quote:

Occlusion blocks stop your system from rendering what is behind it, so you put them in places where the system is rendering lots of stuff (and thereby decreasing performance). Putting them in solid walls works best, but it is possible to put them in walls and items that they cover on both sides. Most of the time, it will still render what it is touching, just not whats behnd it. This takes a lot of fine tuning, and most maps wont need to use this technique very often.

In a nutshell, if you are looking at a wall (with things behind it) with no occlusion block, your PC or console is still 'drawing' whats behind the wall even if you cant see it. This takes up resources. So, you put an occlusion block behind (or in) it so that when you face that direction, your machine only has to render what you are looking directly at, not the things you cant see anyway. HUGE performance increases can be had when these are used creatively. Just make sure you test nd retest.

Experiment by placing one large object, like a concrete block, then place an occlusion block in front of it, not touching it. Then go to test mode and you will see the effects of occlusion.

i've yet to see more than a 1 or 2 fps benefit, even with heavy occlusion blockage.. in fact, i commonly see performance drops when using occlusion blocks.

i'm not so sure about our little blue friends, though it could be my fetish for creating lagtastical uber maps containing hundreds of iron beams that is the problem. =)

quote:

Originally posted by shapelessform:
i've yet to see more than a 1 or 2 fps benefit, even with heavy occlusion blockage.. in fact, i commonly see performance drops when using occlusion blocks.

i'm not so sure about our little blue friends, though it could be my fetish for creating lagtastical uber maps containing hundreds of iron beams that is the problem. =)

LOL your maps play fine for me 94 the most part)

But, I have personally seen big diffefences in FPS, 10 to 15 in some areas. This may be due to the design of my maps. Sometimes I see a smaller increase, but every little thing adds up.

Occlusion blocks do not work injunction with other blocks when they are snapped. One block must entirely cover an item by itself, or the item will not be blocked. This is probably why they don't work for a lot of people, because a lot of objects are trying to be blocked and only a small amount of them are actually being occluded.

Yes, I read about that in another post of yours. The simple fact is, I have 'melded' blocks (overlapping without snapping) and saw instant FPS increases. This technique was used very very heavily in Asylum 2. Without it, I had a framerate of anywhere from 10-30 FPS LESS. There is a minor flaw in my blockage actually in that stage, and you can see in-game how an occlusion block inside something 'blocks' everything on the other side, whether melded or not.

I am not saying you are wrong Skorpius, just that I do not actually snap the blocks, I slide them together. This is out of necessity since most of my structures are not either notlarge enough to be occluded by one block without interfering elsewhere, or too small to be occluded by multiple blocks snapped together.

Besides, If you could ONLY use the shapes and sizes of blocks given without using multiple ones, then that would make the map editing process very hard. using the occlusion blocks to your advantage would rarely work out.(at least with my particular mapping style)

This is what I think you are trying to say:
I suppose if you had a large object at a distance, and a small OCC block in front of it, it wouldnt just block a portion of the object, it would just render the whole thing. That makes sense and I believe I have even seen it in-game, while testing. But melding (not snapping) the blocks together HAS worked for me, and all you have to do is open one of my maps, test, remove a block, and retest. You will see a drop in framerate, guaranteed. I tested and tested and tested Asylum in that fashion, because it is a meduim-large indoor leve, but all the brushes are concentrated in a relatively small portion of the map editor's given area. This make it very dense and hard to render every single thing for lower end PC's. I set a goal, for me to be able to run that map on Ultra High settings @ at least 40 FPS. And I achieved that goal through my technique of using occlusion blocks. Most areas run 50-80 FPS on Ultra High, and though I built my own PC, it is no Alienware.

Maybe someone else has done these things? Hopefully we will see more visitors to this thread with ideas and suggestions. Im sure bith of us have experienced firsthand exactly what we are saying, so more input would be great.

Also, occlusion blocks must be used a LOT to see a real increase in FPS throughout your entire map (if an indoor level). As shapelessform said, they can only add a couple FPS in some situations (definitely not all), but 2 FPS more can really add up if done repeatedly.

Kev, I can only agree with you. We get better FPS no matter how we place the OBs. And generally we need to meld rather than snap.

But then again, the only map we have done with serious drop in FPS is Bunker Assault. And the drop is mainly, though not entirely, caused by all the lights that are close to you and can be seen. OBs don't do the trick there. (Though we have plenty of them in the walls anyhow, which helps). Instead, we removed many of the lights.

