As I look over the vast landscape of Pandora’s Rock, the sense of pleasure I get from knowing that I have finally optimized the FPS for the landscape after all this time (like 2 years) and that I can now present the east side of the Island as I always have wanted to is massive to me.
Three years ago when I started working on this project the idea for this side of the island was that there was a small village there and some industry from the sinister Marsh family and their mining efforts. Over time that section of the story has slowly expanded and the Marshh family holdings that they used to have stand as a stark juxtaposition against the small Hebridean homes of the former villagers.
The obstacle to getting this done has been a constant issue of framerates and GPU/CPU cycles. Getting the landscape so that it is optimised for real time with its bountiful foliage and its incredible long views was Important to me. As an open world the island has to be explorable fully, no invisible walls preventing the player from finding what they are wanting to find.
Now, thanks to the work that has been done and a final breakthrough I will be able to increase the visual elements that make up this side of the island while at the same time increasing the playability and the excitement for the players.
For anyone in a similar situation to myself in developing this kind of title, check your landscapes carefully. Examine your landscape materials and look for anything causing an issue. Be bold and merciless on your own work. Once you have the landscape material optimised and the landscape laid out while not causing severe performance spiking then you are good to go! I choose not to have my landscapes loading by world partition for this main area to stop pop in. The landscape is nanite enabled so it is a balancing act.
So, that’s what is happening folks. See you at the next update.
Cris