#rendering id Software moved to #Deferred rendering for Id Tech 8 as it proved more performant than their #Forward+ solution. About 26% faster opaque pass #gdc #gamesev

@idSoftware I admire the idSoftware folks, but apples to oranges, the total frame time of 2016&Eternal was way lower than idTech8 [won't find idTech8 running on Switch 1 for example]. Would be nice if someone would pickup the 240 Hz baton from where idTech7 left off.

@idSoftware Still amazes me that they decided to do it at the end of the game's development

@idSoftware I guess deferred only works for PBR shading? I feel like forward rendering is so much more versatile and the only option for stylized graphics.

@idSoftware I guess no VR now.

@idSoftware Yeah but deferred was already faster for opaque passes. How are they handling transparency, is it still more efficient then? I guess it wouldn't matter for a game like doom with little to no transparent/subsurface scattering materials. Its all very situational

@idSoftware Wow bruh, Killzone 2 did it on ps3 17 years ago

26% faster opaque pass is solid, but deferred's real win is lighting scalability. Forward+ struggles when you hit 1000+ dynamic lights per frame - deferred keeps it linear. The tradeoff: G-buffer memory bandwidth. Id's probably using packed normals + roughness/metallic to keep it under 4GB VRam. Worth it for open worlds.