Performance Optimization

Optimizing your vehicle mods for better performance.

Understanding Performance Impact

Polygon Count

Lower polygon count = better performance

LOD System (Level of Detail):

• LOD0 - Highest detail (up to 50m) → 30,000-50,000 polygons
• LOD1 - Medium detail (50m-100m) → 15,000-25,000 polygons
• LOD2 - Low detail (100m-200m) → 5,000-10,000 polygons
• LOD3 - Distant (200m+) → 1,000-3,000 polygons

Example impact:

Vehicle without LODs: 50,000 polygons always -> 30 percent FPS loss
Same vehicle with LODs: 
  - Near: 50,000 polygons (full detail)
  - Far: 2,000 polygons (minimal)
  - Result: 10 percent FPS loss

Texture Optimization

Texture Size Impact:

Size	Memory	Loading
512x512	1 MB	Under 1ms
1024x1024	4 MB	2ms
2048x2048	16 MB	8ms
4096x4096	64 MB	32ms

Best Practice:

• Use 1024x or 2048x for main textures
• Use 512x for detail maps
• Compress using DXT5 format

Draw Calls

Fewer draw calls = better performance

Multiple materials: 5 draw calls
Combined material: 1 draw call
Result: 4x faster rendering

Optimization Techniques

1. Geometry Optimization

Before: 45,000 polygons
- Remove hidden faces: -10,000
- Decimate mesh: -8,000
After: 27,000 polygons (40% reduction)

Process:

1. Remove internal faces (not visible)
2. Use decimate modifier (Blender)
3. Merge nearby vertices
4. Remove duplicate geometry
5. Test in-game frequently

2. Texture Optimization

Before:
- Diffuse: 2048x2048 (8MB)
- Normal: 2048x2048 (8MB)
- Specular: 2048x2048 (8MB)
Total: 24MB

After:
- Diffuse: 1024x1024 (2MB)
- Normal: 1024x1024 (2MB)
- Specular: 512x512 (0.5MB)
Total: 4.5MB (81% reduction)

3. Material Atlasing

Combine multiple small textures:

Before: 10 separate 512x512 textures (10MB)
After: 1 combined 2048x2048 atlas (4MB)
Result: 60% reduction + faster loading

4. LOD Configuration

<Distances>
  <LOD0>0-50</LOD0>        <!-- Full detail nearby -->
  <LOD1>50-150</LOD1>      <!-- Medium detail mid-range -->
  <LOD2>150-300</LOD2>     <!-- Low detail far -->
  <LOD3>300+</LOD3>        <!-- Minimal detail very far -->
</Distances>

Handling Optimization

Physics Simplification

<!-- Complex handling -->
<fSuspensionForce>1.5</fSuspensionForce>
<fSuspensionCompDamp>0.25</fSuspensionCompDamp>
<fSuspensionReboundDamp>0.22</fSuspensionReboundDamp>

<!-- Simplified (similar feel, less CPU) -->
<fSuspensionForce>1.2</fSuspensionForce>
<fSuspensionCompDamp>0.15</fSuspensionCompDamp>
<fSuspensionReboundDamp>0.12</fSuspensionReboundDamp>

Weight Reduction

Lower mass = faster calculations:

<!-- Heavy vehicle -->
<fMass>2500.0</fMass>

<!-- Optimized weight -->
<fMass>1800.0</fMass>  <!-- Still feels realistic -->

Network Optimization

File Size

Keep mod sizes small:

Vehicle mod breakdown:
- Models (.yft): 15MB
- Textures (.ytd): 20MB
- Audio (.awc): 8MB
- Config (.xml/.meta): 0.1MB
Total: 43MB

Optimized:
- Models: 8MB (LODs + decimation)
- Textures: 6MB (reduced resolution + compression)
- Audio: 4MB (compressed)
- Config: 0.1MB
Total: 18MB (58% reduction)

Streaming

Load assets efficiently:

-- Bad: Loads all immediately
RequestModel(modelHash)
while not HasModelLoaded(modelHash) do
  Wait(0)
end

-- Good: Async loading
RequestModelAsync(modelHash)
while not HasModelLoaded(modelHash) do
  Wait(10)  -- Don't spam CPU
end

Testing Performance

FPS Monitoring

local frameCount = 0
local lastTime = GetGameTimer()

Citizen.CreateThread(function()
  while true do
    Wait(1000)
    local currentTime = GetGameTimer()
    local fps = frameCount * 1000 / (currentTime - lastTime)
    
    TriggerEvent('chat:addMessage', {
      args = {"FPS", tostring(math.floor(fps))}
    })
    
    frameCount = 0
    lastTime = GetGameTimer()
  end
end)

Memory Profiling

Monitor resource usage:

-- Check model memory
print("Model loaded: " .. GetModelHeapSize(modelHash))

-- Monitor vehicle memory
local vehicle = GetVehiclePedIsIn(PlayerPedId())
print("Vehicle memory: " .. GetVehicleHeapSize(vehicle))

Optimization Checklist

• LOD models created for all assets
• Textures compressed (max 2048x2048)
• Polygon count reduced to minimum viable
• Materials combined where possible
• Handling physics simplified
• Vehicle mass realistic
• File size < 50MB total
• FPS impact < 5% in testing
• All features work correctly
• No visual glitches at distance

Performance Benchmarks

Recommended Specs

System	Expected Impact
High-end PC	Less than 1 percent FPS loss
Mid-range PC	3-5 percent FPS loss
Low-end PC	8-15 percent FPS loss

Target Sizes

Asset	Recommended Size
Single vehicle	30-50MB
Vehicle pack (5 cars)	150-250MB
Full mod suite	500MB+

Advanced Optimization

Baking Lightmaps

Pre-calculate lighting:

Dynamic lighting: 25% GPU load
Baked lighting: 2% GPU load
Result: 12x faster rendering

Instancing

Reuse geometry:

Unique vehicles: 5
Shared wheels: 1 wheel instance × 5 = 5 wheels
Memory saved: 80% on wheel data

Compression Formats

Use appropriate compression:

Uncompressed: 64MB texture
DXT1 (no alpha): 16MB
DXT5 (with alpha): 32MB
BC6H (HDR): 32MB
Result: 75% memory reduction

Pro Tips

1. Profile first - Identify bottlenecks
2. Optimize iteratively - One change at a time
3. Test on lower-end hardware - Ensures compatibility
4. Use LOD system - Essential for performance
5. Compress textures - Biggest impact for size
6. Reduce polygon count - Second biggest impact
7. Monitor FPS - Track actual performance
8. Keep backups - Before optimizing

Optimization Tools

• Blender - LOD generation, decimation
• Substance Painter - Texture optimization
• Texture Baker - Lightmap baking
• CodeWalker - Model analysis
• GPU-Z - GPU monitoring
• HWiNFO - System monitoring

Performance optimization is key to making vehicles that work well across all player systems!