LogInTake a look at how virtualized geometry – and Virtuos' approach to this technology – enables developers to create assets more efficiently while preserving game performance.
Introduction
Look at the furthest visible object when stepping into a new in-game environment – say, an abandoned ruin that’s ravaged by time, filled with collapsed structures and centuries-old artifacts. Chances are the object probably doesn’t have too many details, with it only becoming more intricate the closer the camera is. This setup is typical of a level-of-detail (LOD) system, with the mesh increasing in number of vertices and triangles as the camera gets closer. Yet, it also points to a common issue many 3D Artists face.
“When it comes to production, artists generally need to spend time creating different versions of their assets with lower LODs to apply to a wide range of hardware,” says Marios Michaelides, Engineering Business Unit Director at Virtuos.
One common frustration is that due to the high resolution of these meshes, artists often find themselves devoting hours to redoing meshes so they can meet performance targets. Moreover, this needs to be done without compromising on the quality of the asset, which will then involve several more time-consuming rounds of edits.
Vaisse and Michaelides explaining how virtualized geometry works at GDC
Ideally, artists should have the freedom to create high-quality assets, without having to constantly tinker away at meshes. This is what virtualized geometry is about.
In other words, virtualized geometry works in real-time to ensure that the player sees what the camera is pointed at in detail, whereas the areas that are far or out of sight will be reduced in quality, to minimize resources and preserve performance.
Enhancing the Game Production Pipeline
“From performance issues to memory overflows, artists had to spend considerable time on optimization, and making a trade-off between artistry and technical limitations,” adds Vaisse. “Virtual geometry is therefore a solution to the problems that artists typically face when importing hi-res 3D models into game engines.”
One of the technology's many benefits is that it can also aid artists by reducing their production hours. Rather than create individual assets for every LOD, this technology allows them to create assets solely with high-resolution meshes. However, this solution should also be bolstered by game engines that can accommodate increased performance, while working within memory budget. The result is a better-quality game that will experience fewer out-of-memory crashes.
That is why Virtuos has developed its own approach to virtualized geometry: Hi-Res Vision. In short, it frees artists to create optimized assets without compromising on visual fidelity. This is possible due to a multitude of techniques, including the automatic splitting of mesh LODs, data streaming, occlusion culling at the chunk level, and data compression.
“Hi-Res Vision was created in a flexible manner to be compatible with any engine. It can be applied to games that are in development, or older games being remastered that are in custom engines or older versions of Unreal,” explains Michaelides.
Taking the above video as a reference – the further a viewer is from a model, the lesser the amount of details or polygons (i.e. the geometric shapes, such as triangles, that form a 3D object) will be streamed to the viewer while ensuring that there is no drop in quality from as far as the human eye can tell.
The latter is what makes the technology distinct from other virtualized geometry solutions, such as Nanite. For now, Nanite is only available to users of Unreal Engine, whereas Hi-Res Vision can be integrated into any engine.
“Hi-Res Vision’s versatility – its capacity to function across any game engine and run on a broad range of hardware – is its key strength. It allows games to perform consistently, and support older hardware in running newly released games,” explains Michaelides. “As it’s so versatile, it also drives production efficiency, so artists can create high-quality assets without impacting performance. LODs are generated automatically in Hi-Res Vision, so artists only need to focus on creating beautiful 4K assets.”
For example, if a player is looking at a statue, Hi-Res Vision will stream the most detailed version of the mesh on the most visible aspect of the statue. But the back of the statue, which is mostly unseen by the player, will stream a different LOD – one that’s a less detailed version of the mesh.
Overcoming Performance Challenges with Hi-Res Vision
As one of the industry’s biggest external developers, Virtuos has implemented Hi-Res Vision in several projects for studios that have experienced performance issues in their games.
“When it comes to working with our partners, we have integrated our technology into their engine while conducting regular check-ins. This is important as it lets us discuss challenges during development while helping us understand their use cases and adapt the technology to their needs,” says Michaelides.
Vaisse and Michaelides presenting on Hi-Res Vision
To better alleviate the rendering challenge faced by developers, Michaelides explains that Virtuos has been working on updating Hi-Res Vision with additional features. “Hi-Res Vision will support skinned meshes, foliage, and geomorphing in the future. Applying the technology to skinned meshes and foliage will give the technology a wider range of applications, while geomorphing will improve the transition of LODs, making them even more seamless.”
With several virtualized geometry solutions already available on the market, Virtuos has expanded considerable efforts on developing an industry-leading solution. The hard work seems to have paid off for the team.
“Given the different architectures of game engines, integrating complex technology such as Hi-Res Vision is a challenge I’m proud our team has been able to overcome,” says Vaisse. “Then there’s the customization and optimization phase, which is crucial for great game performance. Finally, Hi-Res Vision has given our own artists the opportunity to hone their skills and reach their fullest potential, as they are able to focus on creating the highest quality assets. In fact, the first game we've developed with Hi-Res Vision should be released in 2025.”
To find out more about how Hi-Res Vision can help improve your game performance and efficiency, you can watch this GDC presentation on Hi-Res Vision, or contact Virtuos via email.