Yay, Mini LD!
Posted by thePalindrome
July 17th, 2011 5:43 pm
Okay, I, thePalindrome, wanted to ask which would be better, as I want to be prepared for my first (mini)LD…
Which is better, making the game with C++, or AS3?
I have experience with C++ and Java, I’m thinking C++, but it wouldn’t be web-compatible…
What would you guys say?
I know that Ludum Dare recommends browser games, but personally I dislike browser games and like .exe games.
You’ll get more players for a browser-based game, but you’ll still get good feedback for an exe game (especially if you provide a few ports). Do whatever you’re most comfortable with and what fits your game idea.
You really should take the language that allows you to make a complete game in 48 hours.
I’ve only done one LD, but I definitely learned that you need to use whatever you’re most comfortable with. Whatever time you spend looking up syntax and figuring out how to do what you want to do is time — well, not quite wasted, but it will bog you down.
And speaking for myself, I don’t like browser games either.
Definitely use whatever you already know best. Go with what you know. 48 hours is too short a time to learn a brand new language or set up a game engine and get over the learning curve.
However, AS3 can be remarkably easy to use for simple game projects, especially with a library like flixel: http://flixel.org/index.html Just make sure to get comfortable with it ahead of time. (It took me only a couple hours to get a working platformer from scratch using a tutorial.)