Why is the Text function so slow in Blitz3d?

I have a game I created and using Text to put 4 UI elements on the screen (score, goal, highscore, title) adds 200-300 milliseconds to my game loop, making the game feel not very responsive.

Is there a solution to this?

Thanks

You are using an nvidia card. You must download and install the latest drivers. Previous drivers had a bug in them.

It does happen with older, non-NVidia cards too...

IMO you should use text-commands ONLY for dev-time debugging info and such; use "bitmap" fonts in your "real" game. Faster and better looking...

Definitely bitmap fonts. In 2D it is easy enough to use one of the free font tools but for 3D I highly recommend you purchase FONText.

Many users have found FONText to be a good solution to this problem. :)

You could also use just very small words ! ;)

Okay I installed the latest nVidia drivers and that fixes it - adds about 2 milliseconds to my loop now, rather than 150.

The reason I am using the built in text is this is my first game and I wanted to keep things relatively simple for now.

Definitely switch to bitmap fonts before releasing your game though. I made the mistake of using the Text command in my initial release and was inundated with complaints about the game running slowly.

Yeah. FONText is invaluable. It *will* end all your worries just like that. Pretty cool for a tenner.

I use only 2 text commands in my game(final release), and I will hopefully remove even them for fontbitmap or for a texture solution.

Here a few tests some people would like to see to open their mind on the argument.