Dev Note: Challenges of Chapter 10 and Plans for Build 0.6

This post provides a behind the scenes discussion of some of the challenges that came with Chapter 10 and why it wound up taking longer than I expected, and then talks about what I have planned for Build 0.6 and future chapters. 

NOTE:  There are some minor spoilers ahead if you haven't already played Chapter 10.

The Challenges of Chapter 10

As you may know, Chapter 10 was technically challenging for me. In some ways, so was 9, but my work on 10 began to push my hardware to its limits and forced me to begin strategizing on how to optimize the scenes for rendering.

First, a quick bit of background. The way the rendering software works is it loads up all of the models in a scene -- their polygons, their textures, the environment -- into my GPU's VRAM. My GPU can render a typical image in about 20 minutes. But, if the resources in the scene exceed the amount of available VRAM, the rendering job gets dumped to the CPU -- where it can take up to eight hours and still not have the same quality as if it were run on the GPU. It's an all or nothing scenario; if there isn't enough VRAM, the GPU is taken out of the job entirely.

And that started to happen in Chapter 10 as I loaded progressively more models into a scene. Specifically, in the first half of Chapter 10 we have our first look at Ronan's werewolf form. In addition to Ronan, we had Nick, up to three of the creatures attacking them, and eventually Seth -- all in the same scene at the same time. Then, in the latter half of the chapter, we had Ronan, Nick, Connor, Seth and Alex. The hair for some of those models requires a ton of resources (and they may be getting "haircuts" in the near future as a consequence), and the werewolves -- covered in fur -- chewed up even more resources.

So, even setting aside the normal challenges of posing all of those characters, getting the lighting right for all of them (when a single character moves, it usually requires updating at least two light sources and so on), I had to stop and think about how to optimize all the scenes when my GPU started crying uncle and dropping the jobs to the CPU.

I think in the end the efforts paid off, but it was a lot of work. Fortunately, I learned a lot, too, and hopefully future scenes with a lot of characters will go a little more smoothly.

Next Steps for Build 0.6

After letting myself enjoy a quiet weekend, watch some of the Underworld movies, think about starting or joining a Vampire: the Masquerade RPG campaign, and otherwise generally taking a little time to rest and recharge after finishing Build 0.5, I am now back to work and writing the script for Chapter 11. 

We'll be picking up where Chapter 10 left off as Alex continues to talk with the gang about what's happening, Mayhew's offer, and learn more about Seth. I'm also planning a sex scene for Chapter 11, though exactly where it will be and who it will include is a secret for now.

At the same time, I've begun work on a little side project for BBN. No details on this yet, but expect to learn more as it takes shape.

After I finish the first draft of the script, I'll start working on renders and will begin getting you some Sneak Peek images. In the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Best,

BBN