On DOOM 3 Settings

Robert Duffy, id Software programmer, updated his .plan about DOOM 3 settings and how they will work, discussing specifics about the "ultra" quality setting as well as differences in how certain data are handled differently by ATI and NVIDIA hardware. He also mentions that the game is capped at 60 FPS (except when running demos as a benchmark), discusses the software used during development, as well as a bit on a hard drive nightmare encountered along the way. Here's a bit:
Image fidelity is dependent on what quality level we load the textures at.

In Ultra quality, we load each texture; diffuse, specular, normal map at full resolution with no compression. In a typical DOOM 3 level, this can hover around a whopping 500MB of texture data. This will run on current hardware but obviously we cannot fit 500MB of texture data onto a 256MB card and the amount of texture data referenced in a give scene per frame ( 60 times a second ) can easily be 50MB+. This can cause some choppiness as a lot of memory bandwidth is being consumed. It does however look fantastic :-) and it is certainly playable on high end systems but due to the hitching that can occur we chose to require a 512MB Video card before setting this automatically.

High quality uses compression ( DXT1,3,5 ) for specular and diffuse and no compression for normal maps. This looks very very close to Ultra quality but the compression does cause some loss. This is the quality that for instance the PC Gamer review was played in.

Medium quality uses compression for specular, diffuse, and normal maps. This still looks really really good but compressing the normal maps can produce a few artifacts especially on hard angled or round edges. This level gets us comfortably onto 128MB video cards.

Low quality does everything medium quality does but it also downsizes textures over 512x512 and we downsize specular maps to 64x64 in this mode as well. This fits us onto a 64MB video card.
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151.
 
Re: techie question about RAM..
Aug 2, 2004, 10:35
Re: techie question about RAM.. Aug 2, 2004, 10:35
Aug 2, 2004, 10:35
 
Wookiestick: Here's is a quote from Robert Duffies .plan update http://www.quakefinger.com/plan.asp?userid=raduffy&id=16246:

[bTo put things in perspective, most production levels in DOOM 3 contain more media assets than all of Quake 3: Arena. When we started working on the memory foot print, our goal was a 256MB system. In most cases loading up an area of the game on a 256MB system works fine, the problems arise when you start to transition from one area to the next ( successive map loads ). Memory fragmentation starts to really work against us and it ultimately made it just not feasible for a reasonable play experience to support 256MB.

He further confirms that when they started seeing this for Ultra quality then they ignored their 256MB limit and let the grass grow so to speak until the video memory requirement reached 500MB for totally uncompressed video...and called it Ultra quality.

They also found that if they just compress the normal maps then they could easily fit everything into a 256MB card...and called it High quality.

They then found that if they also compressed the specular and diffuse maps then they can fit everything into a 128MB card...and called it medium quality.

They then did what has been done for decades and downsized the textures and specular maps so that they fit into 64MB cards...and called it low quality.

Given your video card history then it's time to sell/trade that 128MB card in for a 256MB card or you won't get good gameplay from High quality, though medium quality will indeed be a nice experience...I think dropping $325 for a 128MB card when I dropped $70 for a 128MB card (FX 5200) which will also run medium quality though perhaps not as high a resolution as the 6800 is just a waste of money when you just needed to spend another $80 bucks to get High quality.

Just my opinion.
Let's Rock!
Avatar 21182
150.
 
/3GB Boot.ini setting
Jul 28, 2004, 09:07
/3GB Boot.ini setting Jul 28, 2004, 09:07
Jul 28, 2004, 09:07
 
Does anyone know if using the /3GB boot.ini setting in XP will make any difference with Doom 3, or is this mainly for database applications and things like that?

/3GB
Increases the size of the user process address space from 2 GB to 3 GB (and therefore reduces the size of system space from 2 GB to 1 GB). Giving virtual-memory- intensive applications such as database servers a larger address space can improve their performance. For an application to take advantage of this feature, however, two additional conditions must be met: the system must be running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Datacenter Server and the application .exe must be flagged as a 3-GB-aware application.

149.
 
Re: WaltC
Jul 28, 2004, 01:29
Re: WaltC Jul 28, 2004, 01:29
Jul 28, 2004, 01:29
 
Gandhi: Someone needs to tell all the corporations that their intellectual property is not being stolen by the Chinese.


intellectual property is only a crime if the local government wants it to be.

