Language/Environment for My First LD
I have sort of a newfound interest in game development, but I am kind of unsure where to go for what language/libraries to use.
In the past, I have developed in Flash with FlashPunk framework (as much as I love it, I’m wanting to expand and get away from Flash for a while), I have java experience (felt a little weird in my hands and could never get a solid word on good libraries for game creation.), and I have done an okay chunk of C++, but nothing graphical. I am a bit interested in python, but research has given me similar results as Java with people mentioning several library bindings, etc.
Please, give my guidance, be biased, etc. I just want to have somewhere to go for a language that can allow me some faster iteration.
Thank you,
droxpopuli
I am going to biased and say use unity with c#. Next best is probably XNA again with c#.
XNA is probably better for you as it is a framework although it wont make mac games
Unity is a fully fledged game engine and so you might find it easier if you are a beginner.
I’m not a total beginner but I have dabbled in C# and XNA stuff. I’d use it if it didn’t feel so proprietary to use (cross platform is also a plus to have) and I’m wanting to push away from Flash at the moment for that reason because even with free tools there is just a sense of locking in, in my head.
First is to decide what factors are important to you:
– proprietary vs free
– multi-platform vs single platform
– online apps vs native apps
– fixed inbuilt engine vs configurable inbuilt engine vs no inbuilt engine
– RAD vs pedantic languages (eg, garbage collected, type safety, etc)
Then find someone whose work you like, and ask them what they use.
-I favor free but this isn’t a major major concern.
-Multiplatform preferred.
-I’ve been wanting to dabble in native lately, but more an more I’ve seen people go web so I’m on the fence.
-While inbuilts keep community and info easier to find, I’ve had a thing for no inbuilt engines and either having to roll my own or use ones that others have built.
-All in all, I am a person more for RAD languages, someday when/if I get more serious, I’ll go into stuff like C++ but for now my requirements don’t need that level of management.
I guess, things kinda point to Java, but I’ve had the issue of finding no solid recommendations on engines/frameworks. What would be suggested?
Like Notch, you could use Java with LWJGL, and code with Eclipse/Netbeans.
An alternative is learning Pascal. It is free, compiles cross platform to native apps, has no inbuilt engine, is type safe and garbage collected, and you can use it to make games with opengl.
Search for GNUPascal / Freepascal.
I’ve looked into LWJGL and it looks really good although I will probably use an engine such a Slick2D so I can get right into the game development.