Army Of Darkness!!!!!!

[rouncer]

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/88/l_2ebeef1f8ddd4b88be2892ccc78944be.png

Thats 5000 guys in 5000 batches and the computer takes it easily including a full landscape (hills havent been added yet)

I could add even more, a single computer could probably handle a mmo lot of people easily.

If you code your game from scratch without using an engine, you get these simple advantages.

Next on the list is map decor, like trees and rocks, and ill see if i can get this game to look any good.

[starstutter]

5000 batches? You do understand that a high number of batches isn't a good thing right? You'd probably be getting triple or quadruple (or more) the preformance if you used 50-100 batches.

[Reedbeta]

But are they individually-animated guys...that is the question...

[alphadog]

5000 guys in 5000 batches

What do you mean by this?

[fireside]

If you code your game from scratch without using an engine, you get these simple advantages.

Not taking away from your work or anything, but when you add buildings, sky, ai, terrain, and all the other things that enter into a game, I think you'll find it slows down a bit with your own engine the same as it does with someone else's. There's probably always going to be some unnecessary overhead with a general purpose engine, though.

[JarkkoL]

Particularly when you add animation and game logic to the characters, some lighting, etc. you start to get some overhead.

[rouncer]

I havent added visual surface determination yet, it basicly means im drawing everything no matter if its in the screen or not, and the computer is handling it.

Ill be adding that, im actually suprised it is working with 5000 separate draw indexed primitive calls (each one is a batch), usually this should be kept to under 500 usually, but it doesnt seem to be hurting it as yet for some reason to go right to 5000.

Working in completely individual primitive calls has programming easiness advantages, you can animate each individual character separate from the rest. even if i wind up with less possible individual units, ill probably still keep drawing in this way (except ill be adding VSD) because it makes things easier.

[Nick]

...but it doesnt seem to be hurting it as yet for some reason to go right to 5000.
That's because the graphics driver turns it into bigger batches itself. As long as you're not making any significant state changes in between draw calls, it can just queue up work easily.

[monjardin]

Does this mean it could choke on other drivers?

[Rubicon]

500 or so batches is only a guideline anyway. If you're not using the CPU for anything else, you can take it much higher and keep a frame rate.

It'll be interesting to see how much that figure shrinks up as the rest of the game goes in though.

[spindiggy]

Hello,

The screeny looks almost like the knight demo from the Horde3D engine. You can check it out to see how the animated knights and opengl shaders affect the performance the more knights that you add. You start getting that jumpy feeling with mouse look once you start adding to many.

Chris

[Reedbeta]

that jumpy feeling with mouse look

I think that feeling is called "the framerate is too low" ;)

[rouncer]

Yeh, it goes perfect till about 2000. then you start to feel it jump a little.

But its still playable.

I should have mentioned the framerate.