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Zaz
Account closed
Registered: Mar 2004
Posts: 33 |
loading times & drive compatibility
Hi all,
I'm working on my first multi-load demo for the C64.
I'd like to have good synchronization between the music and the effects, so I have to take into account loading times.
So the question is, what's a good strategy to do this? Given that loading times will vary between different drive models, and maybe between different drives of the same model.
Is a simple safety margin good enough, and if so, how can I determine how long it should be? Any other issues to consider?
I would like to use Krill's loader, btw.
Thanks in advance.
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raven
Account closed
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 137 |
@Oswald:
Even if the head is positioned for the next file as soon as one finish, the head still needs to move x tracks to that position.
When loading files back-to-back, you will get less of a delay between the files if x=1 :)
Also, if all files are saved in a linear way (same as saving one big file that contains everything) you will get zero delay when loading back-to-back.
In tight timing situations, this will help quite a bit! |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5094 |
indeed, you're right there. it's also a good idea to load all your data in one file tho. I doubt there's zero delay. |
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Zaz
Account closed
Registered: Mar 2004
Posts: 33 |
So what's a reasonable way to handle load errors? Just crash? |
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WVL
Registered: Mar 2002
Posts: 902 |
I think all of the things I ever did just crash :) Good enough to show the viewer that something is wrong ;) |
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MagerValp
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1078 |
I'm using:
lda #2
sta $d020
eor #8
jmp * - 5
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raven
Account closed
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 137 |
@Zaz:
It depends on the application I guess.
In my loader I didnt include any error checks/feedback, I figured its quite useless in a "trackmo" style demo where timings are usually tight, no time to re-load if something goes wrong! :)
(Also, it saves precious cycles!) |
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Krill
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2980 |
If your demo crashes because there's not enough slack with loading times, you are doing something wrong though. A loader is not a raster effect.. :) |
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Krill
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2980 |
Quote: So what's a reasonable way to handle load errors? Just crash?
That's bad style. At least there should be some error-indicating screen, like Magervalp suggested. Best would be a human-readable error printout, i think. |
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WVL
Registered: Mar 2002
Posts: 902 |
Quote: If your demo crashes because there's not enough slack with loading times, you are doing something wrong though. A loader is not a raster effect.. :)
That's bad ofcourse, but if demos crash because the disk is bad or the drive is a lot of shit, then it's ok imo. |
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tlr
Registered: Sep 2003
Posts: 1790 |
Quote: That's bad ofcourse, but if demos crash because the disk is bad or the drive is a lot of shit, then it's ok imo.
I would usually refrain from calling a particular drive a "lot of shit".
Perhaps there are loaders that break on drives that are within spec?
This is a mechanical device. Lots of things have a wide tolerance range.
You have to test it on a multitude of configurations to be anywhere near sure.
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