Re: ocaml, simd, & fftwgel RE: [Caml-list] Caml productivity.

["Jonathan Coupe" <jonathan@meanwhile.freeserve.co.uk>]

John Max Skaller <skaller@ozemail.com.au> wrote:


> >Huh? Which parts of a real time interactive game aren't real time??
> >The whole thing, from gameplay interaction to graphics and sound,
> >must be done in 'real-time'.

Actually, front end gui, persistence, and a lot of game logic and AI don't
have to be realtime (e.g. AI's don't have to do pathfinding instantly, they
can hesitate, amortize, etc.)

> Damien Doligez <damien.doligez@inria.fr>
>
> I'd say no part of a real-time interactive game is real-time.  To me,
> real-time means something like the Ariane 5 rocket, where you have a
> deadline every 36ms for the 12 hours of the mission.  And if you miss
> even one deadline your 100M$ rocket will crash.

Hence the terms soft and hard realtime. Games are the first.

> On the other hand, in something like Unreal Tournament, a half-second
> freeze every 10 minutes is no big deal, and the users will not even
> complain about it.

Many of them will. Lots of them will call the help line. Each time one does,
you've lost several dollars - typically the developer's profit per unit
profit margin or more.

Plus: if your product freezes, and the other guy's doesn't - you're toast.
Typically that means you've lost $1.4M-$3M of development money, but it
could be more. Then there's marketing, distribution, etc. And this is real,
not government, money. You need substantial advantage to make up for this
risk. Which is where this started.

- Jonathan



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