RE: XML was RE: [GD-General] RE: A portable preferences library

[Gareth L. <GL...@cl...>]

> Actually, I remember reading an article comparing the performance of
> MSXML (used via COM interop) with the .NET XML classes, so I 
> believe they
> are different. The .NET classes are written in C# (and are a 
> bit slower).
> 
> About vertex data: we have a dual-pass data processing scheme, where
> first a simple dumb Max plugin dumps all the data Max 
> provides into a verbose
> format. The second pass reads the raw vertex data, builds meshes, 
> optimizes, etc. and prepares single-seek binary files. It is 
> convenient to
> separate the flaky DLL-hell Max SDK part from the part the 
> does the real work.
> 
> In such a scenario, I believe it's OK to use XML for the first format.
> Maybe when the assets grow to be in the order of hundreds or thousands
> of meshes, it will show on the build time.
> 

I totally agree with you here. Intermeditry formats are very good. Not only
to get around the max DLL crap, but also so you can write exporters from
various tools to the same format, and write tools that load the xml up,
modify the data (stripify, build bsd trees, whatever) and write out the xml
again.

But single seek files, preferably ones that can be read directly into
memory, are (to me) a must for games.