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Jack Knobel

@jackknobel.com
192 followers 224 following 58 posts

Game Engine Tinkerer, 🇦🇺in 🇫🇮. Senior Core Engine Programmer at Remedy Games. Prev: Frostbite, The Artful Escape The Bards Tale IV, Trover Saves the Universe, Kieru.

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Reposted by Jack Knobel
Kostas Anagnostou @kostasanagnostou.bsky.social · 4h
PIX timing capture functionality has been extracted into a separate library to offer recording of a large number of events including, among others, GPU top/end of pipe timestamps, object lifetime and memory residency/eviction in-game. devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/intr...
devblogs.microsoft.com
Introducing DxTimingCaptureLibrary - DirectX Developer Blog
Today we released DxTimingCaptureLibrary, an open-source C++ library for DirectX developers. It is available on GitHub under the MIT license, and it works
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 15h
Im a big fan of deadlock it’s bloody great! Well worth ago
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Reposted by Jack Knobel
Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 16h
AMD has released an optional driver update that should address crashes and FPS drops some CONTROL Resonant players have been experiencing. Find the release notes and download link here: www.amd.com/en/resources... #CONTROLResonant
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 27/09/2026
Thanks so much Gavin!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 27/09/2026
Aha! I’ve noticed this on live as well and had a note to take a look I fixed this a few months back and it was due to a huge amount of D3D frees competing with some D3D locks Switching to the segment heap mostly solved it (amongst a few other changes) but it appears we’ve regressed somewhere..
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 27/09/2026
Huh, that’s weird. What’s the difference between the two drives? Had a few reports of this, but outside of people running HDDs we’ve not found a cause Any chance you’d be interested in sending me a superluminal capture or the drive specs? Just started holidays but I can send it to some folks!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 27/09/2026
To confirm with your top point, do you mean the UI text is on screen (continue , new game.. etc) but the background video hasn’t loaded? What platform? I have nothing but sadness for our startup times and the black void that appears between the splash screen and menu appearing (boy did I try)
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Reposted by Jack Knobel
Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 25/09/2026
We're aware of some players on AMD GPUs experiencing crashes and FPS drops in CONTROL Resonant. To our knowledge, AMD is working on a driver update that should address this problems - it will be coming out very soon! #CONTROLResonant
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
But it’s not the largest level by far, and they all have different streaming “personalities” 😅 Cannot overstate how much work went into optimising this game and getting all this right! Resonant Gameplay team killed it and in particular, from Tech Design, Timothy Aspeslagh who was vital in this
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
For Resonant we’re outdoors, with long vistas AND the ability to view them from many different angles (thanks to the gravity mechanics) AND higher density The final zone you get to is a prime example of this, which I can only describe as “truly fucked” from the streaming complexity perspective
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
But importantly, as you said, very different level structures! Control is all inside and with tight corridors joining to different rooms We could get away with streaming volumes streaming each area (and sometimes adjoining areas) as the player enters. Tho the complexity here was still insane
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
I wasn’t around for shipping control but do have some context! As you said entity counts were a lot less. Tho we didn’t have full ecs paradigm as we do now so the definition of an “entity” differs entirely here (the engine is very different now to what it was then)
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Thank you for playing! We have a knack for never making the same game twice so if you like this then worth giving our other games a go! They’re all quite different gameplay wise
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Completely agree! Makes me want to do more things like this during production Haha, I can totally imagine. Getting this across the line was hard enough with these airlocks. Cannot fathom doing the same on ps4 with an actual open world!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Thank you! Apologies for the delay but it’ll be worth the wait!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Woah, that’s a massive pilgrimage! Hope you’re enjoying all of them, you’re in for a treat with AW2 last. An all-timer for me!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Apologies on the delay! But glad you’re still excited 🙏
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Reposted by Jack Knobel
Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
We did a LOT here to improve the performance Here’s where we were a year ago on base PS5 at performance target ( 60hz )
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 25/09/2026
Thanks Eric! Means a lot
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
In any case I hope people have a great time with the game. It’s been built with a lot of love and care by the whole team (including Northlight!) If you’re having a blast or running into issues be sure to post through the regular channels as the team monitors them!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
If you’re curious about how we got here I’ll be talking about exactly this ⬆️ at GCAP in Melbourne in less than 2 weeks! registration.crowdcomms.com/gcap2026/sch... Once I’m back from holiday (end of October) I’ll try to get this online 🙌
Getting Northlight Performance Under
CONTROL
Future Ready
Engineering & Technical
02:00 - 02:50 PM
Jack Knobel
Room 109Getting Northlight Performance Under CONTROL

CONTROL: Resonant is Remedy's densest game to date, with entity and component counts massively exceeding anything the engine has seen before. As a result, the Northlight Core team had to re-evaluate our approach to many of the runtime systems.

