Reply 40 of 72, by WhiteFalcon
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root42 wrote on 2022-06-22, 06:56:Falcosoft wrote on 2022-06-22, 06:29:You have to try. I always use this double buffering 'flip' concept and redraw full pages. But I must say I do not think that ban […]
WhiteFalcon wrote on 2022-06-22, 05:09:Or is it okay to draw all the screen for every frame? Background, sprites and all? It did work in VGA 320x200, I think even on a 486, but that was less than 1/2 of the pixels. I am afraid it would give me like 5-10 FPS on the Pentium, if even that many.
You have to try. I always use this double buffering 'flip' concept and redraw full pages. But I must say I do not think that banked 640x480 256 color mode on a 486 (and 20+) fps is a realistic expectation. VGA 320x200 has less than 1/4 of the pixels (not 1/2). I think even the linear frame buffer mode of 640x480 could have performance problems on a 486.
I do not know your exact program and what your Store_xxx and Restore_xxx routines do but one thing is sure: Never read from video memory if performance is important. Writing to video memory is typically faster than writing to system memory but reading from video memory is always much slower than reading from system memory. So make sure your store routines do not save the video buffer.
BTW you can also use 320x240 VESA mode the same way as 640x480 and with some additional work you can offer your users a low-res and a high-res mode as selectable options.Good idea. Or even 640x400 as I mentioned above. If you are coding an adventure game (inventory comes to mind) you don't need to do full screens, and even the 20 FPS is not that important. I think that is very well doable on a 486, if you refrain from too large sprites or full screen scrolling and redraws. Also, color cycling can animate large swaths of image... 😀
True. I know myself enough to expect I will hit some wall and stop long before I create anything resembling a game, but that wont stop me from going there 😁 As they say, the road is sometimes more important than the goal. Nevertheless the goal is a photo-based point-and-click relaxation adventure game in the vein of, lets say, Lost in Time, Ween, Shannara, Death Gate, or perhaps the Infocom adventures (albeit with photographic graphics). The FPS is important mostly for the mouse cursor (when holding an item) to move smoothly. Dont think there would be much else animating. 640x400 would be a little faster and vram friendly, I still somehow prefer the look of that x480 with its square pixels 😀
Olivetti M4 P75, 32MB RAM, 4GB HDD, 8GB CF, CD-ROM, SoundBlaster AWE 64, Gravis Ultrasound MAX, Roland SCC-1, Roland MT-32, Roland CM-64
Intel 486DX2/66Mhz, 16MB RAM, VGA Trident 512kB, 1.6GB HDD WD, CD-ROM, 256MB CF, SoundBlaster 16 Pro (CT2910)