Dragged, Kicking and Scre Aming:: Architec Ture and V Ideo Gam Es

Console game architecture has traditionally used single-core processors, but next-generation consoles like the Xbox 360 introduced multi-core setups that frustrated developers. Implementing parallelism across cores requires significant programming changes and risks delays, bugs, and performance issues. Effective multi-threading divides processing tasks like rendering, I/O, and AI across independent threads to improve performance without hitting core dependencies. Future game engines will further optimize for highly multi-core computer and mobile chips.

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Dragged, Kicking and Scre Aming:: Architec Ture and V Ideo Gam Es

Uploaded by

zixie

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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Summary of Topics:
Console Architecture

Meaning of Paper’s Title/Why the Video Game Developer

HATED the new

Techniques/Problems

The Future
Video Game Architecture
For the most part, same as computer:
Very operating system-linked.
With PCs, almost always have been games.
Mac Gaming is sparse, recently increased.
Linux users have to compile/make their own.
Console Games = primarily single-core processors…until
2005.
XBOX 360
• 3.2 GHz “Xenon” triple-core
PowerPC, 2 hardware threads per
processor
• 256 MB main RAM
• 500 MHz ATI “Xenos” GPU
-CPU accesses memory
through the GPU!
• GPU has 10 MB RAM embedded
frame buffer
XBOX 360 vs. Playstation 3
Triple-Core PPC Multicore Cell Engine

• Xbox 360 - 512 MB, PS3 - 512 MB total

700 MHz, GDDR3,
256 MB 3.2 GHz XDR main
shared by CPU and GPU
RAM for the CPU
• CPU accesses memory through 256 MB 700 MHz GDDR3
the GPU! video RAM for the GPU

• GPU has 10 MB RAM

embedded frame buffer
Cell Architecture
Multiple synergistic core units that attach to local stores, which then feed into
DMAs going into the on-chip bus. One set-off PPE (Power Processing Element),
with an L1 and L2 cache. Developers are having some serious problems with this
model.
Why So Unhappy?
Delays, setbacks, ecetera = unhappy fans.
Yu Suzuki; Saturn Virtua Fighter: “One very fast central processor
would be preferable...I think that only one in 100 programmers are
good enough to get this kind of speed out of the Saturn.”
Not implementing parallelism, use of multicore architecture,
etc = unhappy fans.

If game developers utilize parallelism, the game will be

delayed – 6 months, 1 year?
r a ll e li sm
ic o r e P a
Mult ta t io n s
p le m e n
Im
ha ve t o.”
e s s, i f we
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Beginning Techniques

• Patches, so computers at least realize there’s multiple cores available.

• Intel releases several multicore assists; especially in the beginning (coaxing

people into it)

• Building Blocks
• Codeplay’s sieve compilers

• Broke a program into “sieve blocks” where automatic parallelization could be utilized
What do we do today?
Multithreading from the ground up

Decent (and fast!) parallelization

One of two main ways:

Every process on a different thread

Dependencies galore~!
“Best” Multithreading Approach
Main gaming thread, with branches coming off for specific parts of the game and
splintering into other threads.
Particularly beastly programs get their own multithreading implementations.
Networking and I/O get their own threads.
CASE EXAMPLE: Kameo
CASE EXAMPLE: Kameo, which achieved 2.2~2.5 cores in 6mos.
Rendering, decompression were on a separate thread
Latter saved space on the DVD and improved load times for the game. Additionally,
file I/O was separated onto two threads – one for reading, and one for decompressing.
Best Processes for MT
File decompression – improve load times.