Limits
by Dave Slezak (Ninjadave) · in Technical Issues · 03/23/2008 (2:30 am) · 7 replies
Hi, I'm sure many of you have seen me, don't know me, or something along those lines.
I'm designing a (so-far) great going FPS. I could talk for hours about it, but thats not why I'm here.
Our team plans to really push the server limits. Generally we're aiming for 80-100 players at one time.
Well as we've progressed a bit in graphics, I suddenly came across a possible problem. Whats too much to add in?
(As a short note, we're currently using TGEA. Making the switch anyways.)
I mean we have an about 4k poly character, 3k poly gun (on full detail), and we don't use 256x256 textures. As those don't look good overall. Actually we have over 20 1024x1024 textures. (Last time I checked.)
I've been meaning to get a more optimized player model. I'm sure you can see a possible problem though right?
I'm sure many of you guys here have play-tested some time or later 80+ player matches with stuff like this, but I really have to ask will this severely impact performance?
I've got some screenshots I'd also like some opinions on.
This is the "1st" person. Obviously 3rd person, just in a first person perspective.
There is no current rendered 1st person. I have a feeling this might be an issue in later months. Should I aim for a real 1st person or leave this 3rd "1st" person perspective?
A sample of aiming. Obviously needs some work, but you can see gun detail. Should I lower detail a bit to make room for better framerate?
Not supposed to be at the hip, its just what the player model was designer for.
I think this gun is about 1.5k polys. As I said before, I have a feeling this might impact performance.
What you see and what other players see is being the same thing is a neat feature though.
I'm just really deciding if this is a feature to incorporate or not.
I doubt my project looks as promising or as shiny as many other projects out there, but I'm trying.
Edit:Sorry about my 1440x900 screenshots. Its all I have at the moment.
I'm designing a (so-far) great going FPS. I could talk for hours about it, but thats not why I'm here.
Our team plans to really push the server limits. Generally we're aiming for 80-100 players at one time.
Well as we've progressed a bit in graphics, I suddenly came across a possible problem. Whats too much to add in?
(As a short note, we're currently using TGEA. Making the switch anyways.)
I mean we have an about 4k poly character, 3k poly gun (on full detail), and we don't use 256x256 textures. As those don't look good overall. Actually we have over 20 1024x1024 textures. (Last time I checked.)
I've been meaning to get a more optimized player model. I'm sure you can see a possible problem though right?
I'm sure many of you guys here have play-tested some time or later 80+ player matches with stuff like this, but I really have to ask will this severely impact performance?
I've got some screenshots I'd also like some opinions on.
This is the "1st" person. Obviously 3rd person, just in a first person perspective.There is no current rendered 1st person. I have a feeling this might be an issue in later months. Should I aim for a real 1st person or leave this 3rd "1st" person perspective?
A sample of aiming. Obviously needs some work, but you can see gun detail. Should I lower detail a bit to make room for better framerate?Not supposed to be at the hip, its just what the player model was designer for.I think this gun is about 1.5k polys. As I said before, I have a feeling this might impact performance.
What you see and what other players see is being the same thing is a neat feature though.
I'm just really deciding if this is a feature to incorporate or not.
I doubt my project looks as promising or as shiny as many other projects out there, but I'm trying.
Edit:Sorry about my 1440x900 screenshots. Its all I have at the moment.
#2
This will very much help my project, thanks.
Perhaps I should even aim for a more detailed player model then.
03/23/2008 (7:52 pm)
Great! Maybe I was just being too cautious about this.This will very much help my project, thanks.
Perhaps I should even aim for a more detailed player model then.
#3
Reason I ask is that after playing Everquest for 6 years EverQuest II for 2 more years, their graphics had reached a point that with the higher polygon count needed for the Fay race and the new environment, my current sytem came to a screeching halt the day they released it. I went from an average 30's fps when the game was new and on down to 3 to 5 fps when SOE added the content. This effectively cut me and wife out from playing EQ ever again unless we wanted to spend another 3G's on the best system available at the time.
As a family of 5, spending 3G on a new system was / is out of the question. They lost 2 dedicated players at 15 USD per month just in my household alone. Their were thousands of others I am sure that posted the problem on SOE forums and quit the game as we did for lack of funds to upgrade systems to play the game.
