Clearer performance limits

Performance warnings are notices that the engine is not doing everything that the scene requires because it can only run so much of a given thing at once. So it limits things, to keep performance good (at least for that aspect).

These warnings are just that--warnings. A notice so the creator knows what's going on. There's no problem that *needs* to be "fixed." It can be left as-is and the scene will continue to function.

However, this is not how creators (especially new creators) tend to view it. When a warning is shown, it sort of freaks people out with the red glow and warning symbol. They think that any warning must be "fixed" and resolved before publishing, something like that.

The wording can also make it seem like they’ve done something wrong. For example, "Some spot light shadows have stopped drawing because too many are visible at once." To a new creator this sounds like a telling off, in some sense. "There's too many! You did something wrong! There are more spotlights that there should be! You’re not allowed to have that many! Make there be fewer spotlights now!!"

Also, currently no numbers are given. So the only way of knowing in advance what the limits actually are is by trial and error, or checking my documentation for the relevant object. In fact, with some limits the warning shows up before the limit is exceeded, which is misleading.

For example, when there are 16 spotlights with shadow-casting on, the limit has not been exceeded; the creator doesn’t need to see any warnings. But the warning is shown anyway.

Let’s say that there are 18 powered spotlights with shadow-casting enabled. That exceeds the limit. What's the difference between what their scene "wants" to do and what it is doing? "2 spotlights cannot be processed." That's the only thing they need to know while the scene plays.

And this text doesn't imply the creator did anything wrong; to me this is clear (or at least clearer) that it's information on what's happening in the engine. Plus, it gives advanced creators real data to go on--that there are 2 spotlights not being processed. And they can handle that any way they wish.

I think this text could be displayed next to the thermometer readout. To the right perhaps, yellow on a translucent black box per line so it can’t become huge if only 1 line is longer. Each warning could stack upwards. This would allow users to immediately understand what the warning is, and may choose to ignore it and continue. But also as they edit the scene they can see the actual numbers being affected on these limits—working towards being within the limits or pushing further beyond them.

The creator could then click on that text to find an explanation as to why, including the numbers: "Only 16 spotlights that cast shadows can be processed at once. Currently, 18 are powered. 2 of them will not be processed, chosen based on those least likely to affect how the scene looks from the current view of the player. You can have more control over this by unpowering lights while they don't need to be processed."

The wording is in a more flat tone, with the emphasis on “pure data,” giving actual numbers on the limit and how it’s being currently exceeded—no guesswork or looking up required. They don’t have full control, which is why they’re being notified, and that’s made clear. It might be fine for them, it might be a problem. Up to them. And they are given clear instruction on what how to gain more control concerning this limit.

The numbers could be highlighted in some way to make it easy to parse at a glance. Perhaps repeated above or below in summary form “18 / 16” next to the title, with the 18 in red. I dunno, I’m just spit-balling. The main aim is to make it easy to understand and “read” at a glance, on whichever view the creator is at.

To avoid annoyance to advanced creators who acknowledge the exceeded limit and don’t want it cluttering the screen, a button could be pushed while hovering the line of text (perhaps triangle) to collapse it into a single icon. The icon can be clicked on again to expand it into a normal line. These icons could stack left to right at the bottom of the list of performance warnings—such that if they are all collapsed it would be very unobtrusive. And if they are all collapsed, the thermometer readout shouldn’t be on-screen unless the creator has turned on “thermometer” in the menus so it always shows up. This would further allow the creator to not be annoyed by the warnings.

Which are collapsed/shown could be saved with the creation so the creator doesn’t have to collapse a load every time they load up the scene.

These changes would make things more explicit and informative for advanced creators, with options to customise their experience to suit the way they work. While also being less scary and easier to understand for beginner creators.