Distributed Beast Tutorial

Introduction

To distribute workload onto multiple computers, a software called IncrediBuild is used. The Mirror’s Edge editor calls the xgConsole command, which is a part of IncrediBuild's 'DevTools', to distribute Beast’s baking tasks on multiple computers.

A coordinator is the computer that initiates the work (lightmap baking).
An agent is a computer that shares workload from the coordinator (doesn't even need Mirror's Edge installed).

What You'll Need

The TURTLE folder from the Mirror’s Edge beta build.
Multiple computers connected to the same network (WiFi or LAN).
Mirror’s Edge editor on the coordinator computer.

IncrediBuild Installation

Go to IncrediBuild’s website (https://www.incredibuild.com/), register, and download the free edition.
Follow their official installation tutorial:

Choose custom installation.
On your main computer (where you will initiate the Beast bake), install both Agent and Coordinator.
On your other computer(s), install Agent only.
When installing IncrediBuild on the Agent computers, you’ll be asked for the Coordinator’s IP address.
To find that IP address, run ipconfig in CMD on your Coordinator computer. It should look something like 192.168.0.1XX.
When the installation is finished on all your computers, open the coordination monitor from IncrediBuild’s tray icon and test the connection to make sure it works.

Screenshot of IncrediBuild installation process

Beast

In the Mirror's Edge editor, when you check "perform distributed build" in the "run external baker" dialogue, XGEBUILD.BAT will be called, which uses XGEBATCH.XML as the settings for the IncrediBuild task.

You'll need to modify a few things in XGEBATCH.XML:

On line 6: Change Path=".\bin\thebeast.exe" to Path=".\bin\thebeast-64.exe".
Remove the -d option in Params if you want the preview window to show up.

Mirror's Edge Editor

To make IncrediBuild utilize multiple cores/computers, you need multiple sub-levels in your map. Workload is split by sub-levels.

To initiate a distributed build, run Mirror's Edge editor on your coordinator computer. Check "perform distributed build" in the "run external baker" dialogue.

Additional Resources

IncrediBuild Home Page
Installing IncrediBuild for Development Acceleration:
Incredibuild is a collaborative compilation tool, which is almost a must for large VC projects. Basically, there are several computers installed with incredibuild. The compilation speed is several times that of the original, which is very violent. Incredibuild has a 30-day trial period and cannot be used after expiration. I used a time clearing tool a long time ago. If you need it, you can download it for trial. Of course, if you are a company user, it is recommended that you persuade the department director to buy one, which is definitely worth the money. When you execute clear, the entire registry will be searched. The speed is a little slow, especially for poor computers. Don't think it's a crash, just wait patiently. :) After the first execution, a key.txt will be generated in the directory, which will be opened each time.ProgramThe time is automatically cleared without executing clear. PS: after installing the new version of incredibuild, run clear again to search the entire registry.
xbuildcrack.zip