Well I finally started exporting the areas from my 'testbed development' module and importing them into the main chapter 2 module... so the size has shot up, now at about 350. Not much still compared to some, but that 300 Mb mark is where my PC starts to struggle. I'm not sure if it's this, or just my aged PC, or a combination of factors, but things have gotten a little too laggy in game for my tastes. Particularly in the largest area (screenshot above). Then it's just as bad in the toolset, as these area take a f*!$ing age to load, then are really slow to navigate around... plus you wait for a minute to the screen to respond, hoping that it hasn't crashed.... Maybe it's time for a new PC....
Another problem with the area above is some custom AI I worked on for some guards - spotting enemies, calling for the alarm to be sounded, barring gates, summoning reinforcements... Things got a little slow when all that was going on. So that might be a mixture of area size, scripts firing etc.... Anyway, I'm hoping playtesting will confirm how much of an issue it is for the players. Might be helped by me splitting this Chapter over two modules, which I'm a little loathe to do
Speaking of which, my goal is to release an alpha version in a couple of weeks and I'll be begging for help around then. I have one area left to do - the epilogue - and then it's mainly conversation fluff and some journal entries - which needn't necessarily be in place before testing. I mentioned this on the forums, but if anyone has a save game from the end of DA Chapter 1, I'd be grateful if they could zip it up and send it over to help with my own testing. From my own playing so far, I think a PC mage would do really well, as the companions can't help with big blatty spells much. Something I might need to work on, although I'm planning another companion to come in in Chapter 3 who will be a sorceress....
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4 comments:
Hey, that's a good-looking area!!! Regarding lag, you *are* developing in Directory mode, right? Loading times are significantly faster in toolset and (to a lesser extent) in-game; you should only ever save to a .mod file when you're getting ready to release it.
Lag is always a concern. I think the only way to get real feedback about it is when you get to the alpha testing phase and other people are playing the mod on their machines.
It would be interesting to find out what are the quick and easy things to change to get a large improvement in lag if it starts to become an issue.
I'm hoping that when they fix the creature cache in 1.13 some of the lag issues when zoning may be reduced.
Nice looking area though :)
Well done, Wyrin - That area looks like something straight out of the OC!
I have to agree - great looking area. I like the balance and natural feel. Looking forward to the release.
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