Code review comment for lp:~widelands-dev/widelands/full_texture_atlas

Update: If you want te test the usage of the texture atlas in game, use this branch:
https://code.launchpad.net/~widelands-dev/widelands/use_image_cache

After you generated the texture atlas, you have to move the files into a directory called cache:
$ build/src/graphic/wl_make_texture_atlas 8192
$ mkdir cache
$ mv output* cache

Then start Widelands as usual.

> Can the building be part of installation process?

No, since it requires an OpenGL context to build the texture atlas. Therefore, a GUI is needed.

> I dont understand that stuff fully, but an user can pick various resolutions + windowed/fullscreen mode on his/her PC - no problem with this?

No, no problem with that.

> If one changes graphics, he has to put the atlas into a branch and upload for testing?

No, a graphic dev would need to run the program like described in this merge request - they could do that locally. The problem is that we'd need to build texture atlases at various sizes: 16384, 8192, 4096, 2048 and check all images in. If a dev changes one of the source images, all of these atlases would change again - this would yield huge changes to the bzr repo (since the images are big, 50MB).

> Will this restrict the resolution options? F.e. no 800x600 resolution anymore?

No, I meant the max texture resolution of graphics cards. The game will not loose any features, just gain performance.

> May there could be some kind of slideshow and/or descriptions of the game to bridge the time for the user while in the background the atlas is made?

That is hard - since all graphics need to go into the atlas. We could probably show a still image or some text, maybe also a progress bar.