Lua, game state and game loop

Question

1. Call main.lua script at each game loop iteration - is it good or bad design? How does it affect on the performance (relatively)?

2. Maintain game state fro

Answer 1

I am using Lua for the first time in a game I've been working on. The C++ side of my application actually holds pointers to instances of each game state. Some of the game states are implemented in C++ and some are implemented in Lua (such as the "game play" state).

The update and main application loop live on the C++ side of things. I have exposed functions that allow the Lua VM to add new game states to the application at runtime.

I have not yet had any problems with slowness, even running on hardware with limited resources (Atom processor with integrated video). Lua functions are called every frame. The most expensive (in terms of time) operation in my application is rendering.

The ability to create new states completely in Lua was one of the best decisions I made on the project, since it allows me to freely add portions of the game without recompiling the whole thing.

Edit: I'm using Luabind, which I have read performs slower in general than other binding frameworks and of course the Lua C API.