How to avoid Lag/Crashing with dxDraw

[XeroXipher]

Hey guys... I spent the whole day removing the built in GTA SA Hud and rebuilding my own Hud with Health, Armor, Money, Weapon and Time.

 

I used dxDrawRect for the bars and dxDrawText for the Text.

I love what it looks like now, but tonight I noticed it will only run for about 15 minutes then freeze and eventually crash.

I used:

addEventHandler("onClientRender", root, DrawHud) which works well...

But as I was reading the Wiki I saw that onClientRender updates every frame so if your 60 or 90FPS it will redraw the Hud 60 to 90 times a second. 

I think that's why it is crashing.

Is there a better way to use dxDrawRect and dxDrawText then onClientRender?

[IIYAMA]

15 hours ago, XeroXipher said:

I think that's why it is crashing.

Is there a better way to use dxDrawRect and dxDrawText then onClientRender?

The following functions shouldn't cause crashes:

https://wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/DxDrawRectangle

https://wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/DxDrawText

 

But you most likely did crash because of a memory leak. To find the reason I will need to look at your code for that.

Just a thing that can lead up to a crash:

• By putting dxCreateFont/dxCreateTexture/dxCreateScreenSource(everything with Create in it's name) inside of an onClientRender triggered function

 

 

[XeroXipher]

Hey @IIYAMA, this is my coding around the area:

HUD.lua

local sx,sy = guiGetScreenSize()
local px,py = 1600,900
local x,y =  (sx/px), (sy/py)		

function HUDDrawing()

    local playerHealth = getElementHealth ( getLocalPlayer() )
    local playerArmor = getPedArmor ( getLocalPlayer() )
    local playerMoney = getPlayerMoney( getLocalPlayer() )

    local time = getRealTime()
	local hours = time.hour
	local minutes = time.minute
	local seconds = time.second

    local monthday = time.monthday
	local month = time.month
	local year = time.year

    local formattedTime = string.format("%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d", year + 1900, month + 1, monthday, hours, minutes)

    local Inventory = dxCreateTexture("Inventory.png")
    
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1085,y*0,x*1490,y*160, tocolor( 46, 46, 42, 150 ))  -- Create our black transparent MOTD background Rectangle.
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*0,x*1368,y*36, tocolor( 120, 120, 120, 180), true)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*0,x*1368/400*playerHealth ,y*36, tocolor( 169, 48, 48, 200), true)
    dxDrawText("     Health:     "..math.floor(tonumber(playerHealth)).."%", x*1265, y*0, x*1365, y*36, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "default-bold", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265, y*36, x*1368, y*36, tocolor(120, 120, 120, 180), true)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265, y*36, x*1368/400*playerArmor, y*36, tocolor(24, 60, 176, 200), true)
    dxDrawText("     Armor:     "..math.floor(tonumber(playerArmor)).."%", x*1265, y*36, x*1365, y*74, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "default-bold", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawText("     $"..math.floor(tonumber(playerMoney)).."", x*1300, y*72, x*1268, y*114, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "pricedown", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*72,x*1368, y*36, tocolor( 115, 210, 90, 200), true)

    dxDrawText("Local Time: "..formattedTime.."", x*1480, y*112, x*1368, y*135, tocolor(255,255,255,255), 0.50, "bankgothic", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)


    dxDrawText("Virox Roleplay", x*9, y*880, x*246, y*890, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.00, "pricedown", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false) -- Your Text Bottom Left
end
-- attach the event handler to the root element of the resouce
-- this means it will only trigger when its own resource is started


function moveHUDComponent()
	setPlayerHudComponentVisible( "weapon", true )
	setPlayerHudComponentVisible( "ammo", true )  
	setPlayerHudComponentProperty("weapon", "position", 950, 0)
    setPlayerHudComponentProperty("ammo", "position", 1000, 100)
end

addEventHandler("onClientResourceStart", resourceRoot, moveHUDComponent)
addEventHandler("onClientRender", root, HUDDrawing)

meta.xml

<meta>

    <script src = "HUD.lua" type = "client" />
    
</meta>

 

[XeroXipher]

Is it proper practice to QUOTE previous replies? I pinged the Moderator that responded to my post and I got a Hidden RedBox from my post which needs to be approved by Moderators... I didn't abuse anything so I don't know if it was my (@) comment or if it was just a safety precaution.

[XeroXipher]

10 hours ago, IIYAMA said:

The following functions shouldn't cause crashes:

https://wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/DxDrawRectangle

https://wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/DxDrawText

 

But you most likely did crash because of a memory leak. To find the reason I will need to look at your code for that.

