HP Curiocity
Building Lightweight Systems for Low-End Devices
Eduardo Martinelli
HP Curiocity stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and technical innovation, brought to life through a partnership with Hewlett Packard. This project presented me an exciting challenge: to rejuvenate a legacy codebase and transform it into a model of efficiency and scalability. My role was pivotal in this transformation, focusing on rearchitecting the game to a centralized data-oriented approach that significantly enhanced performance and user experience.
Revitalized Codebase: Central to the project's success was the overhaul of the existing codebase. By transitioning to a centralized, data-oriented architecture, I was able to achieve a remarkable 47% reduction in RAM usage. This not only streamlined the game's operations but also set a new standard for resource management within our development practices.
Performance Enhancements: The upgrade of the legacy system had a profound impact on the game's performance, notably increasing the frame rate by 30 FPS. This improvement in fluidity was the result of leveraging memory locality and temporality, and the responsiveness greatly enriched the gaming experience, making HP Curiocity more engaging and enjoyable for users.
Optimization Milestones: Implementing advanced optimization techniques, such as culling, pooling and procedural generation, was a key strategy in reducing the build size by 59%. This not only made the game more accessible by lowering the download burden but also streamlined updates and maintenance processes.
Platform Profiling and Benchmarking: A comprehensive profiling and benchmarking effort across WebGL, Android, and React Native platforms led to an impressive 82% reduction in loading times. This achievement was crucial in enhancing the accessibility and user satisfaction, ensuring that players could dive into the game with minimal delay.
AI System Overhaul: A significant milestone was the implementation of an ultralightweight urban-environment AI, replacing older, less efficient systems. This new AI not only improved the game's dynamics with simpler yet effective pathfinding but also contributed to the overall reduction in resource usage, making the game even smoother for players.
HP Curiocity exemplifies the impact of strategic technical improvements on game development and performance. Through diligent work and a focus on implementation, the project not only met but exceeded the expectations of stakeholders.
