How to Update NW.js to Dramatically improve Game Performance!

KillerGin · 2020-12-31T07:20:34+0900

WARNING: This is a step by step guide for MV users to update their NW.JS to dramatically increase the performance of their game. (Updating NW.js for Mac may make RPG Maker MV compatible with OSX Catalina and Big Sur! OMG!) MZ users can use the ideas presented in this guide to update their NW.js from 44 to 50 if they like, but I'm not sure how much of a performance update this will be. (To update MV from 29 to 50 (or in my case 49.2) is a massive update!) It's actually easier to update MZ since the engine folders are structured much better. Just find the "Resource" folder, and replace the proper NW.js folder with the new downloaded versions and it should work just like that. Of course, I advise making backups, etc. (do NOT rename nw.exe to Game.exe) Have fun! I just updated my MZ to NW.js version 50, everything is working great. Deployed and test games run just fine. Do you guys want me to create a MZ section of this guide? ///////////////////////////////// Youtube Video Version! ///////////////////////////////// Upgrading your NW.js is a great way to massively improve your game performance, especially if you are using RPG Maker MV! NW.js (previously known as node-webkit) lets you call all Node.js modules directly from DOM and enables a new way of writing applications with all Web technologies. New way of writing native applications using web technologies: HTML5, CSS3, and WebGL. Full support for the features in the browser. ///////////////////////////////// Some Explanation: RPG Maker MV comes default with NW.js Version 29.4 RPG Maker MZ comes default with NW.js Version 44 So, a great way to GREATLY improve the performance of your MV Game is to upgrade the default NW.js version 29.4 to a higher version. You can easily use the same steps I’m going to outline below to get MVs NW.js to virtually any version. You can choose version 50 which is the newest, but I personally chose 49.2 (Higher than MZ) because this is the latest version that all three platforms PC, MAC, and Linux support STEAM integration with Orange Green works. (I’m not covering this in this guide) Also please note, there might be some small quirts with the NW.js version you choose. For example, before I upgraded to 49.2 (which works flawlessly) I upgraded to 33.3 which had a small text glitch (text sometimes showed up slowly). Just keep in mind these things may happen (I tried 33.3 because I thought that’s the highest version Orange Green works could use, I was wrong, its 49.2, but I digress). ///////////////////////////////// So to check what version of NW.js you are using, in the editor, when you are testing your game, press f8 (or function f8) to bring up the console. Type “process.versions” and press enter to see what version or Nw.js or just “nw” that you are running. (Example of when you update NW.js to 49.2 like I did!) ///////////////////////////////// So now that you are all caught up with a general idea of how it works and how to check we can get to the final details of how to get this upgraded! Keep in mind I will provide the PC and Mac instructions, I do not have a Linux Machine however I feel the process will be very similar to either the PC or Mac version of the update (they differ slightly) Here we go! ///////////////////////////////// 1) You need to be able to locate RPG Maker MV’s Local files. On STEAM, just RIGHT CLICK -> Properties -> Local Files -> Browse Else you will have to find the application folder on your PC. 2) You will see these two folders: a) nwjs-win (Windows platform) b) nwjs-lnx (Linux platform) c) nwjs-osx-unsigned (Mac platform, yes its zipped up, don’t worry about it) So if you want to update all 3 versions, you have to keep these folders in mind. (This is prob a great time to save a copy of these folders just in case you want to revert back, minus the zipped osx unsigned folder that we never touch) 3) Most likely since you are using a PC you will also see a “test” version of this folder. This is the folder used when you are testing the game in the editor. So a PC user will see a) nwjs-win b) nwjs-win-test 4) Now Download the version of NW.js that you want from the internet. This should work https://nwjs.io/downloads/ If you want an older build (If you want to integrate STEAM functionality with Orange Green Works I recommend 49.2, you can find older versions here: https://dl.nwjs.io/ (Scroll down) Get the SDK versions, minus the “symbol” listings, I would get all the 64 bit versions, so these minus the “win-ia32” version. (Or just the bottom “win-x64” version if you plan to just update the PC version, yes, the deployed and test version of rpg maker) 5) Now that you have everything you need. Now comes the hard part! But before we get too crazy. I would suggest saving all your work. Make a copy and back it up to the cloud just in case. (even though we are just updating RPG Maker MV itself lol). However, do keep in mind, at least for the STEAM version, if you want to revert back to default, you will have to del…

