Quote Originally Posted by User137 View Post
Obviously you always want to load the textures straight from disk. But another thing you need to pay attention to is how many textures you use. Each call of glBindTexture() is a slow operation. So for example a tile map, being split each in its own texture would be a huge performance loss.
That's why loading/setup/init sequence exists in every game before you can actually play. It's no secret, isn't it?