;
+						TheGameClient->step();
 						TheGameLogic->UPDATE();
 					}
 				}

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameClient.cpp

@@ -773,6 +773,11 @@ void GameClient::update( void )
 	}
 }  // end update
 
+void GameClient::step()
+{
+	TheDisplay->step();
+}
+
 void GameClient::updateHeadless()
 {
 	// TheSuperHackers @info helmutbuhler 03/05/2025