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Optimize hot paths: distance calculations, collision detection, rendering#1

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copilot/improve-performance
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Optimize hot paths: distance calculations, collision detection, rendering#1
Copilot wants to merge 5 commits intomainfrom
copilot/improve-performance

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Copilot AI commented Feb 1, 2026

Targeted micro-optimizations in frame-critical paths to reduce CPU overhead.

Changes

Distance calculations (game_state.zig)

  • Defer sqrt until final result (compare squared distances)
  • 3 sqrt ops → 1 per command

Collision detection (collision.zig)

  • Cache grid lookup in resolveMove
  • 2 worldToGrid calls → 1 per movement

Render batching (terrain_renderer.zig)

  • Hoist constants outside 64×64 loop
  • Pre-compute block_y_offset, grass_type_id

Function inlining

  • Mark hot path helpers as inline: worldPos, cellTopY, worldToGrid, decoHeight, noise utilities
  • Eliminates call overhead in tight loops

Main loop (main.zig)

  • Skip clamp/lerp when position delta < threshold

Example

Before:

for (0..world.creature_count) |i| {
    const dist = @sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz);  // 3 expensive sqrt ops
    min_dist = @min(min_dist, dist);
}

After:

for (0..world.creature_count) |i| {
    const dist_sq = dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz;  // cheap comparison
    min_dist_sq = @min(min_dist_sq, dist_sq);
}
return @sqrt(min_dist_sq);  // 1 sqrt at end

Impact

Estimated 5-15% reduction in game logic CPU usage. Most gains in movement/collision paths and 60 FPS render loop.

Original prompt

Improve performance


✨ Let Copilot coding agent set things up for you — coding agent works faster and does higher quality work when set up for your repo.

Copilot AI and others added 4 commits February 1, 2026 20:51
- Avoid sqrt in minDistanceToCreature by comparing squared distances
- Cache grid lookups in collision.resolveMove to avoid redundant worldToGrid calls
- Hoist constant calculations out of render loops
- Inline frequently-called functions (worldPos, cellTopY, worldToGrid)
- Optimize main loop to avoid redundant clamping when no movement
- Simplify conditional logic in game state

Co-authored-by: kxzk <25046261+kxzk@users.noreply.github.com>
- Inline decoHeight function used in collision detection
- Inline noise helper functions (fade, lerp, grad) used in world generation
- Extract cell_top_y calculation in collectCreatureBatch for clarity

Co-authored-by: kxzk <25046261+kxzk@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: kxzk <25046261+kxzk@users.noreply.github.com>
Refactor resolveMove to reduce duplication while maintaining performance:
- Keep cached grid lookup optimization
- Consolidate floor calculation logic
- Add clearer comments explaining the two cases

Co-authored-by: kxzk <25046261+kxzk@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Improve performance of the application Optimize hot paths: distance calculations, collision detection, rendering Feb 1, 2026
Copilot AI requested a review from kxzk February 1, 2026 20:56
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2 participants