Celius wrote:
Yeah, seriously, when I see how much I can fit into the limited amount of memory on the NES, I can't believe how much modern games use. It seems like many games just waste so much RAM, but then again they have a lot more information to process than your typical NES game. They probably can get away with it too since so much more is available. For example, they may find it quicker to dedicate an entire byte to a status flag, rather than using each individual bit. And since they can get away with it anyways, they probably don't care. Maybe I'm wrong though; I haven't programmed for modern systems ever.
Me too! I've been bothered by this for a long time. Why should a save file be even one megabyte, when all you should have to save is a name and a number of flags representing your position in the game and equipment?
Of course games with sufficient complexity get a pass; ones where you can save full race replays or do any texture/map editing. Though even there, it doesn't have to be exorbitant. Never use a 16-bit int when a bitflag will do!