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[Veroule]

I sit corrected.  Thank you both, it has been 20 years for me since I actually looked at any C64 reference matterial.  I have one sitting in my closet but I picked a number that felt about right out of my memory, in other words I was talking out of my ass and didn't think anyone had enough of clue to call me on it.

Also you did assist in making my point, with the fact that graphics of near matching resolutions could be achieved with far less computers.

Just to expand upon it slightly.  The benefits of improved graphic efficiency will allow for future handling of more complex graphics, I think that is actually where you imagine DF in a few years, while still providing that players can actually play.

DF provides a very rich game play, currently at a cost of graphics.  As an old school progammer this isn't much of a problem to me.  However, to attract more players from amongst the current children, graphics will have to improve.  The use of OpenGL from the start helps to lead towards this, but it is a huge overkill right now.  With the very obvious waste of processing power, all I have to say is please consider your long term goal and set making efficient use of the API a priority.

Mr. Toady, I started running DF though some disassembling software and also reading up on the OpenGL API.  Somewhere along the line I may have a few suggestions of things you can try; but as always the decision remains with you, and the vision is yours.

Jagie, I have no qualms suggesting such things while software is in an Alpha state.  Normally code optimizations and such are done towards the end of a Beta state.  What I am suggesting is a major rewrite and appropiate to Alpha.  I may have removed myself from programming long ago, but the vetting process for programs hasn't actually changed.

[X]

...or you could just look at the source of KQ rather than all this penis-posturing over assembly and in-my-day-we-got-by-with-half-a-bit-of-ram-and-no-trousers.

X

[ April 01, 2007: Message edited by: X ]

[scjohnno]

There really isn't a whole lot of point in rigorously optimising the graphics code when the CPU is going to be the bottleneck in 90 percent of cases. The only places it's going to help are when you're at the menu or have paused the game, and who needs a high FPS there?

As it is, DF is pushing around a pretty huge amount of data for a quasi-roguelike, and quickening the graphics code isn't going to help much with that.