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Started by KillerGin Dec 30, 2020, 10:20 PM 273 posts Page 5 of 14 View original ↗

KillerGin

#81 Jan 31, 2021, 06:44 PM Source

Ace of Spades said:
Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I tried replacing SceneManager.exit(); with SceneManager.terminate(); but unfortunately it's providing the same result... everything fades to black, window goes from fullscreen to windowed, but never closes the actual game window.

Ah, well, I actually use "SceneManager.terminate();" in a small plugin I wrote that is tied to the menus and it works, even though I am using 49.2 I think it would work for you as well.

Here is a small part of it:

"Scene_GameEnd.prototype.exitCommand = function(){
SceneManager.terminate();
}; "
Ace of Spades

#82 Jan 31, 2021, 07:39 PM Source

KillerGin said:
Ah, well, I actually use "SceneManager.terminate();" in a small plugin I wrote that is tied to the menus and it works, even though I am using 49.2 I think it would work for you as well.

Here is a small part of it:

"Scene_GameEnd.prototype.exitCommand = function(){
SceneManager.terminate();
}; "
Yeah, that's pretty much the same function I'm using. I even tried to revert back to 49.2 to see if it'd work and it was still giving me the same issue.

After thinking it through, I tried to deploy the project to see if that would work. Turns out this bug only occurs when test-playing from RMMV. I was able to revert back to v 0.51.0 and the bug did not occur after I tried to deploy the project, which was a huge relief. As long as the bug doesn't occur in the final build of the game, I'm perfectly okay with manually closing the game window during test play.

Thanks so much for your time and efforts, it's greatly appreciated!

Hudell

#83 Jan 31, 2021, 07:55 PM Source

Code:

  if (Utils.isNwjs()) {
    require('nw.gui').Window.get().close();
  } else {
    SceneManager.terminate();
  }

KillerGin

#84 Jan 31, 2021, 07:57 PM Source

Ace of Spades said:
Yeah, that's pretty much the same function I'm using. I even tried to revert back to 49.2 to see if it'd work and it was still giving me the same issue.

After thinking it through, I tried to deploy the project to see if that would work. Turns out this bug only occurs when test-playing from RMMV. I was able to revert back to v 0.51.0 and the bug did not occur after I tried to deploy the project, which was a huge relief. As long as the bug doesn't occur in the final build of the game, I'm perfectly okay with manually closing the game window during test play.

Thanks so much for your time and efforts, it's greatly appreciated!

Hey, as long as it works for the deployed version, thats what matters, yay!
TenTranVN

#85 Feb 19, 2021, 08:47 PM Source

Does it improve performance better when manufactured to mobile?
Hudell

#86 Feb 19, 2021, 10:22 PM Source

TenTranVN said:
Does it improve performance better when manufactured to mobile?
mobile doesn't use nwjs
villko05

#87 Feb 24, 2021, 09:36 PM Source

I guess I only need to update PC windows folders and deploying to mac/linux it'll use windows new nw.js?

P.S With the most recent version nw.js v0.51.2 I get multiple bugs/errors. One-time parallax map was all black throughout the saves (parallax failed to load for all saves).
My custom save/load menu was stuck had to close the game and overall doesn't look stable (a couple of errors etc.)
+issue with not closing properly for "test" build (delayed closes properly).
+in game's/project folder file "package.json" don't forget to add
"position":"center"
just before fullscreen to properly position your game.

Will try v0.49.2, I hope it's more stable.

P.S.S and unfortunately getting this randomly. I think this happens when showing pictures.
I have Pixi updated to 4.8.9 in my project. First time seeing this error, probably 99,9% caused by new nw.js.

P.S.S.S
Upon further testing, I found updating nw.js to be very unstable. I get many black screens. Sometimes battles start with a black screen while audio still playing, sometimes opening F8 will make the game screen black. This could happen only in the editor as I haven't tested deployed projects and this can be caused by many plugins I use (it's a complex project with over 250 plugins+compatibility fixes).
I'd love some extra performance, but this seems very unreliable.

