Yes, Binary would be quicker, maybe A LOT QUICKER, but the problem is this..
you most probably have a 32 bit computer, so first, you need to learn the 32bit binary language, everything from :
00000000000000000000000000000000
to
11111111111111111111111111111111
and trust me, THERES LOADS!
more that you could easily work out!
Also the problem with binary, is that the computer understands it fine, but as far as I know there is no easy way of getting the computer to read it, that is why progs like dark basic exist.
if you were to code a game like halflife in binary, the code would be infinitly huge, for example `PLAY SOUND` command in binary would be MASSIVE.
there are loads of things that are done for you with compliers, like acessing memory addresses.
its very likley that Lee, Chris & Malcomb didnt write DB in binary, and it works quick enough. So theres no real need to use it!