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[KiwiBiggles]

Hi all. 

C.U.P. appears to suffer a significant FPS hit related to vehicle columns, see this thread: https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,49506.0.html

I'll post my thoughts about creating a "HighFPS Columns" JSGME switch here.  The aim is first to create some low-poly German columns to see if they can improve the FPS of the Black Death track, then maybe add the other columns too, so mission builders and campaign designers have a HighFPS option for their products.

Sooo...

... first step is I've made a very simple little test mission in the Balaton map, with the first German column in FMB.

The .mis file tells me the column is: GermanyCarsColumnA--which as far as I know is a stock column.  In modact the FPS for this column is 60+ FPS.  In CUP it's about 48FPS--far from the worst, and a nice place to start.  The problem will likely be that one or more of the vehicles in this "chiefs" column is high-poly, high-rez, and/or bugged.

Here they are:







There's no doubt these models are gorgeous, however for a combat flight sim such highly detailed models aren't necessarily the best solution for every scenario.  Can we restore the stock models, perhaps with a modest texture upgrade, as a JSGME option for players and mission builders? That's the question.  From the pics you can see that not all these models have shadows--how significant is that? Is it indicative of a bug?  Or, a shadow could be a nice way to improve the appearance of a lower-poly model, perhaps with a lesser hit on the FPS?

Next step is to find out some more about "GermanyCarsColumnA."

KB

[KiwiBiggles]

These are the vehicles we're looking for, from the chief.ini.

[Vehicles.GermanyCarsColumnA]
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$BikeBMW
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.tanks.Tank$SdKfz251
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A_medic
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.cars.Car$OpelBlitz6700A_radio
 com.maddox.il2.objects.vehicles.tanks.Tank$DemagFlak

First one, BikeBMW.

KB

[KiwiBiggles]

Here's BikeBMW from technics.ini

[BikeBMW]
Description    Motorbike BMW
Icon           Car

// Models
MeshSummer        3do/Cars/BikeBMW/live.sim
MeshSummerDamage  3do/Cars/BikeBMW/dead.sim
// FIXME: make winter camouflage

// Panzer
PanzerType  Car
PanzerSubtype  1
PanzerBodyFront      0.001

// Moving
SoundMove       models.Motocycle
SpeedAverage    22.0
SpeedMax        33.0
SpeedBack        5.0
RotSpeedMax     60.0             // ??
RotInvisAng     65.0
BestSpace          10.0
AfterCollisionDist  4.5
CommandInterval     1.6
StayInterval        1.5

I'm not an expert on this stuff, but it looks ok to me.  The 3d models we're looking to swap out (as a JSGME switch remember, so players can easily choose different solutions for different scenarios) are:

3do/Cars/BikeBMW/live.sim

and

3do/Cars/BikeBMW/dead.sim

[KiwiBiggles]

As far as I can tell, inside the game BikeBMW is made from these java class files:

com\maddox\il2\objects\vehicles\cars\Car$Bicycle.class
com\maddox\il2\objects\vehicles\cars\Car$BikeBMW.class

I can't imagine these files will be useful to restoring the stock low poly models, and we can probably ignore them.

These are the 3do files, I believe, if we can get at them:

3do\Cars\BikeBMW\256-skin01_m0.tga
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\2958live.msh
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\base.mat
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\bmw text.msh
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\Damage.mat
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\Dead.msh
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\dead.sim
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\live.msh
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\live.sim
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\m21 text.msh
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\Skin01_damage.tga
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\skin01_m0.tga
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\skin01_m1.tga
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\skin01_m2.tga
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\SkinHi.mat
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\SkinHi2.mat
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\SkinLo.mat
3do\Cars\BikeBMW\SkinMid.mat

KB

[KiwiBiggles]

Those stock/original files live inside the fb_3do.SFS in your game's root folder.  They aren't too difficult to find and put into the #WAW folder:


Stock BikeBMW in C.U.P--click image to enlargerate in PhotoBucket

Clearly, for close up work you're going to want the high-poly model! 




Stock BikeBMW in C.U.P--click image to enlargerate in PhotoBucket

But from even a small distance, say the cockpit of a Sturmi or Typhoon, the low-poly model is perfectly fine.  If those high-poly models come at a significant cost in FPS... well it would be great to have a choice! 

KB.

[KiwiBiggles]

Packed and tested as a quick and easy JSGME switch?


Stock 1C Maddox BikeBMW--click image to enourmisify in PhotoBucket


C.U.P. BikeBMW--click image to enourmisify in PhotoBucket

Check! 

There's no reason we shouldn't be able to do this for all the German column vehicles, then compare any FPS gain in the Black Death track.  If the results are good, this could be a useful JSGME option for players to boost their frame rates?

KB.

[SAS~Malone]

I kinda like like the idea of a switch option for this - if i'm in a high-speed pass, maybe no need for high-detailed models, but if i'm playing Rambo in the 50cal Jeep, for instance, I'd want to get up close 'n personal, and would then want to make use of the high detail stuff.

[nyali]

one of the more sensible posts I have seen in a long time, not a request more of a solution in advance of a request 

[vpmedia]

Its possible to have good fps with detailed 3d.
I already posted a fix for the german columns in the other topic:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,49506.msg549578.html#msg549578

[WindWpn]

Indeed, from my experience, the issue is errors rather than tga quality.  Errors usually being references to missing or incorrect folder or file values.  I have seen and corrected these errors with success in my highly customized hsfx offline install.  The correction of these errors have significant impact on improving performance.

[KiwiBiggles]

I agree WindWpn. I wonder though if the C.U.P. team hasn't already squashed those bugs, because there are very few references to cars in the logfile.txt?

Having said that, Istvan mentioned that those errors don't always generate logfile entries?

I have Istvans file of corrections, just about to benchmark them now... fingers crossed for a big FPS gain! 

[KiwiBiggles]

See benchmark here: https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,49506.msg549665.html#msg549665

KB