In this talk, I’ll provide a high-level overview of the different parts of Northlight and break down a series of CPU-side frames in CONTROL: Resonant's "airlocks". Within these frames, I’ll detail both the attempts made and the actual solutions used to solve the ‘Stutter Struggle’ we repeatedly encountered, including discussions of world streaming, data transformation pipelines, ECS and resource management.

This talk is for intermediate to advanced engineers. By the end, you’ll have a concrete checklist of where to look first when a transition blows your frame budget on a dense, gameplay-system-heavy game, and a set of steps you can utilise when the obvious fixes aren’t enough. Join me as I walk through the variety of attempts and techniques we applied; virtual memory, data baking techniques, parallelism and more will all be explored!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
And a side by side It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot more I wish we had time for But that is the reality of shipping a multi-platform game of this size!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
Through some considerable hard work between the Resonant team and practically all departments in Northlight here’s where we are today on PS5 in this same spot
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
For context here we’re: Unloading: 280k entities 10.4 million components Loading: 378k 14.1 million components And this isn’t even the largest level in the game! 🤯
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
We did a LOT here to improve the performance Here’s where we were a year ago on base PS5 at performance target ( 60hz )
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
For Alan Wake 2 we could hide our level loads through fade to blacks and loading screens For Resonant this wasn’t something we could do Enter the “airlock”, a void between two levels where we can safely do a level load and unload without *hopefully* any of you noticing!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
Resonant is by all accounts our largest game to date. Our peak entity counts are almost 3x more than what we had in Alan Wake 2! Northlight isn’t an open world engine. So there was a lot we had to optimise cpu side to handle a game this size across all our platforms Level loading is one of them…
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
Now tech. On the Northlight side this is our first game shipped with our New World Editor (NWED) This new tech is built on top of OpenUSD. Which has enabled us to do a lot more complex and detailed setups through the power of composition! www.pixar.com/openusd
pixar.com
OPENUSD — Pixar Animation Studios
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
First I just want to thank my wonderful fiancee @aliviamantel.com, she’s truly the best 😍 AND has a song in the game! You can check it out at Atlantis cafe in zone pattern (near the dancer 👀)
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
I’m in the game!!! Now for a thread of things 🧵
Credits scene with an arrow pointing at my name saying “me”A brick wall with a decal saying “buckets KNOBEL barrels”
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 24/09/2026
Today’s the day, Resonant is available now! Poured my whole heart into this thing to make the tech for folks working on AND playing the game as best as they could be Really hope the game resonates with our existing fans and we capture a whole bunch more! 🙏 youtu.be/SqvAvOAd1VA
youtu.be
CONTROL Resonant - Launch Trailer
YouTube video by Remedy Entertainment
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 24/09/2026
Nothing stays contained forever. CONTROL Resonant is out now. Wield the Aberrant. Find your sister. Fight for control. We will see you in altered Manhattan. 🖼️ Art by Sampo Rask #CONTROLResonant
An illustration by Sampo Rask of Jesse and Dylan Faden from CONTROL Resonant. They are standing back to back, with their hands almost touching. There are papers flying around Dylan's feet, with various scribbles and doodles on them.
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 23/09/2026
The Federal Bureau of Control needs all capable hands to help with the unfolding crisis in Manhattan. Please find a standardised leave of absence request form enclosed. Present it to your place of education or employment upon filling it out, and no later than September 23rd EOD. #CONTROLResonant
LEAVE OF ABSENCE REQUEST FORM. Dear [blank], please grant [blank] temporary leave to aid in resolving the unfolding situation in Manhattan. Due to the currently unknown nature of what will be required of them, they may be absent for some time, and we request that you grant them leniency. It is of the utmost importance that they are able to complete their assignment swiftly, confidentially, and without obstruction. As such, we kindly ask that you do not attempt to contact them during their absence, nor question them once it has concluded. Your understanding is appreciated at this time. Sincerely, Acting Co-Director Emily Pope
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Problem Machine @problemmachine.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Quoting myself from a day ago - "The problem is thinking that the product of a programmer is code. It isn't, really, the code is just the final stage. The actual valuable thing the programmer produces is the underlying mental model. Without that, the code is just tech debt"
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 18/09/2026
6 days until CONTROL Resonant launches. What are you most excited about? #CONTROLResonant
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 17/09/2026
The countdown has begun! Only 7 days left until the launch of CONTROL Resonant. CONTROL Resonant arrives September 24th 2026 to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Pre-order now! controlgame.com #CONTROLResonant
