Low Poly is OVERRATED

[KazeN]

One correction Sauraen brought up after watching this video:
"You said 320x240x4x10 = about 3 MB with 4 bytes per pixel (2 for color and 2 for Z). But that's not true, it has to both read and write the Z buffer (so the real value is 320x240x6x10 = about 4.5 MB""

[ddnava]

Proof of the N64 being able to handle a shitton of polygons is Mario Kart 64. Every single course has very smooth curves that need a lot of polygons

[Crystalis]

I'm glad nothing has stopped you from persuing your passion like this. I've been watching your content for years, and it's always a treat to see what you've been cooking up.

[wizawhat]

It's funny how one of the keys to better performance is not having large objects in the center of your level when so many of SM64s levels are exactly that. It's usually all centered around some sort of mountain or large object.

[sacriptex]

if you take mario 64 as a early game and conker´s bad fur day as a late game, the optimization is impressive as well

[johnrickard]

So long story short, the N64 doesn't like shuffling around memory that much, but is more than happy to bang out uber complicated formulas. It is really showing off its SGI heritage with that one!

[per]

when time travel gets invented you know im mailing a usb stick with all of kaze's videos to the nintendo headquarters while sm64 is in development

[hawshimagical]

this thing probably explains why the dire dire docks level was split into two 3d models that dynamically switch

[justinsemple]

These are the insane benefits you get when one person has an indepth understanding of both game design and code. Modern video games have become so unoptimized because of how complex both aspects have become. I don't think any individual developer holistically understands a modern game such as Baldur's Gate 3 or Spiderman in the same way you understand SM64. I wonder if that's even possible.

[Sauraen]

Thanks for the shoutout Kaze! F3DEX3 is actively in development and I hope to show more of its features soon!

[shadou]

Imagine exporting a triforce to your game and the 3 triangles lag your game 30 fps

[SonicTheBlueBlur]

People keep on thinking older models look better cuz their low poly, but its more of the art style that makes it look good

[WannabeMarysue]

10k is about the polycount of an environment on the Gamecube, for reference. Main characters in that gaming gen would usually be a couple of thousand.

Nowadays, for games with the Triple A Aesthetic TM, a single important character would easily be over 10k.

10k would still be considered lowpoly by modern rendering standards in film and animation. But film and animation have always been able to utilise higher polycounts than gaming, as their 3D doesn't have to render in real time.

[avasam]

1:16 "It runs at a pretty stable *encoding glitch*" nice timing XD

[gaming_bigfoot]

If only modern games made processing efficiency more of a priority
Imagine the leaps in capabilities new hardware could have when optimized to the level you're getting the N64 to... absolute legend

Edit: "Try a bit more" doesn't mean "it must be the only thing devs do before anything else happens with a project" but I really shouldn't be surprised that people are trying to twist my words for the sake of forcing discussion

[wileecoyotegenius]

The part about not having a big thing in the center of the level to improve performance is so interesting because that's how most levels in early 3D platformers like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie were designed, having a big thing in the center gets the player's attention and gives them a sense of direction which helps since you can't just go to the right like in 2D.

[wargex]

You are single handedly moving Super Mario 64 and it's modding forward. Without you who knows when a person would even think to take up this work. Literally making history. I don't care how long I have to wait for all of your work and documentation to be done. All of your optimizations are well worth all the wait. An actual revolution of content will be made from your efforts. Nintendo should literally be paying you at this point. Thanks for your work Kaze, I hope you're as proud as we all are.

[josuepereira]

People ignore everybody was learning 3d at the time, artists included.

Making all kinda shapes on 3d software is easy now, but can you imagine what kind of primitive tools they had to work back them?

Even if you had the mastery of the software, they had to translate 2d pixel art into 3d art without the luxury of just doing a realistic model. Once you have a working 3d model is easy to criticize but those guys were the pioneers, doing stuff without a reference.

[matthewmangan]

Crazy
I believe the N64’s official hardware figures were 150, 000 polygons per second, so at 30fps, 5, 000 would be the targeted polygon count-maybe a bit more depending on amount of shading and textures

Mario 64 played things safe-the simpler maps being only around 1, 000 tris, and the larger maps being segmented via loading tunnels, I doubt the game often exceeded 3, 000 and definitely not 4, 000 tris

Ocarina of Time optimised things more, though the game was capped at 20fps the maps had a lot with surprisingly low poly count-Kokiri Forest was only about 2, 000 tris and Hyrule Field 1, 600 tris

Then there was Rare’s stuff-they were very talented but didn’t quite focus on stable performance

Click Clock Wood in Banjo-Kazooie pushes over 4, 000 tris, and Mayahem Temple in Banjo-Tooie pushes over 6, 000
And that’s all before objects and characters

[RedUmbre]

I can remember when Skelux showed the Star Road 2 preview a long time ago and that felt like the peak of sm64 hacking at6 the time. In a comment about one of Kaze's early hacks he said something along the lines of "nobodys as good (at modelling) as skelux". And while Skelux's artistic vision is still S tier and godlike, I'd say Kaze has gotten closer to that level of polish.