Placeable To Environmental Conversion

Neverwinter Nights 2 Toolset, Scripting, NWNX
1

Hi All,

Just a few questions about the topic:-

  1. Does changing placeables (even static ones) to environmental objects, improve area performance?
  2. Once changed, is the change immediate, or do we have to “bake” for any reason again?

Thanks, Lance.

2

I think now-days every one has a PC which can handle some placeables. I even have areas with 100s of trees and they run fine although the guidelines which got created 10 years ago say it’s a no go. The only thing, in my experience, which impacts performance is shadows - be it from environmental or normal placeables.

As for the bake, I don’t remember to be honest. I always bake when I make changes just to be certain.

2 Likes
4

  1. Yes much less memory usage (no collision box, no line of sight, very few properties). Good for low end rigs. Besides NWN2 is a 32 bits application, so can’t use all available RAM. In addition too many concentrated placeables can prevent a right pathfinding computation, making some places unreachable. Placeables such as a candelabra must be set to environmental, otw a creature can’t stand below.

  2. Yes. The change of the object is immediate but the pathfinding must be recomputed. (The pathfinding is kept in a specific file).

4 Likes
5

You can make it walkable instead, although there’s not much of a point unless it’s selectable.

1 Like
6

Absolutely. As a rule of thumb any placeable that is out of the active area, on top of another placeable (bottle on a table), below a larger placeable (a bucket below a desk), on a wall (painting, wall torch), stacked (a BCK placeable on top of another BCK placeable) and which has no use for the game (not selectable, not an obstacle) shoud preferably be set to environmental.

When you use a walkmesh helper placeable you can safely put the underlying placeables to environmental. The walkmesh helper is the obstacle, you can’t walk below only above. Unless you absotuley need the underlying placeables to be obstacles too.

A less memory demanding area means a shorter loading time and a less demanding pathfinding computation.

3 Likes