Editing Openai/69676758-d944-8003-a3d4-835e33b4e372 (section)

=== Assistant: Below is a sane, conservative constraint set for an open-world action-adventure game targeting exactly: ===
Below is a sane, conservative constraint set for an open-world action-adventure game targeting exactly:
* CPU: i7-3770K (4C / 8T, ~3.5–3.9 GHz, Ivy Bridge)
* System RAM: 16 GB DDR3
* GPU: RX 6600 XT (8 GB VRAM)
* Storage: assume SATA SSD (not NVMe)

I am deliberately pessimistic on CPU and memory, optimistic on GPU. This reflects reality for that platform.

==== You should target: ====
* 60 FPS @ 1080p
* Frame budget: 16.67 ms

Do not design for 120 FPS on this CPU.

==== ### ====

You have:
* 4 strong cores
* Weak per-core performance by modern standards
* Limited cache and memory bandwidth

Total CPU time available per frame:
→ ~7–8 ms usable

Anything beyond that will cause stutter regardless of GPU headroom.

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You must aggressively multithread, but expect one heavy main thread.

===== On paper, you should cap: =====
* Active NPCs with full AI: ~100–150
* Simulated physics bodies: ~500 active, rest sleeping
* Animation updates: LOD-based, many at reduced tick rate
* World streaming updates: amortized across frames

Rules you should write explicitly:
* AI updates every N frames outside combat
* Physics simplified beyond X meters
* Animation evaluation rate drops with distance

==== ### ====

RX 6600 XT can handle:
* 1080p Ultra comfortably
* 1440p Medium–High, but CPU may block

Budget:
* GPU time ≤ 11–12 ms

===== Safe limits at 1080p: =====
* On-screen triangles: ≤ 10–15 million
* Draw calls: ≤ 2,000 (prefer <1,500)
* Shadow maps: 1–2 cascades at 2k
* Screen-space effects: ≤ 2 ms total
* Particles: ≤ 150k sprites worst case

GPU is not your primary design constraint.

==== You must assume: ====
* OS + background: ~3–4 GB
* Practical game budget: ≤ 10–11 GB

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Total ≈ 8.4 GB
This leaves safety margin.

===== If one NPC costs: =====
* State + components: 4 KB
* Animation state: 12 KB
* AI blackboard: 8 KB → ~24 KB per NPC

1,000 NPCs → 24 MB (fine)
10,000 NPCs → 240 MB (problematic)

So:
* Simulated NPCs must be capped
* Background NPCs must be data-only or despawned

==== You should not design to fill all 8 GB. ====

Practical budget:
* ≤ 6.5–7 GB VRAM

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===== - World textures: mostly 2k, selective 4k =====
* Hero characters: ≤ 64 MB VRAM each
* Common NPC: ≤ 16–24 MB
* World prop: ≤ 5–10 MB

No unbounded texture sets.

==== With DDR3 + SATA SSD: ====
* Sustained IO: ~300–500 MB/s
* Safe streaming budget: ≤ 100 MB/s

Design rules:
* World chunks: ≤ 256 MB each
* Max resident chunks: 3–4
* Streaming buffer: ≥ 1.5 GB RAM
* Never block gameplay on streaming

==== You should explicitly avoid designing for: ====
* Massive crowds with full AI
* High-frequency physics destruction
* Fully dynamic global illumination
* Heavy CPU-side procedural generation
* Simulation-heavy systemic worlds (e.g. full economy)

Those are CPU killers on Ivy Bridge.

==== Target: 60 FPS @ 1080p ====
CPU: ≤ 8 ms per frame
GPU: ≤ 12 ms per frame
RAM: ≤ 10 GB used
VRAM: ≤ 7 GB used

Every mechanic must specify:
* CPU cost per unit
* RAM per unit
* VRAM per asset
* Hard caps
* LOD / scaling rules

===== This machine is GPU-strong, CPU-weak by modern standards. =====
Your game must be simulation-disciplined, not visually restrained.

If you want, next step could be:
* Translating one concrete mechanic (e.g. open-world combat encounter, city crowd, wildlife system) into exact time + space budgets on this hardware.