My finger slipped 
After spending a greuling weekend of coding on my Raider’s Saga RPG
project I’ve come to the point where I actually need to optimize
something (because for the most part it actually works 
). But I’m
wondering if the strategy I’ve choosen is the best one for my app.
The app that needs the optimization is my map editor (which a
screenshot is available at members.xoom.com/kokido/screenshots.html),
the code will be available as soon as I finish the optimizations (and
remove some non critical bugs). Basically the inner loop is doing the
following (psuedocode) :
do {
get_keys_and_update_mouse_position_and_buttons();
do_stuff_with_key_presses();
see_if_gui_buttons_were clicked();
if(current_tile_was_changed) {
redraw_tiles();
}
redraw_special_tiles();
redraw_grid();
draw_mouse_cursor();
update_the_whole_screen();
} while it’s_still_running;
redraw_tiles() {
redraws tiles in a 9x9 grid accounting for offset, and draws
current tile only redraw when neccessary because there is no animation
in regular floor tiles.4
}
redraw_special_tiles() {
sames as redraw_tiles, but redraws everyframe due to animation
}
redraw_grid() {
redraws the 8x8 grid, accounting for offsets into the 30x30 world
and redraws everyframe to account for animation
}
my blit function is basically a wrapper for the sdl ones, but is
horribly inefficient. My world is stored in two arrays, one for the
floor tiles, and one for the special tiles, because a special tile may
also be in the same location as a floor tile.
My optimization strategy is to use a list of rectangles and make a
single call to sdl_update_rects, and to double buffer the whole thing
so I can blit as much of the existing screen as possible. I’ll also
keep track of the tiles that change. I don’t use threads, and the
program is locked to 16 frames a second with the wait_frame function
from the sdl_demos. Does my optimization plan seem sound or does
anyone have a better suggestion?
Phoenix Kokido
members.xoom.com/kokido
@Wes_Poole