From:	"Dan Goodman" <dog AT fcbob DOT demon DOT co DOT uk>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: Graphics level
Date:	Wed, 22 Jul 1998 02:53:49 +0100
Message-ID:	<901072331.20673.0.nnrp-06.9e989aee@news.demon.co.uk>
References:	<003901bdb49a$14764360$194e08c3 AT arthur>
NNTP-Posting-Host:	fcbob.demon.co.uk
Lines:	47
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

>My ATI card has 4MB of onbord SDRAM. Any card (including your Diamond Fire)
>which has some 3D capability will have at least 2MB (if it's very old) but
>more usually 4, 6 or 8MB.

It has 8MB, it is a new card, that's not the problem, I am running my Win
desktop at 1280x1024x32 with no probs.

>
>I'm not sure why you had to get Display Doctor. I though most modern cards
>came with VESA 2 as standard? Or at least VESA 1.2?

Well, i emailed them, and basically, they don't care about DOS support
whatsoever, they just need it to support WinNT and Win9x!

>
>As for 640x480x16, there is another way other than VESA: use the other SVGA
>drivers. The problem with this is that you need a compatible card. I can
use
>the ATI Mach 64 driver, but there is no driver for the Permedia 2. That's
>why VESA was introduced - to make a standard system. :^)

Think I'd better stick with VESA then, as most cards support it. Also, would
WinAlleg use the windows drivers? because I could release two versions then,
Alleg and WinAlleg.

>Remember that when using page flipping, most graphics cards wait for a
vsync
>before swapping. This means that your frame rate is limited by the refresh
>rate of your monitor. But that's usually not a problem. Optimisation is
>still a good idea because some cards *don't* wait for a vsync, and you can
>also fit more stuff into one refresh.
>
>The best method to use depends on your game. If it is a 2D game, then you
>could give yourself a speed boost and use the Dirty Rectangle method.
>Possibly. You should experiment, but I would prioritise Dirty Rectangles
and
>Page Flipping.

My game is 2D so I will try Dirty Rects next.

Thanks for the advice, I will put the game on my web page and make a post
here as soon as I have a working version. It looks pretty nice so far.

Cheers,
D

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