Steele Stadium remains the ultimate benchmark for measuring input latency. Its detailed background textures, animated industrial cranes, and deep outfield dimensions expose micro-stutters faster than any sterile benchmarking utility. Hitting a Randy Johnson heater or connecting with an underground Crazyball pitch requires sub-50-millisecond response windows. Miss that timing window by three frames, and a line drive down the third-base line turns into an embarrassing strikeout.
We tested three primary browser runtime solutions across a standard school-issue Intel Celeron Chromebook, an Apple M2 MacBook Air, and a Windows 11 desktop running Google Chrome version 124. Frame pacing was recorded using browser devtools performance traces and high-speed camera displays.
| Runtime Platform | Average Frame Rate | Input Latency | Chromebook Stability |
|---|---|---|---|
| ScummVM WebAssembly Port | 59.8, 60.0 FPS | 28, 36 ms | Optimal (No dropped frames) |
| DOSBox pure JavaScript Port | 44.2, 52.1 FPS | 68, 84 ms | Moderate stutter on audio buffers |
| Emscripten x86 Full Sandbox | 56.4, 58.9 FPS | 45, 52 ms | High thermal throttling over 20 min |
The dedicated ScummVM WebAssembly build produced nearly flat frame-time graphs. Batting inputs synced cleanly with pitch releases, even when outfield collisions triggered simultaneous voice lines. By contrast, generalized DOSBox ports struggled with audio sync drift, causing the stadium sound effects to lag up to 400 milliseconds behind graphical contact.