P.S.S.S.S
Using nwjs-sdk-v0.44.6-win-x32 (because I want to support even old x32 platforms and the difference between x32 vs x64 seems non-existent) seems to be stable, but needs more testing. So far no black screens or errors. And the Editor test game window closes properly now.
I Will update about stability within a week and further testing, but it seems working fine.
KillerGin

#88 Mar 5, 2021, 12:00 AM Source

villko05 said:
I guess I only need to update PC windows folders and deploying to mac/linux it'll use windows new nw.js?

P.S With the most recent version nw.js v0.51.2 I get multiple bugs/errors. One-time parallax map was all black throughout the saves (parallax failed to load for all saves).
My custom save/load menu was stuck had to close the game and overall doesn't look stable (a couple of errors etc.)
+issue with not closing properly for "test" build (delayed closes properly).
+in game's/project folder file "package.json" don't forget to add
"position":"center"
just before fullscreen to properly position your game.

Will try v0.49.2, I hope it's more stable.

P.S.S and unfortunately getting this randomly. I think this happens when showing pictures.
I have Pixi updated to 4.8.9 in my project. First time seeing this error, probably 99,9% caused by new nw.js.

View attachment 180791

P.S.S.S
Upon further testing, I found updating nw.js to be very unstable. I get many black screens. Sometimes battles start with a black screen while audio still playing, sometimes opening F8 will make the game screen black. This could happen only in the editor as I haven't tested deployed projects and this can be caused by many plugins I use (it's a complex project with over 250 plugins+compatibility fixes).
I'd love some extra performance, but this seems very unreliable.

P.S.S.S.S
Using nwjs-sdk-v0.44.6-win-x32 (because I want to support even old x32 platforms and the difference between x32 vs x64 seems non-existent) seems to be stable, but needs more testing. So far no black screens or errors. And the Editor test game window closes properly now.
I Will update about stability within a week and further testing, but it seems working fine.

Lol, Well, im glad its slowly coming together. Depending on your plugins etc, there may be a conflict somewhere.

Anyways, awesome.
Vis_Mage

#89 May 30, 2021, 04:54 PM Source

Quick question, ever since I went through these steps to upgrade my project (Windows, to 49.2), when I playtest my game, the playtest window always opens at the top-left corner of my screen, instead of the center like it had before. Is there any way to fix this?
Ronove

#90 May 30, 2021, 05:29 PM Source

Vis_Mage said:
Quick question, ever since I went through these steps to upgrade my project (Windows, to 49.2), when I playtest my game, the playtest window always opens at the top-left corner of my screen, instead of the center like it had before. Is there any way to fix this?
How to Update NW.js to Dramatically improve Game Performance!
It's mentioned in this post in the thread.
sirnameless

#91 Jul 19, 2021, 05:36 PM Source

Thank you so much for this guide. It's helped a lot.

For my Mac deployment, though... it appears as if NWJS is not updated there? When playtesting, it does not crash, and I don't see the "Your profile can not be used because it is from a newer version of NW.js" error. After I deploy, I see that annoying error, and the game crashes a whole bunch again (because the old version of NWJS is useless on MacOS).

I've updated the nwjs-osx-test folder with version 0.49.2 NWJS. I didn't touch nwjs-osx-unsigned.zip. What could I be missing? Does Mac deployment work perfectly for everyone else? (I am deploying from a Mac, fwiw).
hernieren

#92 Jul 23, 2021, 11:57 PM Source

I'm using MV on PC. I updated NW to 54.1 (only the win and win-test folders) and Pixi to 4.8.9. I haven't noticed any improvement in performance and suddenly my game has no sound... Maybe I need an older version for MV?
KillerGin

#93 Aug 6, 2021, 04:02 AM Source

Hey, hey, I use a mac, and it works perfectly.

Since I posted this, I only use the versions (RPG MAKER MV and NWJS) of what I demonstrated in the video. It works beautifully for most people and me.