China just threw out viagra's patents, so now chinese companies can make it without paying money to US corps. If they do this for more stuff, the USA will be fucked.




stupid message board formatting tags...
This comment was edited on Jul 28, 01:33.
148.
 
techie question about RAM..
Jul 28, 2004, 00:18
techie question about RAM.. Jul 28, 2004, 00:18
Jul 28, 2004, 00:18
 
I just purchased a 6800 128 MB card. I paid $325 for it, but I read reviews that it wasn't the best value for the dollar to invest 100 more dollars in a 256 MB version of the same card. There was a 6800 for $280 on pricewatch-- and I was initially going to get that, but then I saw it was only 12 pipelines. So I got this one instead.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-084&depa=1
I read in reviews that a big part of the new 6800 series being very good was the fact that it's higher end cards had a 16 pipe GPU, so I invested the 60 more dollars in that 16 pipe rather than the 12 pipe. I swear to god (it seems)every year like the emphasis on video card's hardware highlights are changed to different parts of the card.
Anyway, if I try to run Doom 3 on high detail with this 128 MB card, what will happen if it runs out? Will it get dumped to my 1 GB of DDR3200 memory or will it go to a pagefile on my harddrive? If this will be a performance hit, should I just adjust individual settings in Doom 3 and put texture detail on medium? Hmm.. =/ Anyone who could give advice would put my mind at ease.
Oh, and here's my video card history.

a 2 MB SiS video card
Creative Labs 3d Blaster Voodoo 2 12 MB w/ a SiS 4 MB video card.
Geforce 2 mx 64 MB
Geforce 4 ti 4200 128 MB
Geforce FX 5900 (non-pro)128 MB -I sold this to a friend after only 5 months of use, heh, I paid 210 and sold it to him for 150, which I used towards my current card;
Geforce 6800 128 MB.

Love thy wookie.
Avatar 17031
147.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 21:15
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 21:15
Jul 27, 2004, 21:15
 
s3 Virge
Voodoo 2000 SLI (2 cards total 24 MB)
Bit Brothers (works awesome w/Duke Forever)

146.
 
XP or W2K
Jul 27, 2004, 20:51
XP or W2K Jul 27, 2004, 20:51
Jul 27, 2004, 20:51
 
Anyone have any idea if D3 will run better or XP or W2k or does it not matter at all.
JohnnyB

145.
 
Re: One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jul 27, 2004, 17:34
Re: One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jul 27, 2004, 17:34
Jul 27, 2004, 17:34
 
My card's at home! WH000T!!!

And I just recieved my half-gig of memory! WH000T!!!



You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive
You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

GW: Tr Gandhi (Ra), Shiva Sung (Mo), Mangal Pandey (Ne), Rana Pratap Singh (Wa), Boddhi Satwa (Ri), Bhagat Singh (De), Bahadur Shastri (Pa)
Avatar 11944
144.
 
Re: One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jul 27, 2004, 16:55
nin
Re: One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jul 27, 2004, 16:55
Jul 27, 2004, 16:55
nin
 
My card's at home! WH000T!!!



See you in Hell! http://www.doom3.com/
143.
 
One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jul 27, 2004, 16:43
One more week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jul 27, 2004, 16:43
Jul 27, 2004, 16:43
 
One more week and the PC gaming message boards around the world will go silent ....... for about 5 seconds, and then the bitching will start

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive
You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

GW: Tr Gandhi (Ra), Shiva Sung (Mo), Mangal Pandey (Ne), Rana Pratap Singh (Wa), Boddhi Satwa (Ri), Bhagat Singh (De), Bahadur Shastri (Pa)
Avatar 11944
142.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 16:13
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 16:13
Jul 27, 2004, 16:13
 
1. On board card
2. Something my neighboor who worked at Nasa gave me (was fucking fast)
3. S3 (AKA: Diamond) Viper 770
4. S3 (AKA: Diamond) Viper II
5. Hercules Geforce
6. Hercules Geforce 2 GTS
7. GainWard Geforce 3 (The original)
8. Gainward geforce 4 TI 4600 golden sample
9. GainWard Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra golden sample (current card)

How sad, I have owned a lot of cards.

This comment was edited on Jul 27, 16:22.
I never wanted to do this job in the first place! I... I wanted to be... A LUMBERJACK! Leaping from tree to tree! As they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia! With my best girl by my side! The Larch! The Pine! The Giant Redwood tree! The Seq
Avatar 21343
141.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 15:44
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 15:44
Jul 27, 2004, 15:44
 
MacD, That's quite a hop in video cards from a geforce 2 to a 9800 pro, did you get out of gaming for a while or go live in a cardboard box?

Avatar 17249
140.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 14:53
nin
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 14:53
Jul 27, 2004, 14:53
nin
 
ATI Mach 64
Hercules Stingray 128 (8 meg,Voodoo Rush chipset, quickly followed by)
Creative Labs Voodoo2 (12meg)
Creative Labs TNT (16 meg)
Geforce card from some damn vendor (?? meg?)
Geforce 2 GTS from Hercules (32 meg?)
Geforce 4 TI4600 from PNY (128meg)
Geforce 6800GT from EVGA (256meg, due on my doorstep this afternoon.)







