diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 9e88fca..bea2f84 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -175,13 +175,29 @@ static bool initialize(void) {
         return false;
     }
 
+    /* TODO: recognize cli parameter to turn it on on release */
+    /* debug mode _defaults_ to being enabled on debug builds. */
+    /* you should be able to enable it at runtime on any build */
+#ifndef NDEBUG
+    ctx.debug = true;
+#else
+    ctx.debug = false;
+#endif
+
     SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_MAJOR_VERSION, 1);
     SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_MINOR_VERSION, 5);
-    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_FLAGS, SDL_GL_CONTEXT_DEBUG_FLAG);
+    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_RED_SIZE, 5);
+    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_GREEN_SIZE, 6);
+    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_BLUE_SIZE, 5);
     SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_ALPHA_SIZE, 0);
-    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_DEPTH_SIZE, 8);
+    SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_DEPTH_SIZE, 16);
     SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_DOUBLEBUFFER, 1);
 
+    if (ctx.debug)
+        SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_FLAGS, SDL_GL_CONTEXT_DEBUG_FLAG);
+    else
+        SDL_GL_SetAttribute(SDL_GL_CONTEXT_FLAGS, SDL_GL_CONTEXT_NO_ERROR);
+
     /* init got far enough to create a window */
     ctx.window = SDL_CreateWindow("townengine",
                                    SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED,
@@ -202,11 +218,15 @@ static bool initialize(void) {
         goto fail;
     }
 
-    SDL_GL_MakeCurrent(ctx.window, ctx.gl_context);
-    SDL_GL_SetSwapInterval(1);
+    if (SDL_GL_MakeCurrent(ctx.window, ctx.gl_context)) {
+        CRY_SDL("GL context binding failed.");
+        goto fail;
+    }
 
-    int glad_status = gladLoadGL();
-    if (glad_status == 0) {
+    if (SDL_GL_SetSwapInterval(-1))
+        SDL_GL_SetSwapInterval(1);
+
+    if (gladLoadGL() == 0) {
         CRY("Init", "GLAD failed");
         goto fail;
     }
@@ -261,14 +281,6 @@ static bool initialize(void) {
     /* you could change this at runtime if you wanted */
     ctx.update_multiplicity = 1;
 
-    /* debug mode _defaults_ to being enabled on debug builds. */
-    /* you should be able to enable it at runtime on any build */
-#ifndef NDEBUG
-    ctx.debug = true;
-#else
-    ctx.debug = false;
-#endif
-
     /* hook up opengl debugging callback */
     if (ctx.debug) {
         glEnable(GL_DEBUG_OUTPUT);