Budget

In game design, the budget is the amount of time available to process each frame.

• 300 (or 400 in newer version of CS:GO) frames per second (FPS) is the maximum on the Source engine by default, through it can be uncapped using the fps_max console command. Going over around ~1000 FPS in any Source game, can cause timing and tickrate issues. The same things also applies to GoldSrc with over around ~100 FPS (over 72FPS in previous pre-SteamPipe version and Retail/WON version), breaking NPCs turn rate and object moving speeds.
• At 60 FPS, the optimal and recommended figure, each frame must be drawn in 16.6 milliseconds or less.
• At 30 FPS, the lowest acceptable figure, the budget allows for 33.3 milliseconds per frame.

Tip:In most situations, it is graphics processing that takes up the majority of a budget. AI and game rules have no excuse for becoming expensive within a single frame, and physics calculations can be kept under control by limiting the number of interacting objects at any one time.

In practical terms, it is impossible to achieve a set framerate on the PC platform, since hardware can vary wildly and affect performance in all manner of different areas—so don't worry too much about the numbers above. Your best bet as a modder is to ensure that the game performs well with mid-level settings on modest hardware, and then allow your audience to tune their own settings according to their system's capabilities.

Monitoring Your Budget

Source's built-in tool for monitoring performance is the console command showbudget.

See also

• Cheap
• Expensive
• Free

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