Debugger Configuration - Lumberyard User Guide

Debugger Configuration

Open 3D Engine (O3DE), the successor to Lumberyard, is now available in Developer Preview. Download O3DE or visit the AWS Game Tech blog to learn more.

In the PhysX Configuration tool, you can specify how to interact with the PhysX Visual Debugger (PVD). The PVD is a third-party application that records your PhysX data from Lumberyard Editor. You can then review this data to see how your physics effects appear.

For more information, see the NVIDIA PhysX Visual Debugger (PVD) documentation.

To configure the PhysX Visual Debugger

  1. To get started, download the PVD.

    Note

    You must have a NVIDIA account to download the PVD. If you don't already have an account, follow the steps to create and then sign in your account.

  2. Follow the installation steps.

  3. After you install the application, open the PVD. This application must be running if you want to record data from Lumberyard Editor.

  4. In Lumberyard Editor, open a level or create one that has entities with PhysX components. For example, you can create a dynamic entity that falls. For more information, see Creating a Dynamic PhysX Entity.

  5. In Lumberyard Editor, choose Tools, PhysX Configuration.

  6. Click the Debugger tab.

  7. You can specify the following settings.

    PhysX Visual Debugger settings.
    PhysX PVD Settings Description

    PVD Host

    Host IP address of the PVD. The default is 127.0.0.1 (localhost).

    PVD Port

    Port that the PVD monitors. The default is 5425.

    PVD Timeout

    Timeout, in seconds, used to connect to the PVD.

    The default is 10.

    PVD Transport Type

    Supports writing to a TCP/IP network or a file. You can specify the following options:

    • Network – All scene information is sent through the network to the debugger.

    • File– All scene information is written to a file. The file can be loaded into the debugger offline.

    The default is Network.

    PVD Auto Connect

    Automatically reconnects Lumberyard Editor to the PhysX Visual Debugger.

    You can specify the following options:

    • Disabled

    • Editor

    • Game

    To set this option, you must enable the PhysX Debug gem.

    PVD Reconnect

    Specifies whether to reconnect when switching between editor and gameplay mode.

    Enabled by default.

    As a best practice, leave this setting enabled. If you clear this option, the PhysX Visual Debugger continues to record data. This can impact performance.

    To set this option, you must enable the PhysX Debug gem.

  8. To verify that the PVD is connected to Lumberyard, for PVD Auto Connect, choose Game or Editor and then enter gameplay or editor mode. Depending on what you choose, the following message appears in the console. 

    (PhysX) - Successfully connected to the PhysX Visual Debugger (PVD).

  9. Open the PhysX Visual Debugger to view the recorded information.

    Example

    Review the recorded data from Lumberyard Editor in the PhysX Visual Debugger.

  10. You can also manually connect or disconnect from the PVD using the following console variable commands. 

    physx_PvdConnect
    physx_PvdDisconnect

    For more information, see Debugging PhysX.