100% enterable large blocks of flats question:

[meshcarver 12]

Hi,

I'll soon be starting to model a fairly standard block of flats for the Stalker island I'm making.

Ideally, I'd love to have all the rooms and stairways modelled to be fully enterable, but obviously this brings some polytastic counts. All the rooms would use the same texture sets etc, so that part's ok really, but is there any smart way to go about this process for the ARMA engine, room culling wise..?

Is there a method to have it so it only draws so many rooms at one point instead of all of them..? A few blocks of flats next to each other would soon add up polys...

What about if you're outside, looking at the flats all the rooms (Even if there's players inside) draw a lower poly version, but they swap once you're inside to the higher poly version..?

Would that be a good workaround and also would it even be possible..?

Cheers guys,

Marc

[max power 21]

Sounds like LODs and occlusion culling, both of which arma 2 has.

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Max

you mean LODS and occlusion culling for the interior rooms, even though they can be seen from outside at a distance..?

What do you think to the idea about switching to a higher poly rooms when INSIDE the building..? Or say within 25 meters outside..?

[max power 21]

That is what the resolution LODs are for.

[meshcarver 12]

So if all the separate rooms with individual, you could turn them down in count separate from the main "shell" of the building..?

[max power 21]

Well, the program decides what LOD to use based on a number of factors. But if you are in a closed room and see nothing outside, and the viewblock geo has been done carefully, I believe nothing is rendered that you can't see. If you do each room as its own p3d then you're doing at least one draw call for every room as opposed to the whole building in one shot.

[[aps]gnat 28]

Additional to the auto management that Max mentions, the engine automatically switches off Geometry LOD for example once the object is outside a certain radius to the player. This probably lets things like AI movement happen more smoothly / less CPU for collisions etc.

Using proxies for doors, furniture etc also helps.

Best if you look at BIS's own enterable buildings.

One Takistan example I looked at (4 storey mud house).

LOD 1 - 15,000 faces

LOD 2 - 8,000

LOD 3 - 4,000

LOD 4 - 2,000

LOD 5 - 66 !! (barely resembles the original structure)

Shadow 1 - 4000

Shadow 10 - 220

Shadow 1000 - 1000 (huh? higher? .... something I need to check out. Maybe thats "interior shadow LOD" )

Shadow 1010 - 56

Geometry - 450

Roadway - 130

Memory - na

Considering BIS put whole towns of these buildings on their maps (OA terrains) ...... I don't think you'll be creating any issues.

[max power 21]

I know we're talking a lot about the O2 manual lately but it really isn't useless. Shadow 1000 and 1010 are supposedly for calculating the shadows cast by alpha textures, originally for trees.

[[aps]gnat 28]

...... now youre starting to sound like my wife ....

[meshcarver 12]

Hi,

When you say use "proxies" for doors and furniture, do you mean to have them as separate objects yes..?

[[aps]gnat 28]

Yes.

For example, theres various folders full of ones BIS use here;

CA\structures_e\Misc\Misc_Interier

CA\structures\Furniture

CA\misc2\Table

Proxies need to be copied to Geometry, shadow and sometimes Roadway lods to ensure you get all their effects.

[max power 21]

Gnat;2274253']...... now youre starting to sound like my wife ....

If your wife tells you to read the O2 manual' date=' she must be pretty cool!

Hi,

When you say use "proxies" for doors and furniture, do you mean to have them as separate objects yes..?

Separate p3ds called inside another p3d via a proxy object at render time.