diff --git a/game/graphics/display.cpp b/game/graphics/display.cpp
index 273641e2d1..a737485381 100644
--- a/game/graphics/display.cpp
+++ b/game/graphics/display.cpp
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ int InitMainDisplay(int width, int height, const char* title, GfxSettings& setti
   return 0;
 }
 
+void KillMainDisplay() {
+  KillDisplay(GetMainDisplay());
+}
+
 void KillDisplay(std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay> display) {
   // lg::debug("kill display #x{:x}", (uintptr_t)display);
   if (!display->is_active()) {
@@ -118,8 +122,8 @@ void KillDisplay(std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay> display) {
 
   if (GetMainDisplay() == display) {
     // killing the main display, kill all children displays too!
-    for (size_t i = 1; i < g_displays.size(); ++i) {
-      KillDisplay(g_displays.at(i));
+    while (g_displays.size() > 1) {
+      KillDisplay(g_displays.at(1));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/game/graphics/display.h b/game/graphics/display.h
index da338e324d..d559ff6df2 100644
--- a/game/graphics/display.h
+++ b/game/graphics/display.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class GfxDisplay {
   void set_renderer(GfxPipeline pipeline);
   void set_window(GLFWwindow* window);
   void set_title(const char* title);
-  const char* get_title() const { return m_title; }
+  const char* title() const { return m_title; }
 
   void render_graphics();
 };
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ extern std::vector<std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay>> g_displays;
 
 int InitMainDisplay(int width, int height, const char* title, GfxSettings& settings);
 void KillDisplay(std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay> display);
+void KillMainDisplay();
 
 std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay> GetMainDisplay();
 
diff --git a/game/graphics/gfx.cpp b/game/graphics/gfx.cpp
index f266554709..0c9c830ecb 100644
--- a/game/graphics/gfx.cpp
+++ b/game/graphics/gfx.cpp
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
  * Graphics component for the runtime. Abstraction layer for the main graphics routines.
  */
 
-#include "gfx.h"
 #include <functional>
+
+#include "gfx.h"
 #include "common/log/log.h"
 #include "game/runtime.h"
 #include "display.h"
@@ -16,12 +17,18 @@ namespace {
 // initializes a gfx settings.
 // TODO save and load from file
 void InitSettings(GfxSettings& settings) {
+  // set the current settings version
+  settings.version = GfxSettings::CURRENT_VERSION;
+
   // use opengl by default for now
   settings.renderer = Gfx::GetRenderer(GfxPipeline::OpenGL);  // Gfx::renderers[0];
 
   // 1 screen update per frame
   settings.vsync = 1;
 
+  // debug for now
+  settings.debug = true;
+
   return;
 }
 
@@ -29,8 +36,6 @@ void InitSettings(GfxSettings& settings) {
 
 namespace Gfx {
 
-GfxVertex g_vertices_temp[VERTEX_BUFFER_LENGTH_TEMP];
-
 GfxSettings g_settings;
 // const std::vector<const GfxRendererModule*> renderers = {&moduleOpenGL};
 
@@ -53,7 +58,7 @@ u32 Init() {
   // initialize settings
   InitSettings(g_settings);
 
-  if (g_settings.renderer->init()) {
+  if (g_settings.renderer->init(g_settings)) {
     lg::error("Gfx::Init error");
     return 1;
   }
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ void Loop(std::function<bool()> f) {
 
 u32 Exit() {
   lg::info("GFX Exit");
-  Display::KillDisplay(Display::GetMainDisplay());
+  Display::KillMainDisplay();
   g_settings.renderer->exit();
   return 0;
 }
diff --git a/game/graphics/gfx.h b/game/graphics/gfx.h
index 985ed182c3..54e2e7c077 100644
--- a/game/graphics/gfx.h
+++ b/game/graphics/gfx.h
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@ enum class GfxPipeline { Invalid = 0, OpenGL };
 
 // module for the different rendering pipelines
 struct GfxRendererModule {
-  std::function<int()> init;
+  std::function<int(GfxSettings&)> init;
   std::function<std::shared_ptr<GfxDisplay>(int w, int h, const char* title, GfxSettings& settings)>
       make_main_display;
-  std::function<void(GfxDisplay* display)> kill_display;
-  std::function<void(GfxDisplay* display)> render_display;
+  std::function<void(GfxDisplay*)> kill_display;
+  std::function<void(GfxDisplay*)> render_display;
   std::function<void()> exit;
   std::function<u32()> vsync;
   std::function<u32()> sync_path;
@@ -37,30 +37,18 @@ struct GfxRendererModule {
 
 // store settings related to the gfx systems
 struct GfxSettings {
+  // current version of the settings. this should be set up so that newer versions are always higher
+  // than older versions
+  static constexpr u64 CURRENT_VERSION = 0x0000'0000'00001'0001;
+
+  u64 version; // the version of this settings struct
   const GfxRendererModule* renderer;  // which rendering pipeline to use.
-
   int vsync;  // (temp) number of screen update per frame
-};
-
-// struct for a single vertex. this should in theory be renderer-agnostic
-struct GfxVertex {
-  // x y z
-  float x, y, z;
-
-  // rgba or the full u32 thing.
-  union {
-    u32 rgba;
-    struct {
-      u8 r, g, b, a;
-    };
-  };
+  bool debug; // graphics debugging
 };
 
 namespace Gfx {
 
-static constexpr int VERTEX_BUFFER_LENGTH_TEMP = 4096;
-extern GfxVertex g_vertices_temp[VERTEX_BUFFER_LENGTH_TEMP];
-
 extern GfxSettings g_settings;
 // extern const std::vector<const GfxRendererModule*> renderers;
 
diff --git a/game/graphics/pipelines/opengl.cpp b/game/graphics/pipelines/opengl.cpp
index 6fbc44b28d..0c5d81dcc6 100644
--- a/game/graphics/pipelines/opengl.cpp
+++ b/game/graphics/pipelines/opengl.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ bool HasError() {
 }  // namespace
 
 static bool gl_inited = false;
-static int gl_init() {
+static int gl_init(GfxSettings& settings) {
   if (glfwSetErrorCallback(ErrorCallback) != NULL) {
     lg::warn("glfwSetErrorCallback has been re-set!");
   }
@@ -77,11 +77,16 @@ static int gl_init() {
     return 1;
   }
 
-  // request Debug OpenGL 3.3 Core
+  // request an OpenGL 3.3 Core
   glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR, 3);  // 3.3
   glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 3);
-  // glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_DEBUG_CONTEXT, GLFW_TRUE);           // debug
   glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_PROFILE, GLFW_OPENGL_CORE_PROFILE);  // core profile, not compat
+  // debug check
+  if (settings.debug) {
+    glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_DEBUG_CONTEXT, GLFW_TRUE);
+  } else {
+    glfwWindowHint(GLFW_OPENGL_DEBUG_CONTEXT, GLFW_FALSE);
+  }
 
   return 0;
 }