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How production-ready is HDRP?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by techniquea2z, Aug 5, 2022.

  1. techniquea2z

    techniquea2z

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Posts:
    37


    I'm at a prototyping stage for my next project. I've seen some amazing graphics done with HDRP, but I'm wondering how feasible it is for a larger scope project.

    For instance, I upgrade to a 3090 TI and now my FPS is around 30 FPS in editor (60 FPS in build):





    I've seen Seta's level design timelapses and countless small scale work in HDRP that look amazing, but is anyone using it for an actual game?

    If so, what are some tips you have?
     
  2. Tautvydas-Zilys

    Tautvydas-Zilys

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2013
    Posts:
    10,646
    techniquea2z, DragonCoder and Kreshi like this.
  3. techniquea2z

    techniquea2z

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2017
    Posts:
    37
    Exactly what I wanted! Thanks a bunch, I feel better seeing tons of released games with it.
     
  4. PutridEx

    PutridEx

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2021
    Posts:
    1,136
    I have to pat myself here: I added that list myself into steamdb :D
    also unityURP
    Unfortunately starting from a few months ago steam changed how it handles depots, and so newer games will be hard to detect. Steamdb can't get game files unless someone donates the game to steamdb or you share the games you have on your account (steamdb has tools for that)
     
    Deleted User likes this.
  5. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

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    Apr 11, 2010
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    YMMV though, make sure that before you begin serious production you plan out every single feature you need. Don't actually skip any. Then test.

    But for 30fps on that hardware, for that scene... well I'd say it's very low. So look into optimising it. For HDRP you'd want to start with using the performant or performance profile (it differs in name depending what HDRP template you started with) and then enable the features your game might need one by one. There's some good guides on HDRP in the blog - pdfs that cover the settings you could use to tweak performance.

    You'd want to use upscaling, and enable that by default, for example 50% is the minimum. This is actually set to 100% by default (which is dumb) so upscaling doesn't work unless you dig deeper. This has a significant effect on the framerate.

    Above all though, you would probably be using SSGI and everything for that kind of 30fps framerate. The Unity Enemies flagship demo is on the same hardware at 30fps.

    HDRP consumes a large amount of CPU time relative to say, URP as well.

    Please test what your game needs - at scale - before investing in a specific pipeline. Personally speaking, my experience is that Unity itself is not suitable for large scale projects. So it doesn't matter if you're using HDRP or URP in this case. Both will tank without significant engineering from you to ensure the framerate remains high. This is because Unity is still a few years away from sufficient tooling for that (DOTS Culling / batching / streaming / etc).

    So I recommend the scope is about as big as Saints and Sinners or a large level rather than any form of city or open world. Can still be beautiful but it's the wrong tool for the job out of the the box if you're going big, and you will need a team to optimise it if you do.
     
    Ryiah, neoshaman and techniquea2z like this.
  6. bluescrn

    bluescrn

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    Feb 25, 2013
    Posts:
    642
    It'd be more interesting to see a list of the top console HDRP releases (as they're rather harder to find) and have a look at how they perform.

    (Although PS4 and XBox One are probably less of a concern for anybody just starting out on a project now - but 4K is still a big ask for any GPU)
     
    angrypenguin likes this.