Most Optimization Advice Misses the REAL Problem @simondev758

Most Optimization Advice Misses the REAL Problem @simondev758

Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

Performance is one of the most important aspects of game development, but how do you actually approach it? Let's explore how to investigate a performance issue, and understand what steps and strategies we can employ.

Gamedev Courses: simondev.io
Support me on Patreon: patreon.com/simondevyt

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Twitter: twitter.com/iced_coffee_dev

Reference:
simoncoenen.com/blog/programming/graphics/DoomEternalStudy.html
github.com/dbartolini/data-oriented-design
computerenhance.com/p/clean-code-horrible-performance

https://x.com/AgileJebrim/status/1783085023442137197
https://x.com/SebAaltonen/status/1655959255181152256
knarkowicz.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/octahedron-normal-vector-encoding
developer.android.com/games/optimize/vertex-data-management
abseil.io/fast/hints.html
nnethercote.github.io/perf-book/profiling.html

youtube.com/watch?v=WpgXz5Z9v-U
youtube.com/watch?v=sLcksHR30UA
youtube.com/watch?v=lb-tlY6ytk8
youtube.com/watch?v=L0hrpf9oSW4

Most Optimization Advice Misses the REAL Problem

Building a Simple 3D Scene with Physics in JavaScript & Three.js

3D World Generation #8: Floating Origins for Bigger Worlds (JavaScript/Three.js)

3D World Generation: #5 (Texturing): Triplanar Mapping/Infinite Splatting/Blending/Bombing

The ONE Texture Every Game NEEDS

3D Mesh Generation, Gaps, and Stitching (3D World Generation #10)

$Spatial Hash Grids & Tales from Game Development 🛒 Recommended books (on Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1IMV0IR3QIZMQ?type=wishlist&tag=simondev01-20&sort=priority&viewType=grid ❤️ Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/simondevyt 🌍 My Gamedev Courses: https://simondev.teachable.com/ Disclaimer: Commission is earned from qualifying purchases on Amazon links. Follow me on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/iced_coffee_dev Github: https://github.com/simondevyoutube/ In this project were covering spatial hash grids, or spatial hashing, people seem to call it all sorts of different names. Anyway, well be covering a spatial hash grid implementation in JavaScript, working through it line by line. Well walk through the code step by step, explaining it as we go, and as an added bonus, Ive implemented a small scene in Three.js with hundreds of moving agents that we can use to visualize whats visible from the perspective of any given agent. Ill also tell a small but interesting little story from way back when I was working on xbox/playstation games. Somewhat related to the topic. Having a comprehensive understanding of data structures is fundamental to being a solid game developer. You need to understand the trade-offs, not just in time complexity. Questions like memory consumption, implementation and on-going maintenance costs, these all factor in. Sometimes simple solutions, implemented well, that get you 95% of the way there but at a fraction of the developer cost, are the way to go. The three.js library is available in JavaScript for cross-browser 3d graphics, wrapping webgl and making high level functionality available in the web browser. It’s an extremely mature and well maintained library that I use for many of these videos. In the video, we cover: * What problem are we trying to solve? Well look at examples from major games to understand their needs in different situations. * Well touch on alternative spatial data structures, and discuss the tradeoffs. * Ill talk about an instance in my career thats relevant to this problem * Step by step walk through for the full implementation of a basic spatial hash grid.$

Most Optimization Advice Misses the REAL Problem