Patent ID: 8243064

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for modifying a first level of detail (LOD) parameter associated with a vertical that defines one or more physical simulations for a graphics object contributing particles to a graphics scene, the method comprising: identifying the first LOD parameter associated with the vertical, wherein a value of the first LOD parameter influences a number of particles contributed to the graphics scene by the graphics object during the one or more physical simulations; receiving a physics processing index (PPI) comprised of one or more components that indicates the capability of a first computer system to perform physical simulations; generating a particles budget based on the PPI, wherein the particles budget defines a maximum number of particles to be included in the graphics scene; modifying the first LOD parameter to ensure that the total number of particles in the graphics scene upon execution of the one or more physical simulations on the computer system is less than the maximum number of particles defined by the particles budget; and providing, via a processing unit, the modified vertical, directly or indirectly, to a software application for rendering an image of the graphics scene for storage or display.