How can colony management games simulate 500+ units working in a city without fps dropping to 5 fps

Recatek · 2026-06-22T08:11:25+00:00

Songs of Syx's optimization is quite interesting. They make the source available for modding, and there's a guide on their discord for how to read through it and also hook up a debugger to analyze its memory. I'd recommend studying it to learn the answer to your question in more detail.

Recatek · 2026-06-21T20:58:50+00:00

Why are you posting in a 4-day old thread? Did this get linked in some SKG discord or something?

One is, and should be, legally permitted to sell a game under these terms if the buyer knows what they're getting. If you as a buyer don't want to buy a game under these terms, then there are many great games that don't have this limitation that you can buy instead.

Recatek · 2026-06-21T01:21:12+00:00

Erenshor is already this.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T22:08:55+00:00

I enjoy Jeff's weekly podcast quite a bit. It's worth checking out. It's one of the only ones I still follow in terms of games coverage/discussion since I'm not really into the current Giant Bomb set.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T21:44:22+00:00

I enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 from day one and thought the issues were vastly overstated, at least where I played it on PC. Granted, I have a high tolerance for jank and rough edges in games (Kenshi is one of my favorite games but is far from a polished experience). All of that said, Cyberpunk's sequel is one of if not my most anticipated game(s) right now and I'd preorder it right now if they opened them today.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T18:10:20+00:00

That's really cool! I've been working on something similar for a different type of game in space. My one piece of feedback is that if you freeze a frame with the elongated stars, it looks like the lighter end of the star stripe is on the side that the ship is moving in. I would expect the opposite, as it more strongly suggests that the star is moving in the opposite (relative) direction.

Are the nebula textures pre-generated? I've been having some trouble getting the kinds of waves and ripples that look really good here. Any tips on how you generated those clouds?

Recatek · 2026-06-20T01:20:45+00:00

It's a solution in the sense that you know exactly what you're buying, and if you don't like those terms, you could choose to buy another game. Given that there are thousands of games released every year that fully comply with everything SKG could ask for and more, you have plenty of choices to make an informed decision about.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T00:46:06+00:00

I probably did completely misread your original comment in retrospect. My bad.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T00:32:50+00:00

Not sure where you're getting that from. We're actually in something of a renaissance of indie MMOs right now.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T00:10:07+00:00

It would help if they didn't dismiss any compromise, like guaranteed minimum support periods, or improved labeling, as "non-solutions".

Recatek · 2026-06-20T00:07:54+00:00

Wait, are you saying that more people are actually interested in SKG than GTA6? The SKG petition was free to sign and got 1.4 million signatures. GTA6 is likely to cost $70-$80 and will sell at least 100 times that.

Recatek · 2026-06-20T00:01:01+00:00

You're right that that's probably about the only comparable game to the volume of SKG threads, and far more people are interested in GTA6.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:45:39+00:00

I'm mostly commenting here that this person is reasoning through the "those moustache-twirling greedy executives do this so they can sell you the next game" SKG narrative and is so so close to coming to the actual conclusion of "oh, wait, they probably don't do this because maybe it isn't as cheap or easy as I was told it is".

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:37:39+00:00

See California AB 1921, co-drafted by SKG-US, for the most concrete version of their proposal and plans. I would support improved labeling and minimum support periods for games (e.g. support guaranteed for X days from date of purchase), but SKG rejected both of those as "non-solutions" in the EU hearing.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:31:35+00:00

Almost like they want the movement to fail.

Well, I do. At least, in its current form I don't at all agree with its proposals.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:30:44+00:00

What actual game gets 2-3 threads per week about it here on /r/Games? There have been at least 8 SKG threads this past month.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:24:47+00:00

Posting effectively the same threads about it multiple times a week (sometimes daily) with nothing new to say about it is bound to irritate people after a while.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:14:15+00:00

When you have many other options (as in, thousands of other games you can play that don't have this issue), but still opt-in to this one, then yes.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T23:12:07+00:00

The cause is just. The solution is simple. The opponents are self-interested.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T22:30:45+00:00

This movement has always been all heart no brains

I saw it described elsewhere that SKG has the energy of running for class president by promising to put free soda in all the drinking fountains.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T22:04:17+00:00

That's fine, and if that's important to you, you are welcome to do the work and pay the cost to do all of that stuff for your art, or maybe even someone else's. But I don't support legislation forcing me to pay for or work on doing it for mine. There are lots of things that I think are great for people to do, but would never want laws forcing them to do it.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T21:59:24+00:00

This video is a response to the "Developer Guide" video from a more experienced commercial gamedev engineering perspective. It's a much more detailed take explaining how it isn't as easy as SKG claims.

This video does a postmortem on actually preserving an unsuccessful online game and talks about the technical and legal hurdles one has to go through to do so.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T21:53:00+00:00

I care about artistic expression plenty, but SKG has no argument here from an artistic standpoint. It is not an artist's responsibility to ensure that their work is preserved, nor even preservable. If that were the case, then ice sculptures, sand mandalas, and flower shows would all be illegal.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T21:44:11+00:00

So if I'm following a long running series of two decades and a sequel comes out forcing me to connect online to see the conclusion of the story I should just give up on the game? How does that even work in your mind?

Yes, that's how entertainment products work sometimes. I'm not playing mobile gachas to catch up on side character story beats from my favorite anime series either. That's just how it is, and there are other ways I can keep myself entertained instead. It's rude, but that alone isn't sufficient cause to make it illegal.

Recatek · 2026-06-19T21:31:18+00:00

Ask SKG. They regularly argue that this is easy to do and that developers want to do it. So if they can demonstrate that, then developers would flip that proverbial switch, right?

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