I guess everybody who use GG knows that.
You create a nice scene, a perfect level, which runs at a nice frame rate of 30 or maybe 60 FPS.
Then u add your first 10-15 enemies and BAM the frame rate is down at 20fps or from 60 down to 45.
Then u add a few more script controlled things to the scene and the frame rate goes down more...

Yes, I think Lua is one of the bottlenecks, the more lua script controlled NPCs u add the slower the game gets.
Lua is good for scripting ok, but it is still an interpreter language, right? So still slower than compiled code...

So, if u have a lot of NPCs and script controlled things in your level, then the engine is busy with the Lua scripts or is waiting for the interpreted scripts.

So, maybe it would be good, if in the final standalone game all Lua scripts are all already compiled instead interpreting the scripts over and over again.
Or maybe use a faster Lua interpreter, luaJIT...?
But I think already compiled scripts in the standalone would make our games faster with more FPS.

Just a theory.... maybe I am totally wrong.

lua scripts are compiled for the standalone. Not sure it makes a vast amount of difference to performance, but does protect the scripts from being easily changed.

Cheers.

A lua scheduler would be a good idea, so you can set script to run every frame, every 10 frames etc, just have a nice lua command in the init
eg:

Script_Time(e) = 5 -- run once every 5 frames, not every 60 frames.

not sure what syntax it would need but just an idea.

Hmmm... are u sure they are already compiled or just protected like the other files in the standalone?

Maybe this is caused by the high poly character models with a lot of animations!

Lua is designed for scripting. Yes it is slower, but even if we switch to Assembler that would not solve any performance issue. Python is also a interpreter language and is the first choice for maschine learning software(one of the most resource needed processes ever).

The C++ code of GG is so un-optimized, that even bad scripted lua scripts will never be the bottleneck.


If you want something like this, you can script it in your lua file yourself.

Ok, you are not completly wrong. The AI scripts are not optimized, but we have bigger performance problems than the AI.
If you want to be sure the AI is your bottleneck, add it to a lowpoly box with no animations and tell us, if the fps drop is still that big.

Compiled . Open one and you can see.

Cheers.

Ok, then I was totally wrong he he he : )

If we are discussing performance, a shadow overhaul might be a good idea, turning on shadows kills FPS.

Just hit tab and you can see instantly where the performance problems are, if the AI scripting is the cause the top bar will give that away.

Lua itself is the fastest scripting language available, which is why everyone uses it!

Most of the default scripts are not performance optimised in any way though so some improvement could be got from optimising them, not sure if it would make a whole lot of difference to FPS though as it is much more likely to be the rendering of the animated characters that is the cause.

true... shadows, water and the lightrays are fps hungry.

Interestingly have you tried clicking on that AI bar once it is displayed?

It gives another breakdown set of stats when you do. Only found this out recently, maybe it’s common knowledge that passed by me.

Cheers.

News to me! I'll have a play.

Well bugger me, you learn something new every day with GG!

Where did that come from?

Think it’s been in a long time - I just noticed it when I was looking at the source code the other week.

Wonder what else is hidden away

Cheers

When I do that I just get a headache.

@ Ciber
it's just an easter egg. LOL

Or naybe a door to go on deep web.

I was considering going into the masked solider .x file and removing a lot of the unused animations like "sitting, typing, talking, ladder climbing, swimming" to create a lighter .x file to see if that would help with performance at all. Since that character after all has a ton of animations most of the users on the forums dont take advantage of.

Teabone? Which character exactly? And how do you implement those animations?

"most of the users on the forums dont take advantage of."
....... obviously if we don't know about it- or how!

Open the fpe file and look at the animation info. There is a text file in the stock stuff also that lists the animations and frames.

Pipeline stall creating wait states can have performance issues. Function call/ if conditions.
Functions need to execute, bouncing from physics to graphics create stalls waiting to handle the next function.
Based on the information, Individual objects are then spread all over memory, update code cycling physics, graphics and logic.
I am curious of the function calls on your map before and after AI placement, a similar form of DOD is an option or as suggested above optimize your code/map to suit how the index handles. Removing references in the index can cause dangling pointer issues so keep that in mind.

Also, for those interested (entitybank\Characters) MaskedSoldier.X is 2,425 kb at 6040 frames compared to Rocket Man.X at 10,180 kb, at 6714 frames. Character Creator civilian1.X body model and animation is 6,100 kb and lists at 27335 frames.

Below is an example of randomly placed object design, compared to organizing data placement then design.
Using one folder of Entities, Cityscape. two Different AI model x5 each = 10, no spawns, random location placement.
Also including 2 dynamic barrels x10+ and two of these barrels set to AlwaysActive. Vsync off to give an example in small scene.

First image. AI placed every 5-10 entities during map build. 35k polys, AI referencing is high resulting in low frames.
Second image, AI placed first, dynamic entities and then static. 39k polys (I went a little bigger by mistake) similar location, physics is higher, more polys in scene, draw calls are slightly up and higher frames. This is a single test result, though 10 frames can be a lot if dipping below 60.