Why is DayZ So Inefficient in Processing? -discussion

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Firstly you need to consider what the engine is doing, why it is doing what it is, and how it could be done better. The engine is not entirely optimized for using multiple cores. When the engine was designed, multiple cores were not really considered or needed. This is something we plan to change, although most benefit for that will be seen on the server as we could then offload some components (such as collision, AI, etc...) onto separate cores. There is nothing particularly "weird" about the engine. The engine has some aspects about it that are very dated, but it's designed for very specific purposes which DayZ fits into. One of the biggest client performance optimizations we're currently considering is a redevelopment of the proxy system. Previously, proxies weren't used a great deal in Arma 3D models. There were not many interiors, so there was not much furniture. DayZ has a great deal of new interiors, with a huge amount of proxies. The lodding system does not work well with these proxies as it was never designed to do so. This is what we believe is one of the key reasons (now) for poor performance within cities. When you look at a building, no matter how far, all the proxy objects inside of it are being rendered. This is crazy but it is a good example of how we are using the system far outside it's intended use, and an example of something we can change - and indeed we are.

http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/217yyp/why_is_dayz_so_inefficient_in_processing/cgaktw0

I'm not a reddit user so I decided to do a topic here about this and client side optimization.

So we have heard that the buildings could do some optimization and now we have learned that it's the interior proxies that aren't optimized well. Rocket mentions the buildings aren't the only thing so I wonder what those other client side optimizations could be? Building proxies can bring some fps but there must be something else that brings the fps down in cities because if you port cherna+ in Arma 3 and play alone in the editor the fps is very good in cities compared to DayZ. Or has Arma 3 already some proxy optimization so it won't be hard to do in DayZ?

So what could be the other thingsthat bring the fps down in client side? Is it the thousands of items that also aren't optimized? At least in Arma when you put many vehicles and other stuff around you the fps comes down. Or is it the server-client relationship that still isn't well optimized in DayZ, though it should be?

I just like to hear some more answers from the devs if possible because I'm pretty sure it isn't the building proxies that is the biggest fps hog unless Arma 3 engine can somehow optimize those and DayZ can't yet. New architecture should allow client to run DayZ like Arma alone in the editor but in towns this is far from the truth so something else isn't right.

At least I'd like to get an answer are those proxies differently optimized in DayZ and Arma 3?

[Katana67 2907]

This is coming from a complete and utter layman in this matter, but would it be possible to be less-resource intensive with the trees? I don't have any real FPS issues in the cities, but walk into some of the forests of Chernarus and I'm down to 20-30 FPS. Which is certainly playable but annoying.

 

Likewise, the LOD on trees is pretty crappy sometimes (especially with the birches). The LOD of the birch is like... piss yellow... but when the actual tree renders it's stark white.

[gerbilschooler 229]

 if you port cherna+ in Arma 3 and play alone in the editor the fps is very good in cities compared to DayZ. Or has Arma 3 already some proxy optimization so it won't be hard to do in DayZ?

 

If you play ANY map in Arma 3 in editor, or single player... just NOT online, you will have butter smooth performance. Put Chernaraus + in Arma 3 on multiplayer and see what happens

[St. Jimmy 1631]

This is coming from a complete and utter layman in this matter, but would it be possible to be less-resource intensive with the trees? I don't have any real FPS issues in the cities, but walk into some of the forests of Chernarus and I'm down to 20-30 FPS. Which is certainly playable but annoying.

 

Likewise, the LOD on trees is pretty crappy sometimes (especially with the birches). The LOD of the birch is like... piss yellow... but when the actual tree renders it's stark white.

Trees, bushes and grass are pretty GPU heavy. I can get 100% GPU usage in forest and that way GPU can bottleneck but that's not that bad because at least everything gets utilized. What GPU you have? I can run very well with my system but with my older 560Ti 1,2GB I saw that GPU could bottleneck sometimes in forest but it was down 30 or 40fps but not so low as yours.

[Katana67 2907]

Trees, bushes and grass are pretty GPU heavy. I can get 100% GPU usage in forest and that way GPU can bottleneck but that's not that bad because at least everything gets utilized. What GPU you have? I can run very well with my system but with my older 560Ti 1,2GB I saw that GPU could bottleneck sometimes in forest but it was down 30 or 40fps but not so low as yours.

 

EVGA 670 4GB