Re: OpenGL vs. SDL for 2D

[Dennis Payne <dulsi@identicalsoftware.com>]

> I'd like to ask if it is possible to achieve better 2D performance in
> plain sprite blitting by using OpenGL/Mesa instead of using SDL on a
> decent 3D graphics card? I know the inconvenience of using special
> dimensions for the sprites under OpenGL/DirectX, but it does not really
> matter these days, does it? Also, older hardware would not be supported,
> but if a considerable performance boost is possible, that wouldn't
> matter, too.

What are you going to be making?  At the moment, I'd say you're
optimizing too early.  By that I mean you don't know if you need
whatever performance improvement you might get from OpenGL.  Wrap
the SDL in a thin layer and then convert to OpenGL if more speed
is needed (I'm suggesting starting with SDL simply because the
API is simplier).  If you want high resolution and/or lots of alpha
bending, it might be benificial to start with OpenGL since I don't
think SDL handles those well but I could be wrong.  Another possibility
is to modify SDL to use OpenGL so that everyone can benefit (if this
hasn't been done).

Dennis Payne
dulsi@identicalsoftware.com