| MikeB said: It doesn't matter if there are peak in terms of processing or that you are constantly hogging the system, the peak potential stays the same. Killzone 2 was designed to be able to handle destructability with 32 players all throwing grenades simulateneously. That's very different from Gears of War 2 which only allows up to 10 players within much more simplistic settings. |
The peak does not stay the same because a scene's peak greatly differs depending on what is in it. if the bandwidth goes to hell, it doesn't matter if you have 99% unsused CPU power, the system has reached its peak. Level design takes a lot of work because of this, you can't have a level that will cause the system to reach its peak before another level in the same conditions because that will cause FPS drops.
The Unreal Engine can be used for so much more than GearsII, gears 2 is just a more intimate battle than Killzone 2. Fewer people up close vs 32 people in a fubar battlefield. No game uses 100% of the system because there always has to be free resources in case there is a spike (everyone decides to run together and use grenades.)
Even if a game has plenty of unsused power, everything you add into a game is a double edged blade. Have to consider how much performance it requires now and the max performance it can require. Trees require moderate performance now and a lot of performance in intense situations. Again, I am just using trees as an example.
EDIT: Also, I've seen their presentations and slides, what they can add is not as much as you think. There are always bottlenecks to be considered. I am heading out to buy a SSD for my new netbook, I will be back in an hour or so. If you genuinely want to have a discussion speficially on this, feel free to send me a message so It doesn't get lost in all the posts.
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