[SDL] speedier sprites

[Kylotan]

Anatoly R. wrote:
> I wasn't working on anything SDL related in couple of monthes, but as
> far as I remember apps which were using PNGs, MP3 sound etc were
> running absolutely fine on that box. And I DON'T CALL IT LOWEND (some
> of you probably call P2-P3 "lowend").

My Cyrix 233 MX certainly couldn't run a fullscreen scrolling 2D game
using 32 bit colour at a high frame rate (40+ FPS) with an MP3 playing
in the background.

> My opinion about using obsolete formats is:
>
> Those, who still try to use BMPs and force users to use them instead
> of PNGs in GAMING !ENGINES! are slowing down industry progress.

PNG is a complex format and is overkill for many things. Not to mention
that using PNG in SDL generally means adding in sdl_image, which
requires libpng, which requires zlib... 3 extra libraries. I'm not in
favour of premature optimisation, but PNG offers me almost nothing over
TGA (which is easier to code support for) or BMP (which has support
built in).

> 8 bit colors in 2003... OMG.

Do you mock those who use the command prompt too?

> SDL isn't ported to systems which are limited to 256 colors.
> There is no SDL on GBA, SNES (LOL), GP32.

Firstly, I believe SDL is available on Windows CE, which commonly runs
on devices limited to 256 or even 16 colours. Secondly, you're missing
the point: you get almost four times the speed using 8 bit graphics
compared to 32 bit. I have tested this with SDL, and I know this from
experience. It may not be true on your system, but in general, it is the
case.

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Kylotan
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