Suggestion on fixing performance and improving game development

[76561198393527262]

Ever since the reworked models were added for soldiers and weapons, many people have been complaining about Call to Arm’s performance. The newer model runs much worse than before patch and even those with good computer systems are affected. The stutter and constant scaling down of graphics quality is just annoying to bear, especially for multiplayer games where every players in a match will be affected.

The Low setting for “Model Quality” certainly helps in providing a smoother experience, however the amount of object pop-in makes it irritating to use when played under traditional RTS camera. This is incredibly annoying as the RTS angle is what people use majority of time in normal game sessions. It would be great if we can get an option to use these low quality models without all the object pop-ins, because their quality certainly look decent even for FPS view.

Anyway the real reason I’m making this thread today is to make a suggestion on resolving lag issues, and that’s to use automated tools to streamline and optimize game models. I’m not sure if you guys have heard of Simplygon, a 3D optimization tool that has become increasingly popular throughout the past few years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6L5zAmSqI

Basically what it does is using a very smart algorithm to cut down the amount of triangles on models, ensuring most of the qualities are retained while optimizing for performance at the same time. This will be excellent for making LOD tiers, as well as the models currently in use for “Low Setting”.

Here is a short video showcasing some of its features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jujvIeS8ZfA

Of all the models I’ve tested, the optimized ones look nearly identical as the original, but have far lesser polygons which hog up precious system resource. This will ensure graphical qualities are kept while making the game run better for many players. Another benefit it have is that it ensures a consistent scaled quality for model reductions. Meaning LOD models will always have the same percentage reduction instead of being varied here or there.

This will save the graphics artist tons of time and effort, which can be spent on more urgent matters like reworking the old US units and also on new DLC assets. Like mentioned above, an artist’s time should be spent on creation, not tedious manual labour such as crunching down polygons.

As far as I can tell, the current Low Detail models are still being hand-made, this is really time consuming and an overall inefficient method, especially when automated tools already exists which does an excellent job. I seriously recommend the team giving Simplygon a go, not only does it save tons of work and development resource, it will also bring long term benefits. When the game is fully released and you guys begin working on DLC assets, optimizing the new models will be tremendously faster as well. You’ll be surprised how much time this saves and speeds up the development process.

[76561198393527262]

It’s really a smart decision the team made with pushing back the release date. Sure, getting Call to Arms out the door is certainly important, but it’s even more so to ensure proper optimizations are implemented beforehand. Since the initial release period is the most critical stage for a video game in terms of attracting and retaining players.

Plenty of games have failed or received negative criticism because of bad optimization during launch. I really cannot stress how much the initial impression matters, especially for an indie title as we do not have the marketing capability of AAA games (or even a publisher). Therefore it’s all the more important to ensure we do it right with release, since we only have one shot at succeeding.

This also isn’t helped by the fact we’re in a niche genre of gaming: Strategy, and our player base is even smaller compared to traditional RTS titles like Company of Heroes. Not to mention this tiny market segment is divided even further with our competitors, Gates of Hell and Soldiers: Arena. If we don’t do something about optimization someone else will, like Soldiers: Arena which added support for 64-bit recently. Due to the modding focused nature of GEM community, players will just flock to whichever game that have the least amount of trouble running.

We absolutely CANNOT lose any more players due to optimization issues, not when it is avoidable and can easily be resolved using automated tools. We still have plenty of time before Q4 this year when the game will be out of Early Access, we must ensure the release is done right or it might be a final nail for us. Catering the game for a broader range of audience, including those with lower spec computers will have long standing benefits. And luckily with Simplygon we can achieve this objective without causing any further delays.

[76561198393527262]

By the way, Simplygon is also in use by 80% of game studios nowadays. In fact open up any AAA title released during the past two years, and chances are you’ll see the logo of Simplygon on its loading screen. Here are just some of the big name companies that utilise this amazing tool:

{LINK REMOVED}http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/simplygon_companies.png

Simplygon is also used by countless indie games as well, it’s not at all an overstatement to say this software is the de facto standard for 3D optimization at the moment. Not only is it fast and easy, able to churn out hundreds of streamlined models in minutes. It also went free earlier this year for indie developers, so there won't be any cost for the team whatsoever. It features 3ds Max and Maya support as well which just makes everything easier.

Here’s a couple of games I can think of that utilized Simplygon to optimize their models:

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  
• Total War: Warhammer
  
• Far Cry 4
  
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
  
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
  
• Rise of the Tomb Raider
  
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
  
• Battlefield 1
  
• Resident Evil VII: Biohazard
  
• Mad Max
  
• Gears of War 4
  
• DOOM
  
• Dying Light
  
• Shadow Warrior 2
  
• Star Wars: Battlefront

Notice how some of the most successful (and well optimized) PC titles are in here? Why not join in this list DMS? I promise you this is a decision the team will never regret making.

[Romka94]

+1, games of this company certainly need better optimization, especially considering the fact that in match everybody are playing with FPS of player with worst PC.

[FRANK THE TANK]

Game runs pretty bad even with my friend has a $3000 pc and it can lag badly sometimes. And the systeam needs to work on making were AMD and Nivda user are well balance. but the game engine that is being use is so old and kinda bad

[Sparhawk122]

i7-5960X OCed @ 4.3GHz, Eight Cores.
ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080 Gaming 8GB GDDR5X,
32GB DDR4 2400MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,
Corsair H110i GTX 280mm close-loop CPU cooler,
HX-1000i 80+ Platinum certified PSU,
Corsair Graphite 760T Full Tower Case,
Samsung 850 EVO 2TB SSD,
Asus X99-Deluxe USB 3.1 Motherboard,
Windows 10,
ASUS ROG SWIFT 27inch 1440p 165Hz G-Sync Gaming Monitor.

If it runs pretty bad on the above set-up. Then yes, something needs to change and change for the better. If a tool is not performing you fix or replace the tool. This appears to be one of those situations.

;)

[DONAR]

I am no expert, nor am I familiar with game development, but having read this it definitely sounds interesting and sounds like it could provide a proper performance boost to the game. Me myself playing on a high-end system, and having to fiddle with graphics options to make the game run smoothly is not great. I mostly experience performance issues when going into direct unit control as well as first person view. I really think the game is great, and I’d love to see it flourish.

[Enji or Not]

I agree. Using this software looks like such a simple thing to do and since it's free I don't really see any argument against it.

[vlad_8011]

I think many advantages of simplygon is tellfing for themselves, its really worthy to use it, beacuse you cant loose on it, there can be only profit.

[AliSHuraira]

This sound very good and the performance problem is very big this could fix it. I will support this

[Kraft ☢ Squad]

It doesn't matter how good the gameplay is if you have 15fps, so yeah, +1 to this

[minerunknown]

I agree with this, New models are awesome and all, but being unable to enjoy them due to performance issues is a problem that needs to be adressed, and Simplygon seems to be a very efficient way of doing it.

[FlashPoint]

Game performance was always horrible for me while my system & other much high detailed game runs well on ultra.

After recent major updates it got worse for me much more worse male game unplayable or less fun.

This suggestion from community is a good step, so dear developers please consider it & make game run better.
Thanks

[Max Shadow]

I agree with this. The game runs pretty bad even in powerful PC's. There are many things that are wrong with the current engine (they keep recycling it since Soldiers: Heroes of World War II). Not only general bad performance, but also stuttering and freezes due to the load of unoptimized resources. This cuold be one step towards better optimization, but they still have a lot of work to do. This post deserves more attention.

[Stenk]

Interesting post! Would like to see how it can practically be used in Call to Arms.

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

I approve