I think making a game fun and addictive takes priority over graphics and on the same token Graphics can make or break a game depending on the type of game it is and the demand for new playing fields.
It seems your doing great, atleast from my point of view but do you plan to keep your game out of reach for those that cannot afford those NVidia 8800 GTX for PC or 8700M for laptops and wondering if your including LOD ( Level of Detail ) settings in some option menu to allow possible new players with lower WalMart brand systems to also play.
04/18/2008 (3:10 pm)
@ Dave, just curious if your aiming for a Upper class income level of player for the FPS.Reason I ask is that after playing Everquest for 6 years EverQuest II for 2 more years, their graphics had reached a point that with the higher polygon count needed for the Fay race and the new environment, my current sytem came to a screeching halt the day they released it. I went from an average 30's fps when the game was new and on down to 3 to 5 fps when SOE added the content. This effectively cut me and wife out from playing EQ ever again unless we wanted to spend another 3G's on the best system available at the time.
As a family of 5, spending 3G on a new system was / is out of the question. They lost 2 dedicated players at 15 USD per month just in my household alone. Their were thousands of others I am sure that posted the problem on SOE forums and quit the game as we did for lack of funds to upgrade systems to play the game.
I think making a game fun and addictive takes priority over graphics and on the same token Graphics can make or break a game depending on the type of game it is and the demand for new playing fields.
It seems your doing great, atleast from my point of view but do you plan to keep your game out of reach for those that cannot afford those NVidia 8800 GTX for PC or 8700M for laptops and wondering if your including LOD ( Level of Detail ) settings in some option menu to allow possible new players with lower WalMart brand systems to also play.
#4
04/19/2008 (7:59 am)
Nice looking game there...and what lee said is absolutely true. Not to get off subject or anything, how did you get your player model to aim like that, ive been trying to get a Call of Duty type look to my game but havent been able to get that one key point in there..any help would be appreciated.
#5
Believe it or not, this project was originally going to be 2D and a MMO game. The team agreed to do it differently.
I've tried to do a lot as it is to not 'cut' people or possible fans out.
On the bright side, you don't need an 8800 to run this. Actually we've had way older computers run this with some slight frame rate problems.
Though I'm not doing this for money, I'm still aiming to keeping even the 2 dedicated players.
@ Scooby, Its a simple effect. I haven't mastered it myself however. Instead of doing blur or some other method, its simply the gun being aimed and a 2D overlay is placed over the close sections of the gun. The 2D part is already set to a sort of optical blur. The red dot sight is 2D as well.
04/19/2008 (9:53 am)
@ Scott, I believe your right.Believe it or not, this project was originally going to be 2D and a MMO game. The team agreed to do it differently.
I've tried to do a lot as it is to not 'cut' people or possible fans out.
On the bright side, you don't need an 8800 to run this. Actually we've had way older computers run this with some slight frame rate problems.
Though I'm not doing this for money, I'm still aiming to keeping even the 2 dedicated players.
@ Scooby, Its a simple effect. I haven't mastered it myself however. Instead of doing blur or some other method, its simply the gun being aimed and a 2D overlay is placed over the close sections of the gun. The 2D part is already set to a sort of optical blur. The red dot sight is 2D as well.
#6
04/19/2008 (3:25 pm)
Oh ok sounds simple enough sorry i didnt ask in a better way but what i was reffering to was how do you go about moving the gun model from the players hands and get it lined up perfectly? Is it an animation or is it a set of nodes as i have seen someone else use those.
#7
In that picture, I could only get the scope working because the actual gun is by the hip.
We plan on using an animation trick. Though its more of an experiment.
04/21/2008 (2:05 pm)
I've had difficulties with the player model, because as you can see I'm using the Cube character. Who (For my purposes), is not correctly shaped.In that picture, I could only get the scope working because the actual gun is by the hip.
We plan on using an animation trick. Though its more of an experiment.
Torque Owner Lee Latham
Default Studio Name
I've got TONS of polys and lots of large textures in my game (see my profile) and it's simply not a problem network wise--and I'm even using the polysoup collision stuff.