Also, here is a link to 'Map Destructibility Tips'

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/foru...1037696/m/7971065437

Late response:

Kevin, I'm not saying Occlusion Blocks do not work, but that they do not work together. If you are trying to obscure one object, that object must be entirely obscured by a single Occlusion Block. Snapping, or melding, smaller Occlusion Blocks together will not omit said object from view.

Placing random small Occlusion Blocks everywhere wastes points (for Xbox/PS3) and memory; strategic placement of larger Occlusion Blocks is more effective than throwing a bunch of smaller ones jammed into every other object.

Skorpius, if you saw my map Asylum 2, and how large it is (weight-wise) you would definitely see the benefit of occuslion blocks. This map has about 45k packed into a very small area in relation to the given space to make a map. I went through 2 days of placing occlusion blocks in every place I could.

Ther stage was a laggy unplayable mess before. After the occlusion, I saw a dramatic increase in framerate. That is the honest to goodness truth, and anyone can feel free to check that out. DL the map, run it, then remove occlusion blocks.

I suppose we need a developer to clear this issue, because we both obviously experience very different things with those occ blocks. Asylum 2 just would not be playable without them. A lot of brushes used in that map are simply there because I needed occlusion. The gray blocks and the crates are all there because I needed more occlusion

Perhaps the discrepancy is that I have been building my stages around occlusion lately, instead of building a stage, then trying to optimize it. I did the basic layout first. Then, I walked the whole level, identified areas with low FPS, then solved the problem by 'building' the blocks into the map. I strategically blocked shadows with objects that the sun does not penetrate as well. (Platform # 3 works well for this)


Hopefully we can get developer to help, because I know it worked on this map. Or possibly you know someone with this on a PC, and they can test for themselves.

Either way, I will be invading your 360 realm soon. I have a coworkers 360 now, and I plan on releasing Asylum on the 360 ASAP. It is one of the few I can replicate in its entirety on 360. (no light though)

Thanks for the tips about occlusion blocks, much appreciated since I've just got FC2 a week or so ago.

welcome to the community then! Dont hesitate to ask for help here, most of us will jump in and assis when needed.

Have Fun!

I found that if you place them above your stage it will prevent shadows from being drawn. This seems to be the most benificial way to improve performance (I've done this with PC and 360 I don't know about PS3).

Can OB's help when trying to prevent water from reflecting something?

I made a sewer map, partially filled with water. Only problem was, that the water was reflecting the entire world... OUTSIDE of the sewer... lol... so it felt like you were outside, not in an enclosed environment.

Finally, I gave up and just lowered the water level enough so that the problem areas wouldn't have water... and stuck some warehouse floors up above another room, to block the above world from being reflected.

Also, I'm still confused on the proper (correct) usage of occlusion blocks. Should use them ALL the time, and put them INSIDE everything?

I tried hiding a fence from view by sticking an OB in front of it... but that didn't work... lol.. it was pretty glitchy.

I haven't tried putting OB's INSIDE things yet... but maybe I should. I have a map called: "Junkyard Dogs" that people have complained about it being too "detailed and laggy"... lol (tho seems to run fine for me and my squadmates).

Also... Do I understand correctly... that you can't put several OBs together to block something from view? This doesn't work? (Maybe that's what my problem was when I tried playing with OBs... hmm)

I wish there was a step by step guide... with examples of proper usage... lol

Certain objects just aren't reflected in water. It's usually the smaller objects that are omitted; compare a fence piece to a concrete block, for example. The best way to counter this is to do exactly as you did, place large objects above the water for indoor areas.

You'll want to use occlusion blocks if you find that certain areas of your map are experiencing a performance drop, such as frame rate issues. The main purpose is to hide normally unseen objects from view, such as an entire custom building that cannot be seen because the player is on the other side of a boulder. You'll want a block inside that boulder.

To further elaborate on my earlier posts; if an object is not entirely obscured from view, it won't be affected by the occlusion block. You can see this example with the open-door Container; if the door sticks out of the occlusion block just a litte, it won't be obscured from view. Snapping or merging occlusion blocks together won't remedy the issue because one block must obscure the whole object in order for it to work.

Smaller occlusion blocks work best for areas where the player will be very close to them, such as inside pieces of cover or tight hallways since they'll obscure more of the players view than if they were put inside a rock in the middle of a field.

quote:

Originally posted by Evil_Doc:
I wish there was a step by step guide... with examples of proper usage... lol

I'll throw up a drawing or two later tonight.