I am wanting to clean my maps out to avoid overloading cpus and the like and have no idea what runs when. Anyone with any actual insight of the specifics it would be nice to see here. These are a few examples I can think of...
Do animations run whether observed or not? (If a player isn't in the system, does the Plasma Storm animation still run as an example).
Does AI movement in systems with no players present pull as much from cpu and graphics as when a player is present? (Are the models having to be rendered,etc.)
Do the simple number of stars and/or planets increase processor needs throughout the game? (Or is it the number of planets in a single star sysem only, etc.)
Do empty spots for planets and stars slow down processing? If I have 50 actual planets but they number up in the file individually to 150 and aren't in straight numerical sequence--is that a problem?
Does model size (number of vertexes, etc.) have a big impact?
How much of a drain are those massive pirate activities?
Just some examples to get the idea going. What I am aiming for is to cut un-necessary fat out of my larger map designs but still use features when I need.
