Re: Gnome Games will make 3D mandatory for 2.28

[Callum McKenzie <callum spooky-possum org>]

Vincent Povirk wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 9:31 AM, Jason D. Clinton <me jasonclinton com> wrote:
>> The old Gnometris engine is completely worthless, in my opinion. So,
>> it will be ripped out entirely.
> If that's true, it's a sad situation IMHO.
> 
...
> 
> If the 2D engine is a burden, someone is doing it wrong.
> 

The current gnometris 2D engine was an experiment in using the cairo
library for games. As it turns out cairo is crap for anything that has
to be redrawn frequently. So, yes it is a sad situation (and I'm the one
responsible for it).

You can make a very fast 2D engine using pixmaps and the standard X
windows primitives. However, if you want any effects that don't fit
within the grid of blocks (which is what I was trying with the
cairo-based engine) then it becomes very complicated. A 3D engine with
its natural support for layering and rotating provides a nice
straight-forward API without the performance problems. I think this
actually makes it quite a good fit for the problem. Sure it uses a
ridiculously complicated piece of hardware for playing tetris and it
offends our instincts, but this hardware is already driving the screen
so it isn't really an issue.

 - Callum