Re: HP circles on minimap explained

I’m starting “Demystifying XVM” based on my inquiry about creating minimap “HP circles” and it resulted in my XVM tutelage under OverripeTomato and Soulza.  What I am adding right now is content supplied by them both, gathered in a single location and I will add my own discoveries as I develop them. 

In addition, I am including an interesting piece from Korean Random on XVM and font useage with built-in macros.  The use of fonts rather than flash or graphics makes one wonder about the inherent efficiency of using char- based “graphics” over true graphic images.  There was a time when this was a truism — perhaps not so much today.  But in the use of a gameplay client the issue of “FPS Loss” is a topic of continual discussion so — here we are!

Finally, I see XVM as an extensible framework but one that itself can be an FPS “suck” – depending on what features are enabled (or disabled).  For me this is not only gameplaying but also me figuring out how the XVM system works. I know I am likely re-discovering what others already know, but Google didn’t turn up much and what seems to be available is in Russian and translations simply dont make a whole lot of sense.