Level Streaming in Multiplayer and more

[Mrblbshrtz]

NOTE: I am not trying to break the 2^19 UU limit.

I am wondering if its possible to seperate the world into smaller sections, possibly four sections of 2^18 UU in each dimension. This is for multiplayer, and the reason would be to "shield" the clients from having to have data for the other 4 sections- to reduce bandwidth consumption and increase client performance (less memory/ cpu usage)- I understand its easy to reduce GPU load by simply having fog or some kind of occlusion.

If that's possible, is it possible for the 2d plane to be split into 36 sections, and every player loads their one section and the 8 surrounding- making for a total of 9?

Also how is the metal destruction physics in UDK? Is it possible to activate the metal destruction physics only when its receiving damage/ is bearing a heavy load. Could tearable cloth be adapted for this use. I want metal that'll only deform when being shot/ in explosions / when it crashes into something at high speed/ when something exerts a lot of force. Is it possible for it to skip any metal deformation simulation unless the force/ damage exerted is high enough?

[Mrblbshrtz]

^this is a bump

[kn00tcn]

doesnt occlusion help cpu & ram as well?

[ambershee]

I am wondering if its possible to seperate the world into smaller sections, possibly four sections of 2^18 UU in each dimension. This is for multiplayer, and the reason would be to "shield" the clients from having to have data for the other 4 sections- to reduce bandwidth consumption and increase client performance (less memory/ cpu usage)- I understand its easy to reduce GPU load by simply having fog or some kind of occlusion.

In theory it's possible, although you may run into issues with things like players (how to determine if they are relevant) due to the way networking is set up. I should imagine it is however entirely doable, and I would like to do it myself.

Also how is the metal destruction physics in UDK? Is it possible to activate the metal destruction physics only when its receiving damage/ is bearing a heavy load. Could tearable cloth be adapted for this use. I want metal that'll only deform when being shot/ in explosions / when it crashes into something at high speed/ when something exerts a lot of force. Is it possible for it to skip any metal deformation simulation unless the force/ damage exerted is high enough?

It's *******s. Metal cloth has been deprecated by Nvidia and hasn't been replaced by any kind of alternative, nor does there seem to be one planned.

[Mrblbshrtz]

In theory it's possible, although you may run into issues with things like players (how to determine if they are relevant) due to the way networking is set up. I should imagine it is however entirely doable, and I would like to do it myself.

Is it possible to load more than one level streaming block at a time?

It's *******s. Metal cloth has been deprecated by Nvidia and hasn't been replaced by any kind of alternative, nor does there seem to be one planned.

I've seen tutorials for tearable cloth- so surely it could be adapted by decreasing the flexibility and increasing the force required to tear? And then, when no projectiles, explosions or large forces are acting on it, then the cloth physics could be "switched off". Is it even possible to switch off cloth physics for an object?

[ambershee]

Is it possible to load more than one level streaming block at a time?

I don't see why not.

I've seen tutorials for tearable cloth- so surely it could be adapted by decreasing the flexibility and increasing the force required to tear? And then, when no projectiles, explosions or large forces are acting on it, then the cloth physics could be "switched off". Is it even possible to switch off cloth physics for an object?

Try it and see how you get on. If you get decent results, then post them for everyone's benefit. Cloth and metal work quite differently though, which is why there was a discrete implementation for metal.

[Mrblbshrtz]

Cloth and metal work quite differently though, which is why there was a discrete implementation for metal.

I can't see the core difference, cloth just seems like weaker and more flexible metal to me. How is it different?

[ambershee]

If you fire a bullet through cloth, it will deform and punch a hole in it, then fall back into place due to gravity and tensile strength/flexibility. If you do this with a metal surface, it will deform and punch a hole in it, but it will retain it's shape.

The difference is very minor, but it's also very hard to capture with a cloth actor: consider I throw a ball and dent a car; it will deform inwards, but not fall back into any shape as soon as the ball stops encroaching into it. Do the same with a cloth and it will continue to deform over time until it finally comes to rest.

[Mrblbshrtz]

If you fire a bullet through cloth, it will deform and punch a hole in it, then fall back into place due to gravity and tensile strength/flexibility. If you do this with a metal surface, it will deform and punch a hole in it, but it will retain it's shape.

The difference is very minor, but it's also very hard to capture with a cloth actor: consider I throw a ball and dent a car; it will deform inwards, but not fall back into any shape as soon as the ball stops encroaching into it. Do the same with a cloth and it will continue to deform over time until it finally comes to rest.

OK, but there could be a workaround for that. At the moment, I'm trying to make tearable cloth, but the 3dbuzz tutorial asset skm_mesh is missing? How would I make this in 3ds max or Maya. Its got two bones and the top row of tris is attached to bone1 and the rest are attached to bone2. How would I go about making this- considering I'm completely new to 3ds max and Maya?

EDIT: It's good- I found it- just needed to fully load it

[Mrblbshrtz]

Just tested it, and there is an option to turn cloth into metal, whereby it only moves on impact. However, there seems to be some kind of initial impact on load, as the cloth/metal goes mental and there is a noticeable fps drop. The metal option does not work with tearable cloth as the whole thing just explodes and fps is dropped to slideshow rates. Even with the metal option selected, the cloth doesn't stop moving. I will continue testing.