Maarten ter Huurne wrote:
>1. Only optimise if you need more performance. There is no point in
>spending effort to decrease CPU usage if your game already runs at full
>frame rate. Or to take 10ms off a loading routine.
There is a point to it. Doing everything as fast as possible greatly
improves battery life of handheld devices.
Ofcourse you are right with all your points when speaking about PC.
>Development in assembly will take longer than in a higher level language.
>If it's not necessary to write a certain part of a program in assembly,
>why would you spend your time doing so when you could be doing something
>more useful or more fun?
Sure... But look at the problems Richard is having with integrating the
moonblaster player in his TP project. Hybrid development is not as easy on
MSX as it is on PC!
There's almost nothing in higher languages that can't be solved in assembly
with some clever macro's and ready-made routines. Unless you're talking
about object oriented stuff, but we're strictly talking MSX here.
> > IMO, with the state of Z80 cross compilers and/or native MSX compilers and
> > given the power of the 3.58MHz Z80, it's hardly practical to program in
> > anything higher than assembly for serious projects.
>
>Much of Uzix is written in C and I would certainly call that a serious
>project.
Heh... That's an OS, something completely different. Try programming a game
like Nemesis in BASIC or Pascal... Or even C! On MSX, it's not doable.
> > This doesn't go for all type of games, but don't you think most of them do
> > need assembly to get a good gameplay?
>
>It depends on the type of game. If you have a turn-based puzzle or strategy
>game without a CPU-intensive AI, assembly is not necessary. Simple action
>games (Pacman, Athletic Land) could work as well. Or adventures like
>Snatcher.
Which is what I was saying too... The games you mention are all relatively
simple. A good shooting game or platform game just can't be done in a
higher language on MSX. And even programming simple games in assembly
allows you to polish them more!
Greetz,
Patriek
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