Off the wall modding question

[rickier65]

Is there a metric that suers can use to make sure their scenarios don't tip over into the bobbing down systems. I play on low-end system myself (one hig low end system and one low low end system), And I'm sure I could do trial and error, but I guess I was hoping for something a little more explict.

I've seen a reference to 1500 polycount as recommended max for a single vehicle model, but I imagine that's based on assuming certain number of vehicles on a map, etc.

I also imagine the map itself impacts this, number of bldgs, numbr of trees, etc.

So I guess my question is there a way for me to QUANTIFY for a given scenario where it would fit in the range of demanding system performance?


I may not be explaining this very well.

Thanks,
Rick

[Stridor]

Rick,

Press F1 in the game and you will see FPS, texture memory being used and polycounts.

No one has yet quantified what these mean for each different system but at least you have a metric.

S.

[rickier65]

Hey - thanks! I bet that's what I need to look at.

Do you have any idea if number of poly's and texture used vary such over the length of a scenario? I can go in and do some analysis then on some scenarios and maybe even do some quick map mods to see the impact.

that would work - Thanks!

Rick


( Ireally should have looked at the hot-key list - there are some interesting hot -keys I need to check out.)

[Deride]

The human eye is roughly equivalent to 16 FPS (from what I remember from my college days). So, if you ever see the number drop below that, you will certainly see flickering. Of course, screen refresh and other factors come into play on a computer display, so that really should represent your worst case scenario. Personally, whenever I see anything drop below about 25 FPS, I notice it and get annoyed with it.
 
So, it's a balancing act between poly count, texture size / #, CPU, GPU, graphics memory and screen size. Your results will most certainly vary across machines.
 
Deride

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Deride

The human eye is roughly equivalent to 16 FPS (from what I remember from my college days). So, if you ever see the number drop below that, you will certainly see flickering. Of course, screen refresh and other factors come into play on a computer display, so that really should represent your worst case scenario. Personally, whenever I see anything drop below about 25 FPS, I notice it and get annoyed with it.

So, it's a balancing act between poly count, texture size / #, CPU, GPU, graphics memory and screen size. Your results will most certainly vary across machines.

Deride

Hm -- I just rechecked and my desktop i running a 12-13FPS for one of the scenarios. Didn't notice flicker, but my mouse movement was a bit "floaty".

I'd say from this, if it works on my system - It's probbaly going to works on others.

Thanks
Rick

[Stridor]

If mouse feels float try turning vsync off in your drivers. That helps for some folks but YMMV

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Stridor

If mouse feels float try turning vsync off in your drivers. That helps for some folks but YMMV

Thanks, with some help from folks here finding it I did that last week. Not sure it helped much in fact, it might have been off already

Thanks - I may have to get a new system but actually this one is twice as good as my laptop, and I play PC:K on it too.

Thanks
Rick

[Erik Rutins]

Have you tried adjusting the graphics settings down to see if that helps with your mouse lag? Usually mouse lag is because of low FPS and usually turning of VSync in the driver does mitigate it somewhat.

[rickier65]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Have you tried adjusting the graphics settings down to see if that helps with your mouse lag? Usually mouse lag is because of low FPS and usually turning of VSync in the driver does mitigate it somewhat.

I've gone through all the settings - I'm satisfied with it as it is now. Perhaps when I play a sceanrio with lots of units, I'll adjust the settings. On my laptop, I have everything set to low., on my desktop evrything set to high (not very high though).

Not complaining - I have a low end system and it plays. (TOW demo was not even playable on desktop - mean it ran but I couldnt take the mouse performance).

Rick