What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

Kazuma · 2010-01-03 20:36:09

Here is what I know:
-C++
-C#
-Java
-Pascal

Skill level: I know my way around Java. I know fundamentals of C++ and C#.

What I want to know: Since I only really like the C style syntax which one of the three is best to make games with? My first thought was C++ for speed but what do I program in? DirectX is out of the picture and the only other thing I can think of is OpenGL. C# I did a XNA game in but does it do OpenGL or something else? I'd love to do it in Java but I'm a bit confused. I've seen post say j3d is dead and some say otherwise. There is also JOGL, but is it any good.. didn't see any tutorials for it either. I actually made a 2d game using a thread and an awt applet but that's only 2d, I'm lookin for both 2d and 3d.

What is my next step?

tomd123 · 2010-01-03 21:41:21

it depends on the type of game you want to create.
for a small 3d game, java, c#, and c++ are all good choices. I would go with opengl or sdl for the library. Although there has been progress in directx support in wine.

Also: for your next step, create a pong clone, tetris clone, pacman clone, mario clone if you're into 2d games. You should also add per-pixel collision support into your 2d games.

Another edit: If you haven't already, get a couple of books on the subject. If you're going to choose opengl + cpp get yourself a good cpp book, a opengl book and maybe a game programming book that deals with cpp/opengl programming. C is also another option, a lot of games use C. And also, if you do choose C/OpenGL, I would recommend getting the blue book for opengl programming. (it comes with a complete reference, a very good tutorial (like 20 chapters), and it also abstracts the platform dependent code using freeglut as an option.)

Last edited by tomd123 (2010-01-03 21:49:11)

drcouzelis · 2010-01-03 22:37:26

I would highly recommend the Allegro game library. I've been using it for many years and I love it! It is in active development. It was made in C, and so it is very easy to use with C, C++, and my favorite, Objective-C. It has functions for 2D and 3D games. For 3D, it uses OpenGL as a back end. It comes with great tutorials and has a great and active forum and wiki.

The Arch package is called "allegro". That is the 4.x branch. There is also a 5.x branch, but I wouldn't recommend it yet, because it is still under development.

Allegro home page:
http://www.allegro.cc/

Allegro manual:
http://www.allegro.cc/manual/

Please let me know if you have any other questions about it!

jac · 2010-01-03 22:47:45

Along with the other suggestions on reading, I would suggest using D and OpenGL/SDL through the Derelcit bindings. It's very C style syntax, but has some nice features and the new language spec will be coming out soon.

Kazuma · 2010-01-04 01:35:16

Thanks for all recommendations. D looks very interesting... never heard of it but from the features it looks great. I'm looking into Allegro, OpenGL and SDL now.

caelestis · 2010-01-04 03:03:38

SFML is a very good alternative for sdl if you're going the c++ route.

Devastator · 2010-01-04 09:14:44

caelestis wrote:

SFML is a very good alternative for sdl if you're going the c++ route.

I can second that. However - SFML is more like a toolbox than a complete game engine, but I like it, because I can organize things the way I like . Of course it works with OpenGL.

crankyadmin · 2010-01-05 16:15:11

pyOgre -- I know you did mention python at all, but seeing that Python is so easy to pick up, Ogre might be a good choice

usr · 2010-01-05 16:45:41

Have a look at Irrlicht. It's just a graphics engine but it's quite easy to use and has bindings for a few languages and coding the physics and logic is the fun part It's written in C++ so that's probably the best one to use.
There's also Irrklang - a sound engine which goes with it but only if you're running in 32bit Arch.

caelestis · 2010-01-05 22:06:31

IMO ogre is better than irrlicht. For studio quality games you can learn unreal script and use the UDK

Or learn C++ and mod a steam engine.

dabski · 2010-01-06 00:13:43

I first started with C and quickly moved to C++ then a year or so ago I learned Python. Its now not just my favourite cross platform language but my favourite language for everything Complex things that used to take lines and lines of code in C++ are now simple with Python and take less lines of code.

For gamedev I use pyglet for windowing/multimedia, pybox2d for physics and squirtle for rendering svgs.

Pyglet
http://code.google.com/p/pyglet/
Pybox2d
http://code.google.com/p/pybox2d/

Last edited by dabski (2010-01-06 00:16:59)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-03 20:36:09

What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#2 2010-01-03 21:41:21

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#3 2010-01-03 22:37:26

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#4 2010-01-03 22:47:45

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#5 2010-01-04 01:35:16

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#6 2010-01-04 03:03:38

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#7 2010-01-04 09:14:44

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#8 2010-01-05 16:15:11

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#9 2010-01-05 16:45:41

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#10 2010-01-05 22:06:31

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

#11 2010-01-06 00:13:43

Re: What language + Game Programming on multiple platforms?

Board footer