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Reloading same maps times
helixfungus
Member Posts: 172 Arc User
I had this question wandering in my mind since Foundry is down, so I can't verify... In the meantime I ask to you ppl, for some of you must have (hopely) veryfied the question ...
I began asking myself why there are some interior maps, like the TOS ship, which are splitted in zones not communicating one with another. I suspect that the actual map remains in memory in some way, and to reload it with a different initial spawn point twice should (SHOULD!) be loaded say in minimal times.
...Could it be true...?
I began asking myself why there are some interior maps, like the TOS ship, which are splitted in zones not communicating one with another. I suspect that the actual map remains in memory in some way, and to reload it with a different initial spawn point twice should (SHOULD!) be loaded say in minimal times.
...Could it be true...?
Post edited by helixfungus on
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Basically there is no way to:
1)move you to a different part of the map
2)change the spawn point like that
cryptic can do this, with some backend stuff
Neverwinter HAS the tech to do this in their foundry
AT THIS TIME though, we do not have this ability
As to why its built that way, I think it has to do with economy of files in the database more then anything, I seem to recall aos that ship interiors seem to be done like that across the board. This however is more a peer behind the curtain question for Taco
My question is different though...
You set up say the Rapier interior map, which shows the bridge, and some secondary hull corridors and A LOT of empty space usable for custom scenery eventually.
Then you copy it with a different initial spawn point, then in the story flow you load the first Rapier then the Rapier copy it will shorten loading times than other totally different one, say an outdoor map after the Rapier interior...?
Like...there's some chance that the map is somewhat kept into memory ?
My character Tsin'xing
(Another tip for trying out backdrops and similar: create a whole row of test maps, not just one, and set them to different backdrops or whatever. That way, you can test a whole batch at a time - going to the next map in a mission takes MUCH less time than going back to the editor, changing the backdrop, and then waiting for Play mode to load again.)
It seems to run that way for me.
Empty maps load in seconds, full ones load in a minute or so.
My character Tsin'xing
Speaking of which, over time I got fed up with massive use of triggers to change scenery.
What if we do an exterior, ground map, populate it with two sets of objects, one that recreate a starship interior, the other a full exterior of an city. You copy it twice, on one map you activate the objects of the interior and disable the city, and on the other cloned map you activate the city and disable the interior objects... in my theory, if the stuff somewhat remains in memory, you do a huge loadup one time, but when you pass from one map to another you should load in much lesser time.
This is at the moment a working theory... one that I will experiment soon... as we got the editor back on line.
So this can (and has) been done. The issue you may run into is that pathing calculation ignores any object that a trigger on it. If all objects have triggers, this can TRIBBLE up pathing for NPCs/BOffs. The trick is to transition with as few objects as possible. Floors are especially notorious, but sometimes invisible floors/walls can act as substitute collision.