Agenda
Why Memory Constraints Empower Content Teams: Dynamic Animation Loading in 'Sea of Thieves'
Sarah Ryan (Miss, Rare Ltd)
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Hot Topics:
AI
Track:
Programming
Audience Level:
Entry-Level
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Entry-Level
Memory is a key constraint for AAA games, and live service games feel it most: every update adds content, but the hardware stays the same. Sea of Thieves has shipped new content every month since 2018 and still runs on the Xbox One. Each update used more of our available memory, so content teams needed more engineering support to ship within budget.
This session shares memory management lessons for any live service game; why worst-case usage matters most, how we monitor it, and the key parts of any dynamic loading system. Using animation as a case study, this talk will show how Rare's Engine team loads item and emote animations at runtime, and how capping worst-case memory let automated budget checks replace manual reviews. Finally, Sarah will show how this empowered content teams to improve the player experience, from higher-fidelity animations to new pets and cosmetics.
This session shares memory management lessons for any live service game; why worst-case usage matters most, how we monitor it, and the key parts of any dynamic loading system. Using animation as a case study, this talk will show how Rare's Engine team loads item and emote animations at runtime, and how capping worst-case memory let automated budget checks replace manual reviews. Finally, Sarah will show how this empowered content teams to improve the player experience, from higher-fidelity animations to new pets and cosmetics.
Takeaway
Attendees can expect to gain insight into how memory becomes a growing constraint for live service games and how Sea of Thieves loads animations dynamically at runtime. They will see how memory budgets empowered content teams, freeing memory for premium cosmetics, pets and higher fidelity animations without constant engineering support.
Intended Audience
Engine, central tech and animation programmers interested in memory optimisation for live service games and empowering content teams. Technical animators, animators, leads tackling content bottlenecks, and anyone curious about dynamic animation loading at runtime will also benefit.
Basic Unreal animation knowledge helps but isn't required; the principles apply to any engine.
Basic Unreal animation knowledge helps but isn't required; the principles apply to any engine.