[crossfire] More server speed reducing the objects number

[Mark Wedel]

Alex Schultz wrote:
>
      Alberto Sáez Lodeiros wrote:
     >
     
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      (Before that, sorry for my english, I'm from Spain, and there are some
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      expressions i don't know very well)
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      I was thinking that the MetalForge server can goes faster (or simply
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      save RAM?) reducing the objects in the world. I refer to reduce the
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      number the objects, not monsters.
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      One way to do this is making "corpses-containers", as some CF players
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      disscuss at #crossfire IRC channel.
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      For those who weren't there at October 15, the questions is this:
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      "When a player kill a monster, this monster drops it's loot to the
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      floor, creating on this way some more object. So the idea is that
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      instead the killed monster drop all the loot, only appear it's corpse,
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      and then, when the player "apply" the corpse, this opens like a
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      briefcase or chest, containing all the monster's loot."
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      We have disscussed the way to do this, and like we talk about, the 
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      best way is:
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      1.- Spawn
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      2.- Create random Loot
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      3.- Die
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      4.- Create container
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      5.- Move loot to container
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      6.- Put container in monster
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      Well, the idea is reduce the objects over the map/s
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      And this is all. I think this is a good idea.. :)
     >>
     
     >
      This might be a good idea, however ram usage would actually increase 
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      slightly not decrease, though it may have a minor positive performance 
     >
      impact.
     
  It would certainly clean up the maps some (don't have piles of hundreds of 
objects)

  auto pickup code would perhaps need to get redone to handle those, but not 
that big a deal.

  Taking a look at the metalforge server, which last crashed tuesday, it 
currently has 113 MB allocated to it.  IMO, by modern standards, that really 
isn't that much.

  It could help performance in these ways:

1) When a creature dies, since its objects go into a death container, no need to 
check to see if they merge with other objects on the map, etc.

2) Potentially less objects to check when a spell goes over the space, etc.

  That said, #2 is tricky - things like burning hands should probably still have 
a chance to burn up those objects?

  Downsides:

1) Monsters that pick up loot would now need to do more work (instead of the 
objects of 5 dead creatures merging, they would be all seperate, instead of the 
common objects merging.

2) point 2 from above- fire effects may now have more objects to check for 
destruction because they don't merge.


  All that said, I'd think this should be more driven by actually thinking this 
is a good or bad feature, not memory or performance reasons.