Vis Portals' Potential?

[Silicone_Milk]

I was up at around 1 or 2 this morning and thought to myself "Hey! Since vis portals optimize the rendering process could it also split up and optimize physics calculations?"

So, for instance, only entities within "visible" portals would have their physics calculated. This goes for all things like animation sequences, collision detection, interaction in general, etc....

But then there's the issue of, say, a complex machine where only a piece of it is "visible". If pieces in the back aren't calculated then the entire machine wouldn't work because the pieces would need to be synced.

A simple fix in my opinion: Func_Physics_Group. Link a large (or small) number of entities together and if even just one is visible then every entity in the func_group would be calculated regardless of it being visible or not.

Also, I was thinking about a different flag. Ignore_Vis or something like that. For a single entity whose physics calculations would dictate gameplay/surrounding environment (a big bomb). How bizzare would it be to see a bomb drop, then disappear beind a building and never go off?

These are just some thoughts going through my head. I wanted to hear what you guys thought about the practicality of such a thing. Note that this isn't a mod for the original Quake 3 source. It's an idea Im toying around with as an addition to my conversion of Q3 from C to C++ (getting longer and longer to finish heh )

[^misantropia^]

What would be the point? The client only receives entities the server deems visible (and does some culling of its own IIRC) so there should be little redundancy. The server only concerns itself with the game physics but then we're talking about things like players and rockets or your bomb example, nothing that allows for a little slacking.

[Silicone_Milk]

and a grand question you have asked!

Unfortunately, I haven't an answer for you as to what the point may be.

However, I have a strange liking to this idea even if it may, indeed, be a pointless one. I am sure that I will come across an answer to your question further down the road when I come to dealing with physics.

Yet, I am still programming the graphics manager.

Thank you for the reply ^misantropia^.