See you in Hell! http://www.doom3.com/
This comment was edited on Jul 27, 14:54.
139.
 
Re: Isus
Jul 27, 2004, 14:42
Eps
Re: Isus Jul 27, 2004, 14:42
Jul 27, 2004, 14:42
Eps
 
These are cards that i bought myself, not including ones that came in the compy (cuase they were all shite)...

Voodoo 2
Geforce 2 mx
Geforece 4 Ti4200

138.
 
Re: Isus
Jul 27, 2004, 13:22
Duc
Re: Isus Jul 27, 2004, 13:22
Jul 27, 2004, 13:22
Duc
 
Some of us crazy people think that socialism AND capitalism can be a good thing, the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Every system has problems - if it was all so black and white every country would be run in the same wonderfull way and we wouldn't have time to play computer games because we'd be too busy dancing hand in hand.

137.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 12:58
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 12:58
Jul 27, 2004, 12:58
 
Whoops. I double posted. Sorry

136.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
 
I clicked on this thread expecting to see a discussion of the Doom 3 Settings.

But I get discussions about socialism and capitalism, the former Soviet Union, the american education system, and video card lists among other things. Never a dull moment on this website.

But anyway, here is my irrelevant stab into the darkness.

Video cards:

Whatever graphics component would lie inside a Texas Instruments TI-99A home computer

ATI Mach32 1 meg VGA graphics card ( on a 486 DX2 66Mhz)


Nvidia Riva 128 8 Meg
Nvidia Riva TNT 16 Meg
Nvidia Geforce 3 64 Meg
Nvidia Geforce 4 TI 4600 128 Meg

And I'm currently comtemplating a Geforce FX 5800 256 meg card (105 dollars on Pricewatch.)

CT

135.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
Jul 27, 2004, 12:55
 
I clicked on this thread expecting to see a discussion of the Doom 3 Settings.

But I get discussions about socialism and capitalism, the former Soviet Union, the american education system, and video card lists among other things. Never a dull moment on this website.

But anyway, here is my irrelevant stab into the darkness.

Video cards:

Whatever graphics component would lie inside a Texas Instruments TI-99A home computer

ATI Mach32 1 meg VGA graphics card ( on a 486 DX2 66Mhz)


Nvidia Riva 128 8 Meg
Nvidia Riva TNT 16 Meg
Nvidia Geforce 3 64 Meg
Nvidia Geforce 4 TI 4600 128 Meg

And I'm currently comtemplating a Geforce FX 5800 256 meg card (105 dollars on Pricewatch.)

134.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 12:46
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 12:46
Jul 27, 2004, 12:46
 
tnt m64
geforce ddr
geforce 2 gts
geforce 3 ti500
radeon 9700 pro
radeon 9800xt
radeon x800 xt pe(ordered and waiting on :()

133.
 
Re: vid card progression
Jul 27, 2004, 12:13
Re: vid card progression Jul 27, 2004, 12:13
Jul 27, 2004, 12:13
 
Oak Mono
Trident VGA
Cirrus Logic SVGA
Orchid Voodoo 1 4MB
Creative Voodoo Banshee
3dfx Voodoo3 2000
Gullimont nVidia TNT2 Ultra 32MB
MSI nVidia GF4 200ti 64MB
Sapphire Radeon ATI 9800 Pro 128MB

132.
 
Re: Isus
Jul 27, 2004, 12:06
Re: Isus Jul 27, 2004, 12:06
Jul 27, 2004, 12:06
 
And please when u quote me look at the whole of my post before qoting pieces of it that can be interpreted any way you want.

I do not want to get into a flame war or anything. I read your whole post and was replying to the benefits that you cite for so-called communist systems like China. You pointed out social democracies are different from communist states like China. Then you cited the benefits China supposedly enjoys. I simply took those benefits that you cited and pointed out what has been reported in respected journals and newpapers.

Socialism is a great idea, but as WaltC correctly pointed out, it only works if humans colude into a "hive-mind" and work together to achieve a common purpose. That is something that will never happen, given human nature over our 20,000 history.

As Winston Churchill said "Democracy is the worst form of government, with the exception of all others"

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive
You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

GW: Tr Gandhi (Ra), Shiva Sung (Mo), Mangal Pandey (Ne), Rana Pratap Singh (Wa), Boddhi Satwa (Ri), Bhagat Singh (De), Bahadur Shastri (Pa)
Avatar 11944
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