Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!agate!darkstar!ucscb.UCSC.EDU!davids From: davids@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Dave Schreiber) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Game vs Multitasking Message-ID: <3930@darkstar.ucsc.edu> Date: 30 May 90 23:20:35 GMT References: Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu Distribution: comp Organization: UCSC Open Access Lines: 93 In article csuwk@cu.warwick.ac.uk (Ade Lovett) writes: >In article <3871@darkstar.ucsc.edu> davids@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Dave Schreiber) writes: >> In article mt87692@tut.fi (Mikko Tsokkinen) writes: >> > And BTW my game contains fractal landscape and complex 3D objects, you >> >seriously think 68000 can run it and some other programs simultaneusly? >> >NO WAY MAN! > >> Of course a 68000 can run it and other programs. It's not like the >> chip is going to explode or something if you try it :-). Your game will >> just run more slowly that it otherwise would (depending on how many tasks >> are being run, how processor intensive they are, their priorities, etc.). >> The choice, however, should be left up to the user; I personally don't >> like being told what my system's capabilities are when the programmer has >> no idea just what my system is. > [...] >First, if your game doesn't need to be speedy then, fine, there's no >reason why it shouldn't multitask. However, your average Joe Punter Perhaps someone should explain this to the creator of Arkanoid 1/2:-)... >who goes into his local store and decides to buy a game which describes >itself as blinding fast with stunning 3d graphics is going to be a little >annoyed when he finds that because it's multitasking, it actually runs >about as fast as downloading 4Mb of news at 1200 baud. It's all very nice >for people to say "but on my A328732 Turbo-nutter with fuel injection it >won't be a problem", but you have to cater for the majority of machines when >it comes to games -- i.e. the bog-standard A500, 1/2Meg RAM, 7.14Mhz 68k. >Consider a game where you've got a 4-bitplane screen which is updated >10 times a second. Just displaying the screen means you're going to be >shifting 10x4x320x200 bits = 320k(ish) of screen data a second, not including >all the time spent figuring out hidden plane removal (assuming a nice >3d shaded polygon blast-em-up game). In this case, you're not going >to want to make a call to OwnBlit() only to be told by the OS "Sorry >matey, task XYZ is using it at the mo for saving the file its just >downloaded on to the HD" ... you want the blit, like, now (man :=) > I don't see what the problem is. If I decided to run task XYZ and it hurts the performance of the game, then that's my problem. I can either live with it, or not run task XYZ and get the game going at full speed. Either way, it's my choice, which is the way it should be. If Joe Punter decided to download a program while playing the game, I don't really see where he would get off blaming the company for a loss of speed (now that WOULD be arrogant). >I'm just getting a little p*ssed off about the arrogance of some people. >Sure, you may have a super-fast Amy, but you're the exception not the >rule, and if you don't cater for the rule, you're not going to get any >sponds out of your game. Since these machines cost loadsa money, why >don't you just blow away another $500 on an A500 to run games? (In fact, >that's the way I work - development machine being an A2000 with lots of >RAM and an HD and a 68020, and an A500 for testing and playing games). I own a 68010 based A2000. Not exactly a 'super-fast Amy', unfortunatly. I owned a 500 for two years before I bought the 2000, and only was able to get enough money to buy the 2000 (+2Mb memory+HD+controller) after selling the 500 (well, actually I collected the UPS insurance money, but that's a long story :-( ). If I get a 3000 this summer, it will be after selling my 2000 system, working full-time for three months, and giving my parents a rather large amount of $$ (my share of my college expenses). I'm certainly not going to use what $$ I have left over to get a 500, especially if all I'm going to do with it is play games. Moral: Don't assume that someone who has (or is going to get) a super-fast Amiga is rolling in $$ (or ##, as the case may be :-). >+--- Ade Lovett --------+- ade@cs.warwick.ac.uk ------ +44 932 842478 -------+ Personal flames to E-mail, please. [boy, I'm getting tired of having to pad these out. Vile followup software >:-P...] -- Dave Schreiber The blue leprechaun at davids@slugmail.ucsc.edu (prefered but flakey) or (not both) davids@ucscb.ucsc.edu "Coffee, Darling?"