Massive Power Quaff

Hello. This is mostly directed to IceIX, but if anyone else is having similar problems, please respond to let him know, of course. icon_e_smile.gif

I was wondering if anyone else was having issues with MPQ draining their battery at ludicrous speed?

I have an HTC Rezound. If anyone has a Rezound and zero problems with their battery while playing MPQ, let me know, so I can shut up icon_e_biggrin.gif. I know that my phone is a bit older at this point and that the battery life would be described as "not great" by most people. But, MPQ was already nearly unplayable before the R41 patch, and now after it, it seems to have gotten worse yet. "Nearly unplayable" means I could get through 5 or 6 PVP fights before my battery was at 4%.

Today was the first time I played "unplugged" since installing the new patch. I was at a relatively safe 57% battery life (enough for 2 or 3 PvP fights). I was absolutely stunned when my phone died 6 moves into my first PvP fight. icon_eek.gif OUCH! It drained my battery so hard it wet straight to "YOUR PHONE IS SHUTTING DOWN NOW" dead, skipping all of my "low battery" warnings (at 25%, 14%, 9%, 4%) and completely dying.

I know that sometimes newer games can affect older phones in this way, but I have tested other games and none of them drain my battery to this extent. Even full 3D games last at least an hour and a half before I need to plug in. This makes me think it may not be a problem with the phone itself, but possibly an issue with my model of phone?

Comments

  • Shuino
    Shuino Posts: 164 Tile Toppler
    I have my old Rezound I use for a 2nd account running AOSP 4.3.1. Using WiFi I can playing for about an hour as the phone gets to under 10%. I do remember Sense though using a ton of battery life and slowing down the phone.
  • MPQ definitely drains my battery faster than any other game I've ever played, but what you're experiencing is crazy.

    I wish there was a way to turn animations off, or anything at all that would help us save some juice.
  • This kills my Note 2 in about 4 hours, which imo is insane. I used to go more than a day between charges lol.
  • well my phone's battery becomes ludicrously hot then i have to reboot to cool it down, not to mention the incredible power draw. i had to bring my charger to work to combat losing my phone mid day
  • Before launching a title for iOS and Android, the application must pass several requirements. One such requirement states that the application must not exceed x% battery drain per y amount of time. Additionally, the application is tested against a list of devices (for iOS and Android) to ensure that the title works correctly.
    However, as you all know, there a lot of Android devices and thus the testing I mentioned above is made only on a handful of devices (usually around 50). These ~50 devices are selected based on phone sales figures, popularity, specs etc. In the case of your HTC Rezound (launched November 2011), MPQ was 99.99% NOT tested on it and what you are experiencing is most likely a lack of optimisation for the phone model. Please note that this happens for the entire catalogue of games launched on Google Play.

    But, with the QA (quality assurance) lesson over, please allow me to offer you a couple of tips that can improve your HTC Rezound battery life:

    1. Disable the Live Wallpaper (if you're currently using one)
    2. Disable Bluetooth and GPS Services (latter found under Locations menu)
    3. Use Automatic Brightness option or lower the Brightness setting
    4. Turn Off background syncing for all applications (under Accounts & Sync menu, uncheck Background Data)
    5. Remove Widgets that require a constant connection to the Internet

    If you already did the above try changing to Normal Power Mode (be aware that the Wi-Fi connection will be turned Off after idling for a while) or Economy mode.

    As a closing note, I'm hoping that you're aware that the battery life for the HTC Rezound is **** to say the least and it's a known issue with this phone model.
  • IceIX
    IceIX ADMINISTRATORS Posts: 4,312 Site Admin
    One thing that QA has noticed themselves while testing battery drain rates across the app, although there's nothing in code that would cause this: Idling in a Tourney screen drains the battery faster by a decent amount. There's no appreciable animation change, the game doesn't make more function calls, no real reason. QA has just noted that across a few different devices, this screen in particular is a bad place to be idling. So if you're used to letting things sit on that screen, pop back to the Chapter Select screen instead. Should help a little. Naturally, we're looking into it overall and we'd love to have lower battery consumption. Just a small piece of advice to give at least.
  • IceIX wrote:
    One thing that QA has noticed themselves while testing battery drain rates across the app, although there's nothing in code that would cause this: Idling in a Tourney screen drains the battery faster by a decent amount.

    This is silly. Of course there is, you just haven't found it. Sitting in the tourney doesn't make make another app on your phone use more cpu and even if it did, it's STILL your code causing the behavoir.

    I'm not mad (but seriously, fix this, it's certainly costing you customers), I just have to comment when someone makes a statement that has no basis in reality.
  • My Galaxy S3 battery is generally stellar on power and I have my OS and theme tweaked to make the most of my battery life. I am now used to being tethered by a charging cable to play MPQ as the battery drain is so significant. I will do some measured performance testing if you think that would provide valuable feedback to the dev team. My phone gets HOT while playing, indicating a massive CPU draw. I can watch HD movies, play music, play other games (full 3D) and not have this kind of battery drain. Something is definitely in need of improvement in your Android game engine. I chalk this up to "hey, it's a BETA" so I'm not detracted from playing by it.

    I'll be tethered, and drag an extension cord around my home / office if I have to in order to play MPQ. I plug my phone into power during my morning and evening commute to make sure I have charge to play on the go. But lightning rounds during the work day are brutal on the ol' battery.

    \(*_*)/
  • Rhompalot wrote:
    ...In the case of your HTC Rezound (launched November 2011), MPQ was 99.99% NOT tested on it and what you are experiencing is most likely a lack of optimisation for the phone model. Please note that this happens for the entire catalogue of games launched on Google Play...

    Yeah, that's what I thought. Thanks for describing the situation. That is what I was trying to get at with asking if my "model of phone" was the problem, but was having trouble putting it into words. Smartphones are my technological blind spot. Rezound is my first ever, so you can see how late to the game I am.

    I have done all the things you stated, but I do appreciate the assistance! icon_e_smile.gif A little off topic, but I'm actually running a custom rom (may be my first phone, but I'm just computer savvy enough to follow a list of instructions to flash without bricking), it still has Sense which does hurt the battery a bit, but the battery life is actually better than the normal stock Rezound. Still, I figured there was little to nothing that could be done about this issue. No huge deal, won't matter in a few months when I will most likely have a new phone.
    Rhompalot wrote:
    As a closing note, I'm hoping that you're aware that the battery life for the HTC Rezound is **** to say the least and it's a known issue with this phone model.
    I know that my phone is a bit older... and that the battery life would be described as "not great" by most people.
    Yuuuuuuup. icon_e_smile.gif It was probably a little unclear that I had meant the Rezound, specifically. I'm fully aware of the Rezound's battery woes. :/ It was just that MPQ was at such an extreme, I thought maybe it was worth seeing if anything could be done. I don't regret the purchase, though. Battery life aside, the phone has always run very well, and it's screen still looks better than some phones I see coming out today. icon_e_smile.gif
  • Shuino
    Shuino Posts: 164 Tile Toppler
    If you running a Custom Rom put on Tachyon 1.2 which is AOSP 4.3.1 which has been running great on my old Rezound but I only use it as a Wifi device to play Puzzle Quest on for a 2nd account.
  • My iPad 1 and my girlfriends LG Optimus elite both drain considerably faster and charge slower even if the game is closed down,

    Still worth it