Confused about terrain size
by Wysardry · in Torque Game Engine · 12/12/2004 (4:24 pm) · 8 replies
One of the main reasons I purchased a TSE license was that it will handle larger terrains than TGE, but I'm more than a little confused as to how much bigger they could be.
When I first saw mention of the size, it was stated that it could be of an "arbitrary" size, which implied to me that most people wouldn't need to worry about the limits.
However, since then I have seen it mentioned that the terrain will not be paged in.
Does anyone have any idea what the practical limits might be?
I was hoping to be able to have a huge continuous map in a single player game.
When I first saw mention of the size, it was stated that it could be of an "arbitrary" size, which implied to me that most people wouldn't need to worry about the limits.
However, since then I have seen it mentioned that the terrain will not be paged in.
Does anyone have any idea what the practical limits might be?
I was hoping to be able to have a huge continuous map in a single player game.
About the author
#2
12/12/2004 (8:24 pm)
How much RAM do you have?
#3
12/13/2004 (3:22 am)
Currently I have 512 Mb of system memory, a 128 Mb video card and 1024 Mb of virtual memory. I will likely upgrade the main RAM in the next 3 to 6 months.
#4
12/14/2004 (10:55 pm)
Actually, that was a rhetorical question. ;)
#5
If there won't be any paging implemented, what happens if a player uses a machine with less memory than the one used by the developers? How would the player access the map areas that wouldn't fit into memory when the mission loaded?
12/15/2004 (2:15 am)
So there isn't an obvious way to estimate the size of terrain available for a specific amount of memory, such as 1 square mile per 64Mb RAM?If there won't be any paging implemented, what happens if a player uses a machine with less memory than the one used by the developers? How would the player access the map areas that wouldn't fit into memory when the mission loaded?
#6
When the terrain is released the docs included with it will discuss this stuff in some detail. Till then I'm going to hold off saying anything, as those numbers can change pretty dramatically based on low level implementation choices. :)
12/15/2004 (7:14 am)
There's a certain amount of VRAM that gets eaten and a certain amount of system memory, too. I have run those numbers but don't have them on me atm. Things are paged to some extent, although right now the implementation relies mostly on the driver and virtual memory to acheive the objective.When the terrain is released the docs included with it will discuss this stuff in some detail. Till then I'm going to hold off saying anything, as those numbers can change pretty dramatically based on low level implementation choices. :)
#7
12/15/2004 (7:17 am)
Good information Ben, thanks. 
Associate Anthony Rosenbaum