MrVicchio
2002-12-31, 02:34 PM
(quick note, if you go read the whole message.. you see how rough ppl are over there....)
Author MrVicchio Topic: What sort of zoning system is Planetside going to use? EQ style? Bubble zoning?
Station Member
Registered: Nov 2002
posted 12-30-2002 07:21 AM user search report post
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Just curious, and I didn't see this on the FAQ, so I was wondering, what zone system is PS going to utilize.
Are each continent going to be considered a "zone" and we'll just load everthying for that zone like EQ.... Or are you guys using the SWG appraoch, with a "bubble" around each player, and that is all we load, what we can see in the "bubble"....
Really curious as to what system is gonna be used.
* SMOKE LAYS IT OUT*********************************************** *
SmokeJumperPS
Station Admin
Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-31-2002 09:23 AM user search report post
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Our system is extremely complex, but I'll do the nutshell description here:
a) We load "thumbnails" of everything on the continent at load time. That way, you will always see a texture, and there's no appreciable load pause when something pops into view (like a vehicle or building).
b) We load in higher-res textures in your CPUs free-time. In otherwords, when you're not doing much that keeps your system busy, we have it loading higher-end textures so that your images improve. These higher-res textures are "bubbled" in, to use your phrasing. Basically, they are added in to your memory cache whenever you are in range of possibly needing to see those objects.
c) We flush textures, as needed, but try to never flush textures unless required. The less memory swaps, the better. Memory flushes typically occur between continents.
d) We allow players to use the thumbnail version of the graphics when playing, if desired. The graphics result is less pleasing (a bit blurry), but all textures are loaded at all times, thus eliminating load "ticks" as the hard drive is accessed. (Folks with the 512MB RAM on the min specs wouldn't see this anyway...but this allows folks with lower than 512MB to play well. Yes...we're working on lowering our min specs.)
Other poster poses a question on the same thread.. so as to maintatin consistancy
Dangerchicken
Station Member
Registered: Feb 2001
posted 12-31-2002 09:28 AM user search report post
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Couldnt that mean that if you were in a VERY prolonged battle the higher res textures would not have any spare time in which to load? Thus reducing video quality...
Smoke again***********************************
SmokeJumperPS
Station Admin
Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-31-2002 09:31 AM user search report post
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Extremely unlikely DangerChicken.
Well...maybe not extremely unlikely, but only in rare circumstances.
For instance...if you drop pod down into the middle of a 100-person battle (with vehicles and buildings and such), you might be playing with thumbnail textures for a while...but the action will be so frenetic and there will be so many explosions, I seriously doubt you would even notice. (The textures are only a bit blurry...not bad at all, really.)
In almost all other cases, you'll get the high-res textures before you need them. Seriously...it's very hard to get someplace in this game where you require a big loading pause. Maybe a little hitch here or there when approaching a big complex, but it's really, really minor.
http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/planetside/Forum2/HTML/001130.html
Author MrVicchio Topic: What sort of zoning system is Planetside going to use? EQ style? Bubble zoning?
Station Member
Registered: Nov 2002
posted 12-30-2002 07:21 AM user search report post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just curious, and I didn't see this on the FAQ, so I was wondering, what zone system is PS going to utilize.
Are each continent going to be considered a "zone" and we'll just load everthying for that zone like EQ.... Or are you guys using the SWG appraoch, with a "bubble" around each player, and that is all we load, what we can see in the "bubble"....
Really curious as to what system is gonna be used.
* SMOKE LAYS IT OUT*********************************************** *
SmokeJumperPS
Station Admin
Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-31-2002 09:23 AM user search report post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our system is extremely complex, but I'll do the nutshell description here:
a) We load "thumbnails" of everything on the continent at load time. That way, you will always see a texture, and there's no appreciable load pause when something pops into view (like a vehicle or building).
b) We load in higher-res textures in your CPUs free-time. In otherwords, when you're not doing much that keeps your system busy, we have it loading higher-end textures so that your images improve. These higher-res textures are "bubbled" in, to use your phrasing. Basically, they are added in to your memory cache whenever you are in range of possibly needing to see those objects.
c) We flush textures, as needed, but try to never flush textures unless required. The less memory swaps, the better. Memory flushes typically occur between continents.
d) We allow players to use the thumbnail version of the graphics when playing, if desired. The graphics result is less pleasing (a bit blurry), but all textures are loaded at all times, thus eliminating load "ticks" as the hard drive is accessed. (Folks with the 512MB RAM on the min specs wouldn't see this anyway...but this allows folks with lower than 512MB to play well. Yes...we're working on lowering our min specs.)
Other poster poses a question on the same thread.. so as to maintatin consistancy
Dangerchicken
Station Member
Registered: Feb 2001
posted 12-31-2002 09:28 AM user search report post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Couldnt that mean that if you were in a VERY prolonged battle the higher res textures would not have any spare time in which to load? Thus reducing video quality...
Smoke again***********************************
SmokeJumperPS
Station Admin
Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-31-2002 09:31 AM user search report post
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extremely unlikely DangerChicken.
Well...maybe not extremely unlikely, but only in rare circumstances.
For instance...if you drop pod down into the middle of a 100-person battle (with vehicles and buildings and such), you might be playing with thumbnail textures for a while...but the action will be so frenetic and there will be so many explosions, I seriously doubt you would even notice. (The textures are only a bit blurry...not bad at all, really.)
In almost all other cases, you'll get the high-res textures before you need them. Seriously...it's very hard to get someplace in this game where you require a big loading pause. Maybe a little hitch here or there when approaching a big complex, but it's really, really minor.
http://boards.station.sony.com/ubb/planetside/Forum2/HTML/001130.html