Under a Desert Sun: Seekers of the cursed Vessel: Beta Update

[h2]🚀 Performance First — Preparing for Early Access[/h2][p]As many of you know, I’ve been focusing heavily on performance improvements before moving further into new story content and major gameplay additions.[/p][p]My approach is simple:
Every time I add significant new content, I follow it up with a dedicated performance optimization pass to make sure the game remains smooth and stable.[/p][p]During the latest dungeon expansion, it became clear that the new content was placing considerable load on both the GPU and CPU. That exposed several areas where deeper optimization was necessary.[/p][p]I’m very glad we addressed this now. These improvements directly benefit the Early Access release, because my goal is simple:[/p][p]👉 I want as many people as possible to be able to play comfortably.[/p][p]My standard lower-end test machine — my beloved Steam Deck — now runs the game extremely well.[/p][p]We are now consistently above 40 FPS everywhere without FSR enabled, and in many areas performance even climbs above 60 FPS.[/p][p]That’s a big step forward.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🔧 Culling System Rewrite[/h2][p]For this round, I rewrote one of the custom open-world culling systems.[/p][p]In a top-down ARPG, traditional view-based culling doesn’t behave as efficiently as it does in an FPS. Most built-in systems assume walls block visibility — but in a top-down game, almost everything is visible most of the time.[/p][p]Previously, I disabled entire world sections based on player position. While effective, fully toggling large object hierarchies in Unity caused noticeable hitching when those sections were reactivated.[/p][h3]What Changed:[/h3][p]The system now:[/p]

• [p]Keeps object hierarchies active[/p]
• [p]Disables only:[/p]
  • [p]Renderers[/p]
  • [p]Audio sources[/p]
  • [p]Sound emitters[/p]

[p]This avoids expensive activation spikes while retaining performance gains.[/p][p]Result:
A much calmer and more stable frame pacing experience.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]💡 Smart Light Structuring System[/h2][p]On top of the culling rewrite, I built additional technology specifically focused on light management.[/p][p]Lighting is one of the heavier costs in a top-down ARPG where many light sources are visible simultaneously.[/p][p]The new system:[/p]

• [p]Dynamically enables and disables lights based on player vicinity[/p]
• [p]Keeps object hierarchies intact[/p]
• [p]Avoids mass activation spikes[/p]
• [p]Reduces unnecessary lighting calculations outside relevant areas[/p]

[p]This yielded very strong results.[/p][p]Combined with the other optimizations, this is what pushed performance to:[/p]

• [p]Always above 40 FPS on Steam Deck (without FSR)[/p]
• [p]Frequently above 60 FPS in many areas[/p]

[p]This is a major technological improvement for the project.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🚀 FSR 3.1 – Fully Implemented[/h2][p]FSR 3.1 is now fully implemented.[/p][p]This is no longer a test phase — it is a core performance option in the beta branch.[/p][p]Because of this change, I also:[/p]

• [p]Rewrote how the UI rendering pipeline works[/p]
• [p]Converted all UI to Screen Space Canvas[/p]
• [p]Moved UI elements to unlit rendering[/p]
• [p]Removed the dedicated UI camera and UI light[/p]
• [p]Ensured the UI remains crisp and sharp while FSR is active[/p]

[p]Scaling often causes UI blurring if not handled properly — this rewrite ensures that doesn’t happen here.[/p][p]FSR now provides additional performance headroom when enabled.
Naturally, it comes at a slight cost to overall image clarity — but it is fully optional.[/p][p]The philosophy remains:[/p][p]Optimize first. Use scaling as support — not as a crutch.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]⚙️ Additional Technical Optimizations[/h2][p]Alongside the culling rewrite and lighting system, several deeper optimizations were implemented:[/p]

• [p]Reduced unnecessarily high texture resolutions[/p]
• [p]Reduced shadow map texture sizes[/p]
• [p]Recomputed batching data[/p]
• [p]Refined occlusion culling grids[/p]
• [p]Reduced bone complexity on dead bodies[/p]
• [p]Disabled real-time shadows on small complex clutter
  (Ambient occlusion now fills visual gaps with minimal GPU cost)[/p]

[p]These changes significantly reduce GPU load and improve frame stability.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🗺️ UI & Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]

• [p]Further refined minimap performance[/p]
• [p]Added new visual flourishes to the Skill Deck panel[/p]
• [p]Characters in the load screen are now sorted by level (highest → lowest)[/p]

[hr][/hr][h2]🎯 Where We Stand[/h2][p]We are now in a very healthy performance state:[/p]

• [p]Always above 40 FPS on Steam Deck natively[/p]
• [p]Frequently above 60 FPS in many areas[/p]
• [p]FSR 3.1 available for even higher performance[/p]
• [p]UI remains crisp and unaffected by scaling[/p]

[p]This represents a substantial technological upgrade of the project.[/p][p]I’m genuinely proud of how far the underlying systems have come.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]🔁 Demo Consistency Update[/h2][p]Since these improvements are fundamental technology changes that directly impact how the game feels and performs, I will be backporting these systems to the demo branch as well.[/p][p]Performance, UI clarity, FSR integration, and lighting changes define the core experience of the game.[/p][p]Keeping the demo consistent with the main branch is important to me, so players testing the demo experience the true direction and quality of the full game.[/p][hr][/hr][p]Performance work will continue alongside content development as we move toward Early Access.[/p][p]More updates soon. 🚀[/p]