Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news
From: SCEE Developer Support <ps_yaroze@interactive.sony.com>
Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.programming.2d_graphics
Subject: Re: Sprite Z Ordering
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 17:06:08 +0100
Organization: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
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Message-ID: <3354F8F0.73D8@interactive.sony.com>
References: <01bc49e3$259ecfe0$250ce8c3@cma> <3354CA83.3A4A@interactive.sony.com> <01bc4a77$0d5a0be0$02018484@chrisa>
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Chris Allmark wrote:
> 
> SCEE Developer Support <ps_yaroze@interactive.sony.com> wrote in article
> <3354CA83.3A4A@interactive.sony.com>...
> > Sorry about the relative lack of strucure in the manuals,
> > they are under ongoing improvement
> 
> a leading question .. will updates be free ?

They will definitely be free.

> > If you really can't get anything to display at priorities
> > other than zero, I must suspect the main loop display code;
> > the most straightforward way to build a game main loop is to
> > grab the basic shell which sets up an OT, handles objects,
> > registers drawing requests in the OT, waits for VSync,
> > etc; the point being that building up your own is more
> > time-consuming and error-prone.
> 
> So what are the limits of the "pri" parameter 0..? should it be 0 to 14
> (OT_LENGTH)
> or 0.. 2<<OT_LENGTH (OT_TAG size I think ?)
> 

It's the latter, 0 ... 2<<OT_LENGTH.
As far as I know, the OT length set when you declare
the OT fixes the number of distinguishable Z value levels;
this sets the range for legal Z values to the GsSortSprite
functions. Having said which, there may be some means
to handle off-OT z limit, eg if OT had just 1024 levels and you
register a sprite at 4096, it may be OK, just put in at 1024.
Sprites registered at the same z value may appear in front/
behind each other, determined by the order in which they
were registered in the OT.

Lewis