reducing translucent and base pass on half - 12 to 6 ms

Check out how we reduced base pass and translucent on half - 12 to 6 ms.

Case: to port the game, which was developed for PC/Console to iOS.

Process description:

Optimization done on iOS and past gen consoles.

We focused on reducing GPU time by adding a Platform and Quality switcher for materials, plus making cheaper LoD materials.

Saving colors when disabling branches, attributes, or material functions on a big master material was the hardest part. Keeping visuals identical was a challenge.

We use tools/techs to analyze and optimize game performance. We looked at Stat Unit, GPU on gameplay, and Shader Complexity mode on editor for best results.

At the level of game architecture and engine, we created our own material platform switchers function, adding Quality material switchers to master materials on key for performance but minor for visual attributes or functions like Rvt blend or Subsurface. Additionally, we created cutted material instances, such as turning off WPO for trees, and set them to LODs on meshes.

We optimized memory and game resources, such as reducing map counts with fewer materials.

We use performance metrics to evaluate optimizations, such as analyzing Stat Unit GPU on gameplay and Shader Complexity mode on editor, comparing Base pass and Ren Doc draw calls.

Optimization on past gen consoles & mobiles improved gaming experience, eliminating fps drops while traveling.

During the optimization process, QA was tasked with providing video of repeatable gameplay and Stat Unit/FPS. Additionally, RenDoc captures are checked to ensure timings are accurate.

The team had to come up with a creative solution to this problem. They decided to use improvisation to find a balance between the visual quality desired by the Art team and the performance requirements of the past gen consoles and mobile platforms. They experimented with different techniques, such as using less expensive functions for some attributes and checking visuals on each platform, to find a solution that worked for everyone. In the end, they were able to find a compromise.

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