Mike Snowdon · VFX Director

Oh, that's a good one. That is a good question. Well, we've got to make it work. So the fire is probably a good example of that. Sandstorms are another example. We've got a clear brief on what it is we need to do. And it just so happens that the fire is very easily going to be a performance breaker. So we need smart people like Leo to help us out here, and Simon. We need to make sure that they are performant. I mean, this is game development. It's a core principle for everyone in every department. You've got to be able to make sure that it runs in frame. It's got to be optimal. Maybe you make some compromises for that, but you've got to make sure that the compromises aren't to the detriment of the visual quality.

Teo · VFX Artist

I was going to say this makes a big difference to me when working on impact effects, for example. Visually, I could throw tons and tons of particles with smoke and make it look really cool when a mass driver hits snow, which I've prototyped before and worked on. But you do feel that lag come in when you have an impact or fire a weapon, and that's just a no-no for me. It drives me crazy when I'm playing any other game. It's something where I will put performance before visuals, and try to get as much visuals out of the performance as possible.

Jared Huckaby · Host, Community

It's worth noting that in the fire demo we saw today, and in all the footage we've seen in previous ones, that is a very WIP effect for the fire itself. The work right now is on the tech and making sure the tech is lean and mean and functions the way it should. And then once all that's done, somebody will go in and start working on the actual fire effect itself.

Mike Snowdon · VFX Director

Yeah, for sure. I mean, Simon and Leo did great things with the sandstorms, by the way. That was a huge undertaking. There's a lot of effects going on on the screen, and given what they're doing, the performance is actually really good on them. So yeah, Teo's absolutely right. We've got to make sure that the gameplay experience is top priority there.