New World players have been eagerly awaiting improvements to the game's performance and graphics. In a recent interview with Mike Potchier, one of the leads of the New World's Ethos Engine team, exciting plans for future optimization and engine upgrades were revealed. This article delves into the details shared in the interview, discussing upcoming changes related to DirectX 12, DLSS, and ray tracing, as well as ongoing efforts to enhance performance.

 

• DirectX 12 & Other New Tech
• DX11 vs DX12
• Performance Optimizations
• New World Is CPU-Bound
• Significant Changes To Streaming Technology & Patch 2.0.2
• DLSS & Ray-Tracing

 

↖ DirectX 12 & Other New Tech

The interview started with a question about the plans for DirectX 12. Potchieri confirmed that the Ethos Engine team had been actively developing support for DirectX 12, which offers potential improvements in graphical fidelity and performance. However, implementing new technologies comes with challenges, and the team needs to balance development costs against the benefits for players and content creators. Consequently, they have taken a longer-term approach to support new platform technologies and have been focusing on immediate value additions, such as new character rendering, more efficient workflows, and improved game content.

 

↖ DX11 vs DX12

Drawing from personal experience with another game's transition to DirectX 12, the interviewer explained that simply upgrading to the newer version only sometimes guarantees better performance. DirectX 12 can bring inconsistencies and crashes, highlighting the importance of thoroughly optimizing the transition to ensure tangible benefits for players.

 

Initially, the developers had mentioned that the game would transition to DX12 after a few months, but this plan got delayed. The reason for this delay is that implementing DX12 requires significant effort and manual work compared to the automated DX11. However, the team is still committed to bringing DX12 to the game in the future. It's just not their highest priority right now.

 

↖ Performance Optimizations

The interview explored how New World approaches performance optimization as a shared responsibility across all development teams. Since MMOs have multiple interdependent components, any changes in one area can impact the entire game experience. The Ethos Engine team assists other teams in measuring performance impact and coordinates with data analytics to monitor the game's health. Past optimizations have involved offloading CPU computations to the GPU and implementing multi-threading to distribute computations across CPU cores.

 

↖ New World Is CPU-Bound

Potchieri acknowledged that New World is often CPU-bound, which means that optimizations targeting CPU cores tend to have a more significant impact on overall performance. Offloading tasks to the GPU helps when the GPU is not under heavy load, but it might be less effective in addressing CPU-related bottlenecks.

 

↖ Significant Changes To Streaming Technology & Patch 2.0.2

In an upcoming update (2.0.2), New World will introduce significant changes to the game's client streaming technology to address hitched frames and improve overall performance. The team hopes these changes will have a positive impact on player experience.

 

↖ DLSS & Ray-Tracing

Regarding DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) support, Potchieri explained that implementing DirectX 12 would be a prerequisite for exploring DLSS possibilities. While they are interested in both DLSS and ray-tracing, the team remains focused on foundational performance improvements that benefit a wider range of players, not just those with high-end Nvidia graphics cards.

 

Conclusion:

New World's Ethos Engine team is committed to continuously improving the game's performance and graphics. With plans for DirectX 12, DLSS, and ray-tracing on the horizon, players can expect exciting upgrades. The team emphasizes the importance of player feedback in making New World an even better gaming experience. While challenges remain, the commitment to ongoing optimization and improvement ensures a promising future for the game.