Tomsun wrote: ↑02 Jun 2023 07:29@Some newbie driver Yes i know it take years to do the changes. BUT Pavel is talking about this topic also for years and it would be interesting to know how far the development already took place.
Unfortunately, time had tell them hard lessons about not telling so much because people always take a
"maybe" as a
"granted" and a
"someday (SCSsoon)" as a
"whatever the day I guess and for then it MUST be released". Beyond very general hints, the less they say the better for everybody, really. People just need to learn keep at bay their desires and enjoy what they have at hand.
Tomsun wrote: ↑02 Jun 2023 07:29The other question is if perhaps DX 19 is the actual standard what will be the reaction if then SCS launches DX12 (so what is the last timestanp DX12 is the big throw and not the introduction of an already oldstyle technology)
It's not going to take so much time so I think it's pointless we play that guess game. Also, don't expect Microsoft to release any major DX update in the middle of an XBOX generation. DX is pivot for the design of those consoles because a lot of it is hardware supported. Consoles are made with specific hardware tailored for the way their graphic API works in order to squeeze as much performance possible on a cheaper overall hardware; that's why they can compete with PC even if base specs seems to hint the opposite. Microsoft isn't going to do any big change to DX when their last XBOX was so recently launched. That console gen is going to last I guess about 5 years more; at most with a hardware refresh in the middle but nothing breaking. The only way SCS doesn't manage to do the multi-core migration before that time period ends would be they were out of business.
Tomsun wrote: ↑02 Jun 2023 07:29Another question is it possible to deload the Gamingthread of tasks in putting them in separate threads (e.g. autosave, navigation, ai) as a middlestep?
That was already done about 3 years ago. That's what allowed them to add that big bunch of extra AI drivers they add in 3 almost consecutive updates. before that change, too many AI drivers delayed too much the auto-save write process, causing game freezes in several scenarios. Time later they included also the map to check all AI drivers location. Unfortunately, all those "side loads" were a relatively low % of the total CPU needs of the game and none of those side loads were related to things we directly interact in real time while driving; so it was little noticeable.
With the introduction of FMOD they did another step in that direction. Before that, the main game thread included the code that
decided what sounds must be played and the code that
played those sounds. That's why, if you game frozen due the main game thread become saturated, sounds were affected too (that was pretty noticeable with the blinker sound, it lost the regular pace it should have). Actually the main game thread decides what sounds are to be played and instructs FMOD libraries to do their job. Those libraries are already being computed on a different CPU core so it's hard to notice a sound froze in the game even if the rest does.
I wonder if the recent optimization changes they did on several parts of the game involved some kind of off-loading to secondary cores. Anyways, the main tasks of the game (graphics, physics, AI control and user inputs) seems to be all on the main core and those amount for (napkin math) 85% or plus of the CPU needs of the game while we drive. So, the game is still essentially mono-core with a bit of salt and pepper.
Tomsun wrote: ↑02 Jun 2023 07:29My lack of understanding is is it just a manpower-problem (SCS is not a company like MS), or is it just a problem of technology what it makes it so hard or even impossible.
Is way more complex than that, it's really very multi-factor. They had a big bunch of coders for sure, but that doesn't mean all of them have the knowledge, the skills or even are tasked with that kind of changes. Also, they had to work on that
in the meanwhile they keep delivering lots of other features to the current game (how many games have you seen to be turned multiplayer as a free update after 8 years of single player? that wasn't by any means an easy change, for example). So they had to keep working on immediate projects while thinking on far future ones and how to blend everything once the time arrives.
Another example of this: when they changed the lighting system, they made it so the internal renderer is working on an HDR scenario. The output is SDR and will remain so for quite the time; but they changed that back in that moment because they were working with a plan for several years in the future. Otherwise, they would had to rework again that part of the code once improved the rest of the graphics with HDR options. They did extra work then, that will remain hidden and "useless" for several years, just to save them lot of work in the future.
Regards