Your First Tuning Session on a Production Scene

Applying a new performance tool to an active game project can be daunting. This workflow outlines the recommended procedure for your initial tuning pass.

Step 1: Duplicate Scene / Branch ──> Step 2: Bind Camera Route ──> Step 3: Establish Baseline ──> Step 4: Run Trials ──> Step 5: Journaled Apply

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1. Branch Safety & Scene Isolation

Before touching quality settings:

1. Create a dedicated git branch: git checkout -b perf/devicefit-initial-tuning.
2. Duplicate your primary gameplay scene as Scene_PerformanceLab.unity.
3. Strip any non-deterministic elements (such as random AI spawner scripts) or replace them with fixed FixtureAdapter components.

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2. Setting Up the Route Runner

1. In Scene_PerformanceLab.unity, create an empty GameObject named [DeviceFit Runner].
2. Attach the RouteRunner component.
3. Open Tools > Decnet > DeviceFit > Create Route.
4. Fly your Scene view camera through the most demanding section of your level (e.g. looking across the entire map or walking through dense foliage).
5. Add 4 to 6 checkpoints capturing key vistas. Mark at least one checkpoint with dense lighting as a Visual Checkpoint.
6. Save the route as Assets/Routes/Main_Vista_Route.asset and assign it to the RouteRunner.

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3. Capturing the Baseline

1. Open Tools > Decnet > DeviceFit > Experiment Desk.
2. Set your execution mode to In-Editor Emulation.
3. Create an ExperimentBudget targeting your project’s framerate (e.g. $16.67\text{ ms}$ for 60 FPS).
4. Click 1. Capture Baseline.
5. Let the runner complete all 3 passes without moving your mouse or clicking on other applications.

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4. Analyzing & Running Trials

1. Click 2. Review Evidence to inspect the diagnosed bottleneck.
2. If the bottleneck is GPU-bound, enable Shadows and LOD in the tuning plan.
3. Click 3. Plan Trials followed by 4. Run Reviewed Plan.
4. Review the candidate delta table:
   • Identify candidates that save frame time above the noise floor ($\ge \max(0.5\text{ms}, 2\%)$).
   • Check the Visual Comparison window to verify shadow and mesh quality.

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5. Applying and Verifying

1. Select the winning non-dominated candidate.
2. Click 6. Apply Reviewed Config.
3. Verify that your URP Asset has updated in the Project window.
4. Open Tools > Decnet > DeviceFit > Applied Changes to confirm the SHA256 journal entry was created.
5. Re-run 1. Capture Baseline to confirm that the new steady-state frame time matches the trial prediction!