by paul » Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:11 am
I've learned from VRS that the difference in performance between even current computers and graphics cards is much greater than I would have though. Many computers with decent CPU speed but integrated graphics are really, really slow, compared to even an average computer a few years old with an average dedicated graphics card. I understand the integrated graphics systems have come a long way, but it seems they're still not in the same league as anything with a dedicated GPU.
Yes, there's some adjustable LOD now, with the percentage of trees and weeds being drawn, etc. What it doesn't do is dynamic LOD, such as changing from a 4 polygon tree that's 200 yards away to a 200 polygon tree when you get closer to it, and even to a 1 polygon billboard when it's very far away. Right now the game does almost no billboarding, so that's a technique that can give us some more vegetation and features with minimal impact on performance. A billboard is drawn as though it's facing the camera, but it's just a flat surface that you see face-on. Many games draw clumps of grass, distant trees, etc., with billboards. That won't work so well for aquatic vegetation since you are often looking down at them and don't want them to appear to tip over.
My standard so far has been to put in as much detail as my primary computer can handle reasonably well, and it's a decent machine but certainly no high-end gaming computer. When I add billboard vegetation to the land I'll allow for a ton of it, so those with the really fast machines can crank up the quality well beyond what my computer can handle.
Paul