XR Games is a multi-award-winning virtual reality game development studio based in the UK. They were engaged in the mammoth task of creating a quest 3 native Hitman 3, with enhanced VR features and new art style.
The Challenge
Hitman 3 VR Reloaded was running on a new Vulkan based renderer, had a new art style, and a great amount of pressure on the device to deliver the same gameplay achieved by the original on PC and Consoles. XR Games had made great progress on these fronts, but was seeking some additional support in graphics and optimisation as they approached Release Candidate.
The Solution
Actuator Digital hit the ground running, getting into the Glacier 2 engine and new Vulkan renderer. The bulk of the commonly used materials and shaders had already been created but there was a backlog of one offs, effects, and new assets requiring optimised GLSL shaders based on existing PC node based shader examples. Working closely with VFX, Actuator Digital ensured they had the shaders and effects required to achieve the new style. This would also include taking over bugs/tickets from QA that were identified to most likely be a missing, or otherwise misconfigured material or shader issue.
During the QA and bugfix phase, Actuator Digital also provided technical QA. Identifying areas with longer frametimes via QA builds on the Quest 3 headset. After analysis via the profiler information (MicroProfiler) from the headset and frame analysis from editor (RenderMan), reporting back key assets, and locations in levels that would benefit from performance improvements.
Result
Actuator Digital took ownership of materials and shader investigation and development, allowing XR Games team members to remain focused on the big ticket concerns of renderer architecture, real time and ambient lighting, and stylistic consistency. Reporting of high performance impact assets and areas, allowed XR Games to quickly assign asset optimisation tasks, such as mesh simplification, LOD generation, and improvements to occlusion volumes.