I fixed my laptop issue; I got a new laptop, lol! Reloaded was the first program loaded onto it, and it runs much better than on the old one. On both my machines (desktop included, MAME Cab), I get between 40-70 fps with the default settings (get to the river, everything pretty much all the way up, vsync off). I do get some occasional stuttering on both machines while running in the editor, but when I create an executable, it is smooth. I can't help but think I should be getting better frame rates, though, especially on such a basic level. Neither machine is top of the line, but they are both fairly robust, as well as new (no contaminants!). I did notice that as I killed off enemies, my frame rate increased significantly, and gameplay smoothed out more and more, and when I turn off AI altogether, it goes WAY up. Perhaps the AI is one of the next challenges? Anyway, I'm impressed with the improvements, and it sounds like most others are, too. It's been worth the wait for me! As somebody said above, onward and upward!
MAME Cab PC: i7 4770@3.4Ghz (passmark 9945), 12GB RAM, Win 8.1/64, GeForce GTX645 (passmark 1898); Shiny new laptop: i7 4800MQ@2.7Ghz (passmark 8586), 16GB RAM, Win 8.1/64, GeForce GTX870M (passmark 3598); Old laptop: i5@2.3Ghz, 8GB RAM, Win 7/64, Intel 3000 graphics