I'm sorry to hear it is not working so well for some people. It can come down to many things..... including a few incompatible plugins. I use a f* ton of plugins, and my game works flawlessly. And in general, MOST plugins work perfectly. You can find some people isolating problems and fixing them throughout the posts, which is great to hear.
siguren

#94 Aug 30, 2021, 04:49 AM Source

Mano_InputConfig(Gamepad&keyboard config+WASD move/ButtonCommonEvent)
In the thread above, I received a report that I'm having problems running my plugin on top of the updated nw.js.
It turns out that the cause is that the JavaScript arrow function causes a compile error.
It's about a function written as () => {}.
It is a countermeasure, but it is known that it can be corrected by writing the following in package.json.
"js-flags": "--harmony_arrow_functions"
However, I just saw the article that there is such a method, but I have not actually tried it.
I don't understand much about replacing nw.js.
Sorry to trouble you, but would you please give it a try?
sirnameless

#95 Sep 3, 2021, 08:04 PM Source

sirnameless said:
Thank you so much for this guide. It's helped a lot.

For my Mac deployment, though... it appears as if NWJS is not updated there? When playtesting, it does not crash, and I don't see the "Your profile can not be used because it is from a newer version of NW.js" error. After I deploy, I see that annoying error, and the game crashes a whole bunch again (because the old version of NWJS is useless on MacOS).

I've updated the nwjs-osx-test folder with version 0.49.2 NWJS. I didn't touch nwjs-osx-unsigned.zip. What could I be missing? Does Mac deployment work perfectly for everyone else? (I am deploying from a Mac, fwiw).

Okay I've figured out what I missed. In case anyone else gets stuck. Once I exported a Mac build, I needed to do the following:

Go into the RPG Maker MV app (local files from Steam), just like the initial steps mentioned, and find...

The "MacOS" folder - > Copy this and replace the MacOS folder in your exported Game.app (the MacOS folder only has "nwjs" inside)

The "Frameworks" folder - Copy-paste this whole thing into your exported Game.app. (The new nwjs depends on it. It should sit in your Contents folder next to MacOS.)

That's it! Now it runs famously. :D (This is for 0.49.2 NWJS.)
KillerGin

#96 Sep 7, 2021, 11:57 PM Source

sirnameless said:
Okay I've figured out what I missed. In case anyone else gets stuck. Once I exported a Mac build, I needed to do the following:

Go into the RPG Maker MV app (local files from Steam), just like the initial steps mentioned, and find...

The "MacOS" folder - > Copy this and replace the MacOS folder in your exported Game.app (the MacOS folder only has "nwjs" inside)

The "Frameworks" folder - Copy-paste this whole thing into your exported Game.app. (The new nwjs depends on it. It should sit in your Contents folder next to MacOS.)

That's it! Now it runs famously. :D (This is for 0.49.2 NWJS.)

Thanks! Great work!

I love when people share to help others.

Awesome!
EthanFox

#97 Sep 16, 2021, 06:49 PM Source

Can I ask - has anyone found that after they upgrade to a later nwjs, their auto-fullscreen option no longer works?

I have two plugins. First one is...

FSInitStart = SceneManager.initialize;
SceneManager.initialize = function(){
FSInitStart.call(this);
Graphics._requestFullScreen();
};

Second one is simpler...

Graphics._requestFullScreen();

But neither of these work. They work in the normal version of nwjs, but not later ones; one of them seems to do nothing, while the other, when you boot the game it goes fullscreen for an instant, then returns to a window.

In both cases you can still press F4 to fullscreen the game but I'd really like this to work on-boot.
MorsVictrix

#98 Sep 20, 2021, 11:06 AM Source

Hi people. I upgraded and seem to bumped into a plugin incompatibility issue between the upgrade and YEP Core Plugin... If I have YEP Core on, the window for test play is turned black. I can't see anything.

If I deploy/export the game, everything works fine, but the testplay is a clack screen with YEP Core turned on.
Tiamat-86

#99 Sep 20, 2021, 11:15 AM Source

plugins probably need updated versions
MorsVictrix

#100 Sep 20, 2021, 11:53 AM Source

Tiamat-86 said:
plugins probably need updated versions

I understand they might, but to my knowledge I have the newest YEP Core, so the way I see it, turning it off is the only option. :/