[How do you measure response time in games? Neversoft co-founder Mick West follows up a previous article on responsiveness with a cunning 'how-to' about using a digital camera to track responsiveness - benchmarking games from GTA through Heavenly Sword along the way.]
In this article I suggest that the specifications of a video game
should always include a measure called "response time" (also called
"lag", "controller lag", or "input latency").
Response time is defined
as the time between the player using the controller, and the results
appearing on the screen.
Example: Pressing the trigger button on the
controller fires a gun on the screen. Video game response time can be measured with a cheap digital camera, and I explain how.
The Problem
The "feel" of a game is in large part described in terms of how
"responsive" it is. Very often a game will be described as "laggy" or
"sluggish", and by contrast other games will be "tight" or "fast".
I
have previously described the technical reasons behind games lacking responsiveness,
but I offered no way of measuring the response time, and so the
developers have to rely on their own assumptions about the way they
read the controller and present the results, and combine that with the
subjective assessments of the test department.
Having an accurate way of measuring response time allows the
developer to both verify their own assumptions (hence detecting bugs
that are adding to the response time), and to provide an objective
reference to the claims of the testers regarding the "tightness" of the
game.
Perceptions of changes in small variables like response time can
vary by individual, and being able to measure it objectively will allow
you to see if it has actually changed, and by how much.
Game developers also have to make the decision of whether to go with
60fps or 30fps. 60fps will generally have half the response time of
30fps, which can be a deciding factor (along with the smoother motion,
which is visually more appealing on fast moving games). However for
some games there are other factors that influence the response time.
Having an accurate way of measuring the response time allows the
developer to more accurately and objectively make a decision on if
60fps is necessary, or if they simply need to tighten up their 30fps
game.
Measuring Response Time
Measuring response time is very simple, and consists merely of
videoing the screen and the controller at the same time with a video
camera that records at 60 fps, and then playing this back and counting
the frames between button press and the screen response.
The camera I use is a Canon Powershot SD800IS, a relatively cheap
camera. You need a camera that supports 60 fps (frames per second)
recording. This may be listed as "Sports Mode", or "Fast Frame Rate".
I
believe all the current line of Canon Powershot SD cameras have this
feature. This is a very popular brand of camera, so it is highly likely
that someone on your team will own one.
Set the camera to movie mode, change to to the appropriate mode for
60fps (press the "func" button on the Canon SD and select "Fast Frame
Rate").
Then set it up to point at the television. You don't need to get the
whole screen in shot, just enough so you can see the game actions that
will result from your button presses. Make sure that the controller is
roughly in focus and hold it angled so that the button presses can
clearly be seen.