The purpose of this theoretical thesis is to research the problem: producing optimized content for handheld real-time CG applications. This thesis is based on existing literature studiesregarding the subject. It will explore the topic on how to deal with draw calls, shaderoptimizations, hard/smooth edges and how engines deal with polygons and textures and howthis correlates with current technical limitations of current game engines for handheld realtime applications such as the iPhone. On these grounds, the thesis will expand on the subject of how those topics affect the hardware; more specifically targeted the GPU and CPU onmobile devices. Today, the hardware used on mobile devices on the market is limited; it is important tounderstand that a lot of factors come in to play and making optimization a part of the design, not a final step regarding the creation of content is vital when creating CG applications formobile devices. A closer look at the available evidences suggests that when dealing with the limited resources available every performance aspect should be closely looked into. It is vital to optimize the content and correlate your game budget accordingly to the marketed device. In the end it will make for a better game. This thesis sheds a light on the development strategiesfor CG applications on handheld devices.

Our goal with this study is to examine how much optimization of 3D game models can affect the overall performance of a game. After a previous pilot study we decided on use a method where we worked with a 3D scene which was made earlier unconnected to this study. We created two versions of the scene in Unreal Development Kit, one with none of the meshes optimized and the second scene where the meshes are optimized. From these two scenes we wrote down the different stats: the draw calls, frame rate, millisecond per frame and visible static mesh elements as well as the memory usage. Comparing these stats from the two scenes, we found that there was a change in the stats. Draw calls and frame rate had dropped in the second scene, as well as the memory usage which made the game run more smoothly without losing much of its aesthetic quality. / Målet med vår studie var att se hur stor skillnad optimering av 3D-modeller i spel gör för att förbättra spelprestandan. Efter att ha utfört en pilotstudie beslutade vi oss för att använda en tidigare byggd 3D-scen för undersökningen i vår C-uppsats. Vi skapade två versioner av scenen i Unreal Development Kit, en där inga modeller var optimerade och den andra där vi optimerat modellerna. Vi skrev därefter ner statistik från de olika scenerna, nämligen draw calls, frame rate, millisecond per frame och visible static mesh elements liksom minnesanvändning. Efter att ha jämfört resultaten såg vi att det fanns en väsentlig skillnad mellan scenerna prestandamässigt. Både draw calls, frame rate och minnesanvändningen hade minskat efter optimeringen vilket ledde till att spelet kördes smidigare.