Pre-release unfinished build v.02 widescreen combat test

combat's running slow on this one.

I did get this in terms with the slowdown that it had.
Do any of you have any advice on how I tackle this?

I’ll check the latest capture and compare combat performance with the new renderer on and off to see where the slowdown is coming from.

The capture worked: I found the saved battle state from your latest session at the 384-pixel width. It doesn’t record FPS, but I can replay that exact state for timing comparisons.
The code currently renders the battle three times: the normal frame, a correctness-check frame, and the expanded frame. I’m measuring how much that extra work costs.

The replay confirms a real processing slowdown: the captured battle takes about 10.3 ms per frame with native rendering, 16.3 ms with the extra correctness check, and 21.9 ms with the full 12:5 combat view. That last figure is over the roughly 16.7 ms budget for 60 FPS.
The extra rendering work is the first thing to optimize. I’m finishing the 16:9 comparison before recommending the next change.

Your capture worked, and I confirmed the slowdown.
The combat renderer currently draws each frame three times: normal gameplay, a correctness check, and the expanded view. Your captured battle took approximately:
Native rendering: 10.3 ms/frame
Widescreen combat: 21–22 ms/frame
Budget for 60 FPS: 16.7 ms/frame
These are processing measurements, but they agree with your reported slowdown.
The next step is to remove redundant rendering while preserving the visuals and safety checks. I haven’t changed your working executable yet.