[Freeciv-Dev] Re: [Re: Performance (was: [Re: [OpenGL client (was Re: Re: Project)] (fwd)])]

[Daniel Burrows <Daniel_Burrows@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Feb 03, 2000 at 07:34:06PM +0000, * was heard to say:
> As to a square needing several triangles, its all about realism.  You ever
> seen a 3d landscape where they used a single plane for the ground (2
> triangles)?  even on flatland, it generally looks somewhat pathetic.  Slight
> normal changes exist in even the most flat lands, and it helps the effect
> immensely (and simplifies the programming).  Now that I realize that the ram
> req's aren't that bad, it isn't a problem.

  Would it be possible to make this (or maybe more generally, the number of
triangles in a square) an option?  Not everyone has a $300 3D accelerator, and
Mesa is..um..not the fastest software renderer out there :)

> I also had a... rather nifty idea for saving the landscapes.  You can save an
> entire landscape in just 4 bytes!  (plus saving the dimensions, ruggedness,
> etc).  Just save the random seed number.  Anyone see a problem with this?  One
> that couldn't be gotten around from, say, putting the source code for a random
> number generator in the code?

  That's a really clever hack :)  Unfortunately, the terrain can change in
Freeciv so you'll need to store a little more..either you could save deltas or
just give in and store the whole thing..

> It looks like we will be having to make some minor server mods, so there will
> be a gl server also, unless you can think of a better way (fractal terrain
> generation doesn't like being told "there's a mountain here, and a plain
> here...", it likes to make it itself, and thus we'd need to use a true 3d
> model, unless we want to make 3d tiles, which doesn't look near as nice)

  Does the server have a tile-based map internally as well?  (ie, can non-gl
clients still connect, or will +GL have to be added to the capability string?)

  Daniel

-- 
  Wisdom is one of the few things that looks bigger the farther away it is.

  -- Terry Pratchett