^ Week 02, Thursday

▶ review system architecture

game prototype

• log game state changes to some console
  • trace logging, e.g. C.out, trace()
  • in game HUD, e.g. com.pixeldroid.tools.osd.Console
• implement pixeldroid arcade rom interface for access to controls and high scores
• rom: com.pixeldroid.r_c4d3.interfaces.IGameRom
• controlsProxy will be set to an implementation of com.pixeldroid.r_c4d3.interfaces.IGameControlProxy
• scoresProxy will be set to an implementation of com.pixeldroid.r_c4d3.interfaces.IGameScoreProxy
• stub out every major state (screen)
• see examples in svn:

testing strategies

• unit test: determine correctness of functional units before integrating with rest of system
• update and build with latest code frequently to identify problems early

profiling techniques

• timing
  • fps
  • function timing
  • execution counting
• identifying bottlenecks with window size
• processing – smaller window has no effect on frame rate
• rendering – smaller window improves frame rate

optimization strategies

less is more!

• test early; test often; optimize last
• do as few things simultaneously as possible
• reduce screen redraw
• share object instances rather than create new ones
• cache memory references, especially long dereferencing chains
• precalculate known values
• defer unnecessary calculations
• use fewer local scripts
• ignore inactive areas