Are you *only* trying to do audio, or are you trying to render GL as well?
-- Seth Willits On Dec 13, 2013, at 1:57 PM, Alex Hall <mehg...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello list, > I am attempting to use OpenAL to move a sound source around. To do so > smoothly, though, will require a loop, so I can update the position in small > increments many times per second. This is essentially a game loop, so I've > done much searching on implementing game loops in Objective-C. There seem to > be a few schools of thought on the topic: > > NSTimer: it works initially, but you can't rely on it to provide smoothness > or constant rates. A timer could take up to 0.1 seconds to execute, so don't > rely on it. However, other sources suggest that a timer will work just fine, > particularly on the more powerful OSX compared to iOS devices, and doing > anything else is a waste of effort for lower FPS projects. > > Main loop: every NSApplication has an instance of NSRunLoop attached to it > when it starts. Hook into that (the mechanics of doing this are still not > clear to me) and you are good to go. However, this is more work for no > additional benefit, and you need to worry more about memory usage (I have no > idea if the samples I've read were using ARC or not). > > Separate thread: uses standard-issue while(keep_running) loop in a new thread > to process the game logic and refresh the world, and you're set to go as fast > as you need to. However, this introduces the usual multi-threading concerns > and is far more advanced than many projects actually need. > > Additionally, there is concern about how fast to set the refresh rate, which > is not a problem in a regular while loop but becomes a bit complex otherwise. > Most people seem to agree that you should see how long the last cycle took, > and update your interval accordingly. > > Again, this is not (yet) for iOS, so I cannot rely on iOS-specific solutions. > I am also not currently doing visuals, and I am not sure which framework I > will use when and if I need to begin doing so, so I'd rather have my loop not > rely on any visual framework. The bottom line seems to be that timers are > easiest but not reliable, yet some people insist they will work well enough. > So, what are your thoughts on the best way to make a game loop for OSX? While > I would like to port this project to iOS in the future, I'd like a solution > that will work on both platforms, and the Mac first. Given that my program is > mostly based in sound, would timers be okay? Should I look into hooking into > the NSRunLoop somehow instead? I'd really rather not go multi-threaded yet, > but if I have to, I have to. Thanks for your opinions. > > > Have a great day, > Alex (msg sent from Mac Mini) > mehg...@gmail.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) > > Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. > Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com > > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/slists%40araelium.com > > This email sent to sli...@araelium.com -- Seth Willits _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to arch...@mail-archive.com
