Optimising 3D object destruction tools for improved performance and designer efficiency in video game development

Sammanfattning: Background. In video game development, efficient destruction tools and workflows were crucial for creating engaging gaming environments. This study delved into the fundamental principles of 3D object properties and interactions, reviewed existing destruction techniques, and offered insights into their practical application, with a specific focus on Embark Studios’ destruction tool.  Objectives. This study focused on the optimisation of an existing destruction tool to enhance efficiency and integration within a gaming company’s pipeline. The key objectives included reducing execution time, and improving designer workflow. The study utilised performance counters and Unreal Insights profiling to identify and optimise hotspots in the destruction tool. Additionally, the performance of the op- timised tool was measured and compared to the existing one to quantify efficiency improvements. An expert evaluation with designers at Embark Studios was con- ducted to assess the impact of the optimised tool on their workflow.  Methods. The existing destruction tool was optimised primarily through parallelisation. The efficiency of the optimised tool was evaluated both empirically, by measuring the execution time, and subjectively, through an expert evaluation involv- ing three professional level designers.  Results. The optimisation significantly reduced the execution time of the destruc- tion tool. Feedback from the expert evaluation indicated that the optimised tool could enhance designer efficiency, particularly in rebuilding the destruction graphs. However, the performance of the optimised tool was found to be hardware-dependent, with varying execution times observed across different hardware configurations. Conclusions. This study presented an optimised destruction tool which demon- strated improved performance and efficiency, validating its suitability for integration into the pipeline of game development. It was proposed that future work could further optimise this tool and explore its performance across diverse hardware con- figurations.