Sample questions
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 1
What is a 'frame budget' in game development?
- aThe total number of frames a game can render before crashing
- bThe maximum file size allowed for a single frame's assets
- cThe maximum time allowed to produce one frame at the target frame rate✓
- dThe number of draw calls permitted per second by the platform
Explanation:Frame budget is the time window available to produce a single frame at a chosen target frame rate; if the work for a frame exceeds that window, the frame rate drops or stutters.
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 2
Which statement best distinguishes a CPU-bound frame from a GPU-bound frame?
- aCPU-bound means the CPU work finishes later than the GPU; GPU-bound is the opposite✓
- bCPU-bound frames only occur on mobile devices, GPU-bound only on PC
- cCPU-bound means the game uses more disk storage than GPU-bound frames
- dGPU-bound frames always run faster than CPU-bound frames regardless of workload
Explanation:A frame is CPU-bound when the bottleneck is game logic/simulation/submission work on the CPU side finishing later than the GPU could consume it; it's GPU-bound when the graphics hardware is the slower side.
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 2
A game spawns and destroys a new bullet object every time the player fires, dozens of times per second in heavy combat. Frame times spike during these moments. What is the most appropriate general fix?
- aReduce the player's fire rate so fewer bullets exist at once
- bMove all bullet creation to a background thread with no other change
- cIncrease the target frame rate so spikes are less noticeable
- dReuse a fixed pool of pre-created bullets instead of creating and destroying them✓
Explanation:This is the classic object pooling case: frequent creation/destruction of short-lived objects has real cost (allocation, initialization, teardown). Pre-allocating a pool and reusing instances removes that repeated cost from the hot path.
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 1
Conceptually, what is 'garbage collection' in the context of frame rate concerns?
- aA manual process where the developer deletes unused assets from disk before shipping
- bAn automatic process that reclaims unused memory and can pause execution✓
- cA rendering technique that removes objects outside the camera's view
- dA network protocol step that clears unused player connections
Explanation:Garbage collection automatically identifies and frees memory that is no longer reachable. Because it runs at unpredictable times and can briefly pause or compete with the main thread, it is a common cause of frame-time spikes if the game allocates heavily.
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 2
A game targets 60 frames per second. Approximately how many milliseconds does each frame have to fit within?
- a33.3 ms
- b8.3 ms
- c16.7 ms✓
- d20 ms
Explanation:1000ms / 60 ≈ 16.7ms per frame. Any consistent overrun of this budget causes the frame rate to drop below 60.
Game Performance OptimizationDifficulty 3
A mobile game loads all level textures at full resolution into memory at once. On lower-end devices, the OS starts terminating the app or textures visibly corrupt during play. What is the most likely underlying issue?
- aThe frame budget for 60fps was miscalculated
- bThe CPU is spending too much time on physics broad-phase checks
- cThe garbage collector is running too frequently
- dThe game's memory usage exceeds the device's available memory budget✓
Explanation:Mobile and console platforms have a hard, fixed memory ceiling. Loading everything at full resolution regardless of device capability can exceed that budget, leading to OS-level termination or emergency asset downgrades — a classic memory budgeting failure, not a frame-timing one.