quote: Lets do some real-world calculations for a game starting development now

This sounds good, but then we look at your calculations...

quote: pretty detailed resolution: textures are a cool 512*512*32

OK, 512*512*32 = 8,388,608 (or 8MB)

quote: One character can occupy a tile, no more.

OK, so you''re apparently figuring that there is only one texture per model, but the problem is that the suggestion here is for multiple textures per model. Let''s continue with the calculations here...

2 * bodies per race (1 per sex) = 16MB each race.
5 eyes per sex @ 64x64x32 = 1310720 or a little more than 1MB for eyes...
5 noses per sex as per eyes, that''s basically another MB, toss in the chins and that''s another MB.
hair will be more complex, probably closer to 256x128x32, or 1MB for each hair texture. So you end up with 10 hair textures for just one race, that''s 10MB.

All right, you''re currently up to around 32MB per RACE. Make that 12 races and you''re stuck with loading 384MB just for character textures. Even if you drop down the detail a little, you still have to load the models, all the stuff for the zone that you''re in (the zone itself), the character models for what is present in the zone, the textures for those characters, etc...

There is a reason why, even at 762MB of RAM my roommate doesn''t get suggested for loading all enhanced character models and textures in EQ.

I wasn''t telling him not to do it, but that there is a price for doing it and unless you''re doing Unreal Tournament (where there are very few of these textures loaded, though they are big), the cost in memory is most definitely there and can get out of hand before you realize it.

That''s bits not bytes.

512x512x 32bit = 1048576

256x128x 32bit = 131072

And so on. Figure about an 8th of what you calculated. It can be done as long as you don''t go overboard on texture resolution and bit depth.

Ben

Damn... I never forget bit -> byte conversion... grrrr.

Guess I can''t say never anymore. Oh well.

Yeah, I wouldn''t go with 32 bit color anyway. If your game can''t live with 16-bit you''re really being a bit too nitpicky. I can''t see much reason to go over 64,000 colors and once you hit 24-bit color, your eyes can''t tell enough difference between half the shades, though it is nice for shading and such to keep it looking gradual.

I don''t actually think that the problems crop up with textures though, most of the time it comes with animations and extra models. Create more models or animations and you end up creating more problems than adding new textures.

You can end up in the same trap with textures though. I would figure more 32x32x16 for eyes.

In any effect, this is more of a preference thing and as long as you don''t let it degrade your performance too much on what would be a standard system 1 year before your release, you should be fine.