Spark SDK performance?

willy-wilsonwilly-wilson Join Date: 2010-01-12 Member: 70102Members
in NS2 General Discussion
I just had a few questions about the map editors performance as the system requirements in the FAQ are quite vague. Im running off of a laptop and its not the best thing for running games and maya but it gets the job done for now. I have 2.2ghz duel core processor and an nvidia 7150m and 4 gigs of ram running windows 7 32bit. I play TF2 a lot and currently use UDK and marmoset to view models in but i cant do much level design in UDK before its starts bogging down my system. So my main question is how well if at all would a computer like mine run the editor. It seems like an amazing toolset so far and since Im tired of going through so much crap to get anything from maya to source Im looking into getting this. But i don't want to buy something and not be able to use it, maybe someone runs on a similar setup and could offer some insight. Thank you in advance for any information.
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Comments

  • Corporal_FortierCorporal_Fortier Join Date: 2005-03-22 Member: 46079Members, Constellation
    I'm running Spark on my laptop (C2D T7500 2.2ghz, 2GB RAM, Geforce 8600M GT) and it runs fine. I just reformatted so I didn't get to try the latest build, but I used to run it on Vista 32bit (now on 7). Sure, the more geometry you add, the heavier it gets. Lights casting shadows also influences this greatly. I couldn't say for you 7150M though; you say you play TF2 a lot; what's your average frame rate and at which detail level do you run the game? This might help to get a general idea of your system's performance.
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  • willy-wilsonwilly-wilson Join Date: 2010-01-12 Member: 70102Members
    I run TF2 on full but at 1024x768 instead of the native 1280x720 and AA off, it will occasionally drop into the 20's and sometimes stays there if Im playing for to long but normally stays within 30-50 fps. i still find it weird i can get away with millions of polygons in maya. more then anything even if it doesn't run the greatest Ide be willing to bet it will run better then UDK. and i would most likely be using it a lot more for viewing models than level design. i can also run fallout 3 quite well too at 1024x768 if that helps at all.
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  • Mr. EpicMr. Epic Join Date: 2003-08-01 Member: 18660Members, Constellation
    If you can get the original release you will see it perform a LOT better. After the first major patch, the performance chugged a lot and I don't recall why. Rest assured, the full game will run well... the first release of the editor was really really really fast with shadows and everything so there shouldn't be a problem. Try it out for yourself.
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  • PipiPipi Join Date: 2009-12-09 Member: 69550Members
    edited January 2010
    Spark editor is certainly not optimized and far from it as compared to a 3D modeling program. I haven't tried any nowadays mapping tools other than this one but I can confirm that it is slow right now. Shadow system is the slowest in all that.

    I'm running it on a x86 system, 2.33ghz quad, 3.25gb ddr2 and radeon hd4890. And it still slows down real fast without considerable amount of polys and shadow-casting lights.

    Never had a laptop but I heard the cpu's are craps unless you spend a good amount of money.. and a good cpu is what you want first of all.
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  • Draco_2kDraco_2k Evil Genius Join Date: 2009-12-09 Member: 69546Members
    edited January 2010
    You can't judge the end product performance with an unoptimised pre-alpha, come Beta we'll have a more sober look at how the final game/editor will perform.
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    One obvious thing we lazy mappers could do is not be in the lit mode all the time to increase performance. I know it is less pretty and does requires us to click a menu in the 3d window. But it might help you slower computer users :P
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  • KesterKester Join Date: 2004-02-21 Member: 26770Members, Constellation
    Do people actually constantly use lit mode?

    I figured most people would use it like I do and only use it when doing light passes, and even then only when I want to see how it looks.
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  • Draco_2kDraco_2k Evil Genius Join Date: 2009-12-09 Member: 69546Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1747122:date=Jan 13 2010, 03:44 PM:name=Kester)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kester @ Jan 13 2010, 03:44 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1747122"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Do people actually constantly use lit mode?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Yes. Pretty colours. <3
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