Tuesday 18 September 2012

Percentage system and System requeriments


Requeriments considerations


Before some people take disappointments, I would like to clarify that the mod requirements are quite high. Version 3.0 of the mod was a pretty big optimization compared to the original game, but in 4.0 there are too many improvements and I can't do optimization miracles.

While it is true that by using the 4.0 recommended settings, performance can be higher than in the original game in ultra settings (at least in my computer), the memory usage is higher.

I guess you may have noticed the large number of textures modified, the new improved materials, additional shadows, etc, and that is not free in terms of memory usage.

Currently, there are several points that crash the game on my computer. Lowering the resolution below 1920x1200 I managed to avoid it. Of course, that's not the solution. I want to say my cpu is already very electromigrated and I'm having crashes from time to time so it's difficult to separate the cpu problems and problems because excessive memory usage.

To test the mod I'm using only one 480GTX which has 1.5 GB of VRAM. Before the release there are still many optimizations at several points in some levels and textures. Furthermore, I added a new option "reduced Textures" in the Configurator Tool which allows using the mod with some of the larger textures reduced. I hope that after the release of the mod has some feedback from users with different configurations of graphics memory so I can further refine the reduced texture option.






Percentage system


I want to clarify one more time (I hope it's the last time) how percentage system works. I work with a few documents with pending tasks. I have a file only for pending screenshots of important or "easy to see" changes. Another file is for to-do fixes in levels and it has an individual percentage for each level.

The main file is about textures/materials pending changes and some levels fixes are into this file too.

The percentage I post in blog is global percentage. How is possible that only a 0.1% is too long? That's easy, because each 0.1% implies a lot of changes.

In the regular monthly copy of June, I have 1075 textures and 1051 material definitions. Some of the textures are exact copy of crytek HD textures, others are Crytek HD textures with some modifications and a lot of them are new from scratch textures. All materials have modifications on some way.

Also the number of fixes on each map exceeded 1.000 some time ago. A few of them can have more than 2.000 changes and Crysis 2 have 19 levels. It's easy that global sum is near or exceeded 20.000 fixes/little changes in all the single player campaign.

With those numbers, each 0,1% can be more than 20 modifications including fixes, textures and materials. Now you can understand how long every update is. For example, since last post (99.9%) I have fixed 40 flickering problems in two levels and those are not included in the to-do files because I've discovered them two days ago.


On the remaining tasks, the truth is that they are a very few. Those are the main pending tasks:


- Create new texture to the branches of the trees (maple). I have made many tests and photos but can not find a result that satisfied me. It is one of the textures is costing me most. Right now I have planned a route through the countryside to find better pictures with which to work.

- Create new texture for the walls low shrubs. Similar situation as above.

- Create new texture for columns_B (diff, bump, spec and displacement) in Central Park.

- Finish fourth Precipice Rocks texture (diff, bump, spec and displacement) and use it in some materials.

- Create new texture for Downtown Church doors.

- Fix bumpmap for interior parking walls.

- Finish the last marble texture in Terminal Station level.

- Add casing shells shadows on each decal in CentralStation level.

- Optimize some areas to reduce memory usage.

- Add materials list for "Reduced Tesselation" option.

- Finish reduced textures versions and add list into program.

- End TOD.

- Integrate QMOD.

- Complete final test walktrough in search of forgotten bugs.

- Preparing and uploading files.


It's a lot of work, but compared to what I've left behind is only a small step. I'll show some of the pending task for more accurate percentage representation.



Thank you very much to all who follow the blog regularly.

33 comments:

  1. One more time, Thanks a lot MaLDo !


    I think I'm gonna get a new graphic's card very soon ;)

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  2. You are one amazing person, how can you run in 64 bit games? I only run in 32 bit and restricted in 1GB5 RAM, I come from Vietnam, sorry I speak English not so good

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  3. Will it be even possible to store this ultra high res textures in less than 1.5gb of vram?

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  4. Hi Maldo ! thanks for the explanations ! it seems that some people don't know to read or don't want to understand....

    Anyway, i will test your fantastic mod with GTX 680 in SLI with 2GO of vram in 1920x1080. So i will be able to tell you how the Mod behave with this configuration !

    Fabien

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    Replies
    1. 2x gtx 680 in SLI 4gb VRAM.. I have this also, but I'll test at 2560x1440 all maxed settings just to show off :)

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    2. ^^ Sorry kinda half finished my sentence there. What I meant to say was 2x gtx 680 in SLI IS ACTUALLY 4gb VRAM.. 2gb per card

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    3. To both of you. The SLI technology almost ~doubles~ the processing power, but not the video memory usage... Simple logic doesn't apply in this situation. The data is mirrored by both cards, so two 1GB cards will still result in 1GB of VRAM being available... Cheers!

