Author Topic: Auto-Lod scaling?  (Read 1904 times)

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Offline aldo_14

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Just wondering..... would it be possible to set the engine to auto-drop the ship LODs (assuming this is possible) when the frame rate drops below a certain level?  Or would it just be either a) a pain in the arse to implement or b) a pain in the arse to play with?

This is specifically Re high poly asteroids (or just dense fields).

 

Offline Fineus

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If you could have it drop the LOD on everything over a certain distance (where it dosent become a real eyesore) then that might be worth it, but otherwise I can see it being a real hassle/ugly to use if people get frame rates that fluctuate back and forth around the 20FPS mark (or whatever mark you set it to change the LOD at). This kind of thing should be discrete as possible (if possible). But it is a nice idea.

 

Offline aldo_14

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Maybe something more subtle, like decreasing the LOd distances (and only when average fps over a period drops into single figures)... or even limited to specific types of objects (like the asteroids, where it's more likely the difference of detail will be hidden by the other asteroids in a dense field, or fighters - because they move faster and are harded to make details out on than capships).

I dunno.... I'm pretty sure this sort of thing is done  in a few other games, but not certain.

 

Offline StratComm

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I think of the only game that I've seen this sort of thing implamented in, Homeworld 2, and I then think about how bad it looks.  It would HAVE to be limited to asteroids; anything else will just look plain bad.
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Last edited by StratComm on 08-23-2027 at 08:34 PM

 

Offline Lightspeed

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FS2 will already choose the LOD based on distance, table entries and detail settings.
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Offline aldo_14

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Quote
Originally posted by Lightspeed
FS2 will already choose the LOD based on distance, table entries and detail settings.


Well, yes... I'm talking about modifying that 'choice' dynamically, to reflect framerate changes.  I.e. lowering the LOD distances if there is a low FPS or more intelligently, with regards to the occlusion / object density,  etc) - akin to setting the detail level up and down constanly to keep the game running smoothly.

 

Offline Lightspeed

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that looks crappy. Have a look at X² if you want to see it.
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Offline aldo_14

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Quote
Originally posted by Lightspeed
that looks crappy. Have a look at X² if you want to see it.


Well obviously there's going to be a drop in visual quality - that's the whole point.  what i'm wondering is how bad it'd be, and whether it's even worth the bother of implementing (cost vs benefit).  The plus side it, it'd make people put some effort into LODing stuff.

 

Offline KARMA

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maybe just automatically decrease/increase lod distances before any mission using as parameters the system's performance and the amount of objects/polys present at the same time in the incoming mission?
You could have two options:
autoscale will use this dynamic system
user defined will use the defined detail level and the default distances in the tables

 

Offline RandomTiger

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I think our time is better spent solving the performance problems