Multi-core in the Source Engine

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2006/11/02/Multi_core_in_the_Source_Engin/1.html


This would be great.

 

Wow very imformative article. Its exciting to see that the great source engine will now take advantage of my dual core, not that it was good enough already. I really can wait for EP2.

 

wow, thats just amazing

 

This will be a patch right? Because I want to buy HL:2 now.

 

Great article. That looks quite promising. Thanks for sharing.

 

yup. they said it will be released before the next episode of HL2 comes out.

 

that is the sexiest video game rain ever created haha.

 

hmm, there was a CSS update yesterday, no idea whether this was included...

 

Really!? SWWWEEETTTT! Haha, I love HL2, and HL2:E2 with this multicore patch is going to kick MASSIVE amounts of ass.

 

That's great info.

I haven't picked up Episode One yet I've only finished the main HL2 game. I still think it was the best game I've ever played as far as graphics/story/suspense. I lost count of how many times I jumped out of my seat when something surprised the hell out of me. Playing on Headphones seems to do that, over normal speakers it just doesn't have the same immersion for me.

It is great to see they are leading the charge into multi-core gaming and have a pure digital distribution network to let the end users get access to it as soon as possible.

 

Hmm, HL2 Ep1 runs smoothly with everything maxed on my single-core system at 1600x1200.... I don't see how this is such a revolution as a patch for existing games. It's obviously great for upcoming Source games, but for existing ones, does it really make a difference?

 

In theory, it shouldn't make any difference to people running single-core. It's great because it makes the engine able to cope with newer hardware without slowing down on older hardware. A win all around. For existing ones, if they use the source engine and you have a multi-core/multi-cpu system, you just got a lot more performance for free.

 

Yeah, my question was "Why do existing Source games need better performance?"
I mean, it's basically maxed out already, even on my middle-of-the-road system (single core A64, GF6800). What difference is an extra core going to make?

Of course it shouldn't be a problem for single-core systems, and yeah, it'll be very handy for upcoming Source games. I'm just having a hard time imagining HL2 (or Ep 1) running better than it does now.

 

I dont think you read the whole artice. They are going to use the extra core to do alot of complex calculations for things like physics and partice effects. There were videos on that site showing what the new effects look like. Once those things are implemented, you may need that extra core if you want to top out the game.