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Author Topic: Offload pathfinding to GPU  (Read 1625 times)

lodester

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Offload pathfinding to GPU
« on: May 01, 2010, 01:52:19 pm »
The subject says it all. I would think the algo/maths for pathfinding would fit nicely in some CUDA/GPGPU model. I believe this would blow the lid off current unit/framerate limits and really ramp up the scalability of DF.

Any chance that Toady could comment on this or thoughts similar?  Thanks! Making A+++ game  would buy again fast shipper gold star !!11

http://gpgpu.org/

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Vertigon

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Re: Offload pathfinding to GPU
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2010, 01:54:53 pm »
Quote from: lodester on May 01, 2010, 01:52:19 pm
Making A+++ game  would buy again fast shipper gold star !!11

What.

ONTOPIC: I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to go with an ignorant 'FASTER MAEN GUD'. I would be all for this, but I want to know the pros and cons (if any) of this.
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Explodo

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Re: Offload pathfinding to GPU
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2010, 02:14:50 pm »
Pros:

-Less work for the CPU, so the game will play faster (speed is currently CPU limited)
-GPUs are much, much faster than CPUs

Cons:

-GPUs are much, much harder to code for than CPUs
-The entire pathfinding algorithm would have to be rewritten
-GPUs are slightly less standardized, so cross platform stability becomes more of an issue
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Footkerchief

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Re: Offload pathfinding to GPU
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2010, 02:38:56 pm »
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Gertack

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Re: Offload pathfinding to GPU
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2010, 10:48:01 pm »
Ever used a Trade Depot?

Pathfinding is not the problem.

(Except perhaps when it goes spastic with mean nasty things being walled off and your dwarves are unreachable, but that's a different problem.)
« Last Edit: May 01, 2010, 10:49:37 pm by Gertack »
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Felblood

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Re: Offload pathfinding to GPU
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2010, 11:29:55 pm »
This isn't about making pathfinding work ::); it's about making pathfinding faster.

It's not fast enough now, and having too many characters try to pathfind at once can drag down even a potent CPU. It is the main reason most of my friends don't play DF. :(

Everyone please, read some of those threads that Footkerchief linked up there, before you weigh in on this one. Pages of thought have been rendered on this issue, and there's no reason for you to waste your or everyone-else's time, by re-inventing the wheel.
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The path through the wilderness is rarely direct. Reaching the destination is useless,
if you don't learn the lessons of the dessert.
--but you do have to keep walking.