Look into what is involved in modern 3D rendering of high-detail scenes. It is NON-TRIVIAL, and I can tell you this as someone who has done 3D programming for 17 years.
Pro Tip: If an entire industry of experienced people finds something very hard, and you don't know anything about the topic but you don't see why it would be hard, maybe the relevant factor here is the "you don't know."
It reminds me of my mom who said on multiple occasions "All these rockets are dangerous and they explode; I don't see why the scientists don't just use the majestic forces that keep the planets in their orbits to move the rocket."
Yes, I don't know. that's what I am saying.
I am not in this thread saying "You're wrong and I'm right", and I'm not asking you to say to me "no, you're wrong"
I am asking you to explain it*. not just say "well, it's hard, and this guy and this industry says it's hard" and call it a day.
do you understand? "because it's hard" is not an interesting answer. It's a boring and contentless answer.
This has to do with the way the software interacts with hardware on PC.
Basically, a GPU is a very complex computer with several hierarchies of execution streams e.g. there are vector SIMD streams that execute same code over different data, there are threads of such streams that preempt each other, there multiple processing units each running a set of such threads, and there are even structures of such processing units. Yet all of this is hidden from the programmer and only API there is an abstract "scene" description. E.g. you can say "first render these polygons with such and such settings, then render other polygons with other settings, then show what is rendered so far and return to the default state".
Going from such a high level description to the thousands of execution streams that GPU will execute is a very complex procedure that changes with each driver version and is not fully understood by any single person. On top of this you have other processes running on your machine while playing the game and they can and will steal CPU and the OS scheduling slots, adding a lot of variance to your frame time.
You can render the same data set several times and sometime it will take 10ms but other times it will take 100ms depending on what other processes decided to do at the time so it's impossible to guarantee constant frame time on PC.
On consoles it's not a big deal as you can program the GPU directly and don't compete with other processes. A great number of games do run with constant frame rate - it's not trivial but it's not a rocket science either.
Well, I left the start of an explanation in another reply. But the problem is that you are asking a question where it takes years to really understand the answer, and certainly hours for a commenter to write a summary. For someone to put that much effort in, they have to be motivated to put in the effort; but you are coming across in a very unpleasant way, and not offering anything in return, so why would anyone put in the effort just for you?
I have no control over how you perceive my posts. I write them in a neutral way, produce text, and it's up to you to read in a tone of voice and mood. You are free to perceive anything about them you want. You are certainly welcome to refuse to reply to them and you always were. I was apparently pleasant enough for you to give glib responses but not enough to reply with anything much of substance more than "you're asking a stupid question and you can never be as smart as me HAHAHA!!" I mean, if that's your answer then you probably are better off not responding to me at all, leaving my question hanging, and not polluting the conversation with such negativity.
As for the start of an answer, what was wrong with just .. starting with that? What was the point of all the other stuff you wrote? Think about it. what is your mission here? to be informative or just to attempt to make me feel bad for being curious?
The mission is to make you a little more self-aware of how your posts are being read and perceived. "why am I explaining this again? is it really hard to understand? why?" does not sound like a neutral tone to most people, it sounds condescending, which is confusing when (as you admit) you are the one who is asking for an explanation for something you do not understand.
Yes I don't understand something and I'm asking for an explanation. If you, or someone else does not understand my actual question, and has nothing more to contribute than "It's hard" then I am not interested in their answers or their condescension and I couldn't give two tosses if you turn around and perceive me as being condescending. It's projection. And I wasn't asking you anyway. But since I'm here, what is the point of YOUR post? I don't need more self awareness, people on hacker news need to stop answering questions they don't understand with bullshit nonsense condescension and getting pissy when the victim of their idiocy gets annoyed by it.
Seriously I will not tolerate this curiosity shaming, the ethic that one should feel embarrassed about asking questions. I do not buy the idea that it is condescending to be dissatisfied with shallow lazy nothing answers. I have no control over you perceiving it that way. It is just a flaw in your background that you should perhaps be more self aware about.
You are being rude to people that you are asking a favor from. Stop blaming everyone else; isolate the common factor. They're not shaming you because of the asking itself.
I am not being rude to people I am asking a favor from. I am being rude to people who have nothing to contribute here other than saying "oh it's too complicated for you to understand. Seriously I have been doing this for 15 years. it's just too hard to explain. You're just like my idiot mother who didn't understand how physics works. LOL". That is bullying. Not being helpful. I don't need favors from them.
No, they are being rude. There was no reason to post that verbal diarrhoea and I'm just not taking it like a doormat, and that bothers you. The common factor is them being dickheads. If you look, there are lots of other thoughtful people answering me (with real actual answers and creativity instead of condescension) that I am rewarding and conversing with appropriately.
The common factor is the culture of curiosity shaming here. And sorry, but quite frankly you and them can just get fucked. I don't care if you think I am being rude. I want to be rude about that. It is internet cancer. Other thoughtful people should be rude about it too. I want to shoo that attitude away from everywhere I can. Not walk on eggs just in case someone might take offense. You have no interest in making me "self aware". You just see a nail sticking up and you want to hammer it down.
I was really hoping you wouldn't pull this into an argument about semantics. Since you did, I'm almost certain this will be my last post.
'smug' was a description of your mannerisms, not your motivation. And 'snapping' is only pointing out that you made your pronouncements based on three sentences. I am making no claim to psychological insight.
I just think you're acting like a petty jerk, and blaming everyone else.
It's adorable the way you tell people to get fucked and use other insults of similar vitriol and then imply that my comments are invalid for using a term like 'petty'.
You have no problem with what I was asking, just the way in which I asked it, and perpetuated this whole thread to press into me that I wasn't abjectly deferential humble and thankful enough to the great overlords of HN for deigning to bother to waste their time on an obviously worthless scumbag like me.
THAT is petty and obnoxious. and it is to that I say, "get fucked." Criticizing superficial aspects about my manner, instead of the content of my question is the very definition of petty.
I'm asking someone to explain this. because I don't get it.
Isn't meeting the frame deadline kind of more important than scene complexity?