Keeping an eye on the CPU

[Echo Nomad]

One of the hidden limitations that I have found in designing towns, lands, ect is that of the amount of CPU usage. If you cram to many different objects in a line of sight (thus bringing the CPU meter to a red 100% level), your character will move very sluggishly. The question is, what things actually effect the CPU level? I think I've found a few things which effect it.

Too many different types of graphics-trees, buildings, terrain, and the like in your characters line of sight.

Too many objects on your board, especially big buildings.

I find that putting more of your structures into corners and leaving the center more open helps elevate this problem because their less "mass" in the characters line of sight.

[Libby]

Re: Keeping an eye on the CPU

I found that it's basically how many skins/objects/events you have crammed into a character's general area, not line of site. Running down a hallway in a dungeon should not have it run sluggishly, because all you have to process is a few walls here and there. I had a section where I had a few crumbling walls, and a set of rooms behind them, and ended up having my CPU run sluggishly when I wasn't even NEAR any of them, or even LOOKING at them. I'd just space your stuff farther apart, or just use less things. I made a whole city using every area possible and making it look like it was inhabited, and ended up nearly sending my poor CPU to the ICU.

[ErikaFuzzbottom]

Re: Keeping an eye on the CPU

Well there has to be some reason that the sluggishness comes on and off. I mean, a crammed town isn't sluggish all the time, just when you're looking in certain directions.

I made a dungeon maze taking up the entire dungeon screen; I added two events and I think six treasure chests, and the majority of it ran at half-speed or less.