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    4. If that's the case Victor, then why in Max Payne 3, and other numerous titles, does the game register me as having just over 4000 mb VRAM?

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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    6. It's a common glitch. Google it ;)

      Here's an example:
      http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2257205
      Also, check the SLI tech FAQ at:
      http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli

      And in simple words, this is how it works:
      http://www.overclock.net/t/1285201/if-sli-cf-doesnt-double-vram-how-exactly-does-sli-cf-work-question-explained-better-below

      Good luck!

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  5. Thanks a lot MalDo, i'm very impressed by your awesome work.

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  6. Eagerly awaiting beta! I play at 1440x900 and the mod runs my 1GB VRAM right to the edge without FXAA - looks like I may have to check that Reduced Textures option... I know that it will still look 10x better than Crytek's attempt, though.

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  7. I am waiting beta !

    I am using a Geforce GTX 460 OC with 2 Go of VRAM.
    Hope I can play with at least 25 fps at 1920*1080.

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    Replies
    1. I hope you can double that framerate using recomended settings with tesselation and parallax on.

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  8. "- Create new texture to the branches of the trees (maple). I have made many tests and photos but can not find a result that satisfied me. It is one of the textures is costing me most."...

    can someone help Maldo with this? give many photos of the branches of this tree.

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  9. i´m excited how it will perform on my 570@820mhz, more processing but only 1,28 gb vram

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  10. Thank you for all the great work, Maldo. I am looking forward to trying version 4.0 with i7 2600k / gtx 670 2gb overclocked configuration. I will be happy to get at least 30fps with most settings at maximum.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, forgot to mention my resolution is 1920 x 1200.

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  11. Good thing my laptop has a maximum resolution of 1366x768 and a GTX 660m with 2gbs of vram. I doubt memory will be a problem for me, but hopefully the the mod wont cost me too much performance since it isn't the greatest card. I could already play the game fine at 35-45fps using ultra settings though.

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  12. I'll be happy to test V4. Am downloading V3 now to try out this superb looking mod.
    My system is i5 2500k OC 4.5 with 8GB DDR3 Ram and a HD7950 OC 1005/1500

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  13. Simply outstanding. I look forward to the finished 4.0 though I'm not sure I'll be able to use it. My specs are i5 3570 with 8gb ram and an overclocked 560 TI (1 gig). It'll be fun to try it out regardless. Thank you for all your hard work.

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  14. MaLDo writes:"MaLDoHD 3.0 is OFFLINE. 4.0 coming soon."

    What means soon? Why removing my question asked before, instead giving an answer?

    Why not then just write "MaLDoHD 3.0 is OFFLINE. 4.0 still work in progress", if no specific timing is available or can be given. I do not like someone using the word "soon" when availability actualy takes months.

    If you remove my question again, I will not donate.

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    Replies
    1. Your question is here:

      http://maldotex.blogspot.com/2012/09/walking-final-stretch.html#comment-form

      You don't know where you've written. I write "soon" because I want to finish it soon. It is very clear that whatever is "work in progress" before being finished. Relax, I don't need nor your threats or your money

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    2. Thank you for answering.

      I want to donate "soon" then (to use your terminology/language). ("Soon" means here, when you have deployed version 4.0)

      Relax, I do not threat, also I do not think that you "need" my money. I just don't like the word "soon" because it says nothing.

      I will donate, because I like your work and because you gave an answer. Further, why should you not enjoy some profit for sharing your work?

      Delete
  15. I tried to run the installer in order to install the mod, but I am getting an exception box. Can you provide a remedy for this fault I am getting. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. New version of installer works in a different way. I hope you can install without problems when it's released.

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    2. I am new to game mods, and appreciate the time you have taken to respond to my question. I have the OS installed on a SSD, and games and other programs installed on HDD. Would that cause the installer to produce an exception when I manually select the root folder of Crysis2? Thank you, and look forward to your newest version of your mod.

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  16. Great info. A very awesome blog post. Thanks and have a nice day!

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  17. Keep up the good writing. Pretty good posts, I think this is one of the best

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  18. I admire this article for the well-researched content. Keep what you're doing

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awesome and entertaining article. I support you. Keep on writing dude, Thankyou!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi! This is my first visit blog! Useful information, great. Thank you

    ReplyDelete