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Chip (aka Josh) @chipcheezum.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Hey folks, I made the launch trailer for CONTROL Resonant, please check it out I think it's good. And then also buy the videogame because I think that's good too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqvA...
youtube.com
CONTROL Resonant - Launch Trailer
YouTube video by Remedy Entertainment
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Reposted by Jack Knobel
Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 17/09/2026
Manhattan has never faced a crisis like this. Reality has been twisted and bent by an invading cosmic force. Only Dylan Faden can stop this paranatural geophysical nightmare. CONTROL Resonant arrives September 24th. Pre-order now! youtu.be/SqvAvOAd1VA #CONTROLResonant
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Daniel Draper @draperdanman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
My latest PlayDate game is out! I think it's pretty fun to find a good combo and absolutely demolish.
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 10/09/2026
Join Sean Durrie and Courtney Hope as they talk about their experiences working on CONTROL Resonant. Check out the latest CONTROL Resonant Development Diary episode now on our YouTube channel. youtu.be/N8wJs9Q9PVI #CONTROLResonant
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Cameron J.Rooney @crooney.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Hey you! Are you looking for a marketing leader with over 15 years of experience? One who has worked in AAA games, specialising in technology marketing, who has amazing hair? With experience across brand design, videography, and MORE?! Then look no further than www.cameronrooney.com (pls)
cameronrooney.com
Cameron Jordan-Rooney
Technical product marketing across AAA game engines, fintech and sport. Fifteen years from EA’s Frostbite engine to Dogecoin.
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Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 25/08/2026
In CONTROL Resonant, enter altered Manhattan as Dylan Faden. Take back the city. Take back control. Save your sister, regain your humanity. < BUCKLE UP > CONTROL Resonant arrives September 24th. Pre-order now! youtu.be/VwOJuJRCLGk #CONTROLResonant #GamescomOpeningNightLive
youtu.be
CONTROL Resonant - Altered State Trailer | Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026
YouTube video by Remedy Entertainment
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Robin-Yann Storm @rystorm.com · 14/08/2026
Most people in the game industry do not know what OpenUSD is. They hear about it, but then look it up, and find hour long technical presentations which are very hard to understand. So instead: I have made a video that explains what USD is in 10 minutes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRhJ...
youtube.com
What is OpenUSD? A simple explanation (Version 2)
YouTube video by Robin-Yann Storm
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Gregory Louden @gregorylouden.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Thrilled and honoured to be doing a keynote at GCAP 2026 🇦🇺 It means the world to share my learnings back in Australia as an Aussie, and I can’t wait for it. See you soon, Melbourne! #GCAP2026 #GameDev
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Live++ @liveplusplus.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
In other news, Linux support is coming along nicely and the Closed Beta will most likely start in Q3 2026. Reach out if you are interested!
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 11/08/2026
Can see the full GCAP lineup here registration.crowdcomms.com/gcap2026/sch...
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 11/08/2026
Been a hot minute since I spoke at GCAP but I’m BACK This time talking about CPU performance on CONTROL Resonant; a mere week and a half after we launch! Stutter struggles were real so I’ll be discussing how we tried to solve some of the worst offenders Join me on Monday 5th Oct 14:00 - 14:50
A screenshot of my talk summary.

Getting Northlight Performance Under CONTROL

CONTROL Resonant is Remedy's densest game to date, with entity and component counts massively exceeding anything the engine has seen before. As a result, the Northlight Core team had to re-evaluate our approach to many of the runtime systems.

In this talk, I’ll provide a high-level overview of the different parts of Northlight and break down a series of CPU-side frames in CONTROL Resonant's "airlocks". Within these frames, I’ll detail both the attempts made and the actual solutions used to solve the ‘Stutter Struggle’ we repeatedly encountered, including discussions of world streaming, data transformation pipelines, ECS and resource management.
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Dead Walshe @deanw.xyz · 05/08/2026
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Jack Knobel @jackknobel.com · 01/08/2026
Congrats on the 10 years! You’ve contributed more to this industry than we deserve. You and your teams work are some of the greatest reminders on why I love this industry Thank you for all of your hard work!
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Elsbeth Larkin @funtimesmcgee.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Hi everyone, today me and 22 others at Double Fine were hit by layoffs today. All the people who lost their jobs today care so much about the games they make and the people they work with. If anyone is looking for a tools SE with 7 years of experience and who brings baked goods on Mondays lmk.
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