Just a thing that can lead up to a crash:

• By putting dxCreateFont/dxCreateTexture/dxCreateScreenSource(everything with Create in it's name) inside of an onClientRender triggered function

Hey, sorry, I didn't know if you would get my last post because it was flagged... I don't know how to fix a Memory Sink but I do believe that it what it is...
This is:
HUD.lua
 

local sx,sy = guiGetScreenSize()
local px,py = 1600,900
local x,y =  (sx/px), (sy/py)		

function HUDDrawing()

    local playerHealth = getElementHealth ( getLocalPlayer() )
    local playerArmor = getPedArmor ( getLocalPlayer() )
    local playerMoney = getPlayerMoney( getLocalPlayer() )

    local time = getRealTime()
	local hours = time.hour
	local minutes = time.minute
	local seconds = time.second

    local monthday = time.monthday
	local month = time.month
	local year = time.year

    local formattedTime = string.format("%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d", year + 1900, month + 1, monthday, hours, minutes)

    local Inventory = dxCreateTexture("Inventory.png")
    
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1085,y*0,x*1490,y*160, tocolor( 46, 46, 42, 150 ))  -- Create our black transparent MOTD background Rectangle.
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*0,x*1368,y*36, tocolor( 120, 120, 120, 180), true)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*0,x*1368/400*playerHealth ,y*36, tocolor( 169, 48, 48, 200), true)
    dxDrawText("     Health:     "..math.floor(tonumber(playerHealth)).."%", x*1265, y*0, x*1365, y*36, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "default-bold", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265, y*36, x*1368, y*36, tocolor(120, 120, 120, 180), true)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265, y*36, x*1368/400*playerArmor, y*36, tocolor(24, 60, 176, 200), true)
    dxDrawText("     Armor:     "..math.floor(tonumber(playerArmor)).."%", x*1265, y*36, x*1365, y*74, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "default-bold", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawText("     $"..math.floor(tonumber(playerMoney)).."", x*1300, y*72, x*1268, y*114, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.10, "pricedown", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)
    dxDrawRectangle(x*1265,y*72,x*1368, y*36, tocolor( 115, 210, 90, 200), true)

    dxDrawText("Local Time: "..formattedTime.."", x*1480, y*112, x*1368, y*135, tocolor(255,255,255,255), 0.50, "bankgothic", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false)


    dxDrawText("Virox Roleplay", x*9, y*880, x*246, y*890, tocolor(255, 255, 255, 255), 1.00, "pricedown", "center", "center", false, false, true, false, false) -- Your Text Bottom Left
end
-- attach the event handler to the root element of the resouce
-- this means it will only trigger when its own resource is started


function moveHUDComponent()
	setPlayerHudComponentVisible( "weapon", true )
	setPlayerHudComponentVisible( "ammo", true )  
	setPlayerHudComponentProperty("weapon", "position", 950, 0)
    setPlayerHudComponentProperty("ammo", "position", 1000, 100)
end

addEventHandler("onClientResourceStart", resourceRoot, moveHUDComponent)
addEventHandler("onClientRender", root, HUDDrawing)

meta.xml

<meta>
     <script src="HUD.lua" tpye="client" />
</meta>

(I am going to delete my previous post, it got flagged, I think for Directly responding to you rather than quoting you.)

[XeroXipher]

RESOLVED
In the past I have used different languages that ignored whitespace in code...
I guess MTA SA runs through the whitespace and I think that's where the memory leak was...
I deleted all whitespace (Sometimes I find it easier to read code if there are linebreaks in the code) but I deleted these linebreaks and the client doesn't Freeze/Crasha anymore.

[justn]

8 hours ago, XeroXipher said:

RESOLVED
In the past I have used different languages that ignored whitespace in code...
I guess MTA SA runs through the whitespace and I think that's where the memory leak was...
I deleted all whitespace (Sometimes I find it easier to read code if there are linebreaks in the code) but I deleted these linebreaks and the client doesn't Freeze/Crasha anymore.

That's not why, in your code you're creating a texture element each time a new frame is rendered, which is why you were experiencing crashes. Create the element outside of the render event.

[XeroXipher]

Okay, 2 things, first of all the problem had come back but I uninstalled and reinstalled MTA SA and I have been running the game for several hours without a crash...
But how do I render the HUD without onClientRender()?

I am willing to adept to a better way.

[justn]

Like i said, just create the texture element outside of the render event (so remove dxCreateTexture line from the HUDDrawing function) and your problem is solved

[IIYAMA]

3 hours ago, XeroXipher said:

But how do I render the HUD without onClientRender()?

As Justn and me mentioned:

On 14/02/2025 at 18:34, IIYAMA said:

Just a thing that can lead up to a crash:

• By putting dxCreateFont/dxCreateTexture/dxCreateScreenSource(everything with Create in it's name) inside of an onClientRender triggered function

 

Move this line to the top of your code:

16 hours ago, XeroXipher said:

 local Inventory = dxCreateTexture("Inventory.png")

 

Like this:

local sx,sy = guiGetScreenSize()
local px,py = 1600,900
local x,y =  (sx/px), (sy/py)		

local Inventory = dxCreateTexture("Inventory.png") -- just put it here and not inside of HUDDrawing.

function HUDDrawing()

  --[[ ... ]]

 

 

[XeroXipher]

Okay, thanks for your support : )