2026-02-02 – Weekly Video Game News : Geometry-driven occlusion's game debut

Last week, discussions on the forum ranged from technical innovations to community collaboration. Members dived deep into the practicalities of implementing advanced techniques in game design, like geometry-driven occlusion and deterministic lockstep for RTS games. There was also a lively exchange on how to enhance VR experiences with spatial audio and haptics, and some insightful comparisons between CGMA and Unreal Fellowship for environmental storytelling. These conversations highlighted both the technical and creative aspects of game development.


This Week’s Hot Topics

Help shape our February Q&A
Community input is crucial for our upcoming Q&A session in February. Your questions and topics could guide the conversation.
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Earliest deterministic lockstep in an RTS
This thread discusses the origins and implications of using deterministic lockstep in real-time strategy games. It’s a must-read for those interested in game mechanics.
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Tuning spatial audio and haptics for VR
Explore how developers are fine-tuning audio and haptic feedback to create more immersive VR experiences. This discussion is packed with practical insights.
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CGMA vs Unreal Fellowship for env storytelling
A comparison of two popular programs for learning environmental storytelling in games. This is valuable for anyone considering professional development in this area.
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First game with geometry-driven occlusion
Find out which game pioneered the use of geometry-driven occlusion and the impact it’s had on game design.
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Decodable audio in Portal’s radios
A fascinating look at how decodable audio was implemented in Portal, adding depth to its storytelling.
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Client prediction meets slapstick
This thread explores the comedic potential of client prediction algorithms, adding a humorous twist to technical discussions.
Read more here


Thanks for catching up with us. We’re looking forward to another week of engaging discussions and shared learning. Take care!

And used ‘geometry-driven occlusion’ with low-poly occluder proxies; depth pyramid beat software rasterizer on Switch, but watch dynamic foliage leaks.

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On our last project we shipped with ‘geometry-driven occlusion’ and the two tweaks that killed most thin-prop/foliage leaks were inflating occluder proxies a tiny camera-space amount along normals and adding a 1‑frame hysteresis before toggling visibility. For VR, sharing one visibility buffer across both eyes kept the depth pyramid from disagreeing, at the cost of a bit of overdraw. If you’re CPU-bound or mostly indoors, a simple room/portal mask can sometimes beat fancy culling in real scenes.

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I’ve found that optimizing mesh complexity can really help balance occlusion techniques. Sometimes it’s all about finding that sweet spot between poly count and performance, especially in dense environments. @nina_r56, have you experimented with reducing unnecessary details? It can make a huge difference.

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