@freddix

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True that you have to manage stuff in the other languages aswell, my point is that in python memory is managed for you. Indexing an array out-of-bounds will throw an exception and tell excatly where the problem is, you fix it and compile quickly. C will not, your program will just behave strangely and maybe crash, you will spend hours figuring out why it crashes and waste alot of time recompiling your code.

Time that could have been spent better on developing your game.

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Also true, but my point above is still valid, yes you have to learn this, but why not learn it in a language which helps you get a better understand of the problem, instead of C which will punish you badly for doing something wrong.

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There is no need to shout or be offensive.
I never said AmiDark is dangerous, my point is that C is dangerous.

In my earlier post I even I said AmiDark is fine for game development. IF you know C.

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Again, I never said AmiDark is dangerous, my point was and still is that C is dangerous.

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Thank you for once again offending me.

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And the many, many pitfalls of C. I am sorry but I am not convinced that C is a good entry point for learning.

@nubechecorre

Exactly, you only know C, no problem then, which I also stated in my first post.

My point is if you dont know C, then you are in for a hard and bumpy trip.

@freddix

AmiDark is a C API, correct my if I am wrong?

Yes it is easy to open windows, and load objects, but who is managing these objects and destroying them again?

You have to manage your game state some way or another and if you write your game using AmiDark, then you need to do your state management in C!

Using AmiDark you would create an struct representing the player, the struct would contain a pointer to one or more objects loaded by AmiDark, the struct would contain a health integer and other stuff.

Before you know it, you want to manage multiple enemies, then you create an array pointing to structures containing information about the enemy.

Using AmiDark all of this has to be done in C, which is really really dangerous for an inexperienced programmer.

Just have a look at some of your ealier post to this forum and read how much you were struggling in the begining of your project.

I dont want to send people to other platforms, but if you want to start to learn programming and game creation then C has a very steep learing curve, which can be a motivation killer.

I am an engine programmer and have so far released 3 games for xbox360 and I know game programmers who hates C, because of long compilations times, which simply kills fast interations. They only worked in our own scripting language. Which in the editor was interpreted and compiled really fast. In game mode the scripting language was ofcourse compiled native to the platform to get maximum performance.

My point is, if have not programmed before, dont start by learning C, learn something else, get an understanding of software development and then learn C and other languages.

@carvedeye

'Game coding for beginners': Does that mean you want to learn how to program or that you know how to program but wish to learn about writing games?

If it is the second case and you feel comfortable with C/C++ by all means wait for AmiDark or use SDL/OpenGL/what ever will match your requirements. Visit sites like http://www.gamedev.net and other game related sites to find articles on anything from good and simple data structures to hardcore rendering techniques.

BUT..

If it is the first case then my advise would be to start really slow and ignore all the people who tell you to use C/C++, OpenGL, AmiDark Engine. You will get into trouble with pointers, pointers to pointers, array indexing and all kinds of other thing which can go wrong, which will make your progress slow and frustrating.

Start with an interpreted language like python (pygame) or hollywood or well create your game in flash just to get an idea of what is required. I would even suggest you use a Windows pc, if you have one, and try to use GameMaker (http://yoyogames.com/gamemaker) and go through their tutorials. Once you learn more about programming and creating games you rewrite your game for Amiga.

Forgot about 3D and start out by doing 2D only.

Take baby steps and iterate alot:
1. iteration: Open window
2. iteration: draw square in window
3. iteration: move square to the left
.
.
100. iteration: replace square by airplane sprite
and so on, and on

Iterations are import, which again talks in favour of an interpreted language where you dont need to wait 10 minutes for the compiler, discover stupid spelling error, fix error and wait an other 10 minutes for the compiler to finish or report more errors.

Never forgot that it is your game that is important, dont get side tracked by "cool technology", stay focused on the game.

And dont forgot to have fun while creating your game.

Enough ranting. Happy coding.

@kas1e

Freddix and I have been chatting on IRC, and I think we managed to solve his problems.

His SDK was broken.

@kas1e

You should mention that the latest version of the source code is available at: http://bitbucket.org/steenlund/glblanker

and that this archive is a dump of the source code at changeset 0587cd0a57ac8 http://bitbucket.org/steenlund/glblanker/changeset/587cd0a57ac8

@freddix

I dont know why bitbucket does not generate the archives, I did contact them but still no reply

@freddix

I am on IRC most of today, catch me in #amigadev and maybe we can solve this.

@freddix

How did you try to compile it?

Using the make script?

@kas1e

Sure no problem go ahead.

@freddix

I just noticed the 404 and reported it to bitbucket.
Maybe the source archives are only generated once a day or something and has not been generated yet.

For my other repository on bitbucket it works fine.

So maybe wait till tomorrow.

@freddix

Just below the tab "Forks/Queues" there is a link called "get sources" this allows you to get everything zipped.

@freddix

Speaking of blankers and MiniGL. All the source code for the glBlankers I ported from xscreensavers are available here:

http://bitbucket.org/steenlund/glblanker/

@Fairdinkem

It seems to me that it is not the source code for each of the games, but it is their modified versions of GPL code they have used in some of their games.

But the cool thing is that some of these include EASTL which is an optimized STL replacement. Unfortunately I have not had time to look at it yet.

@Shadow

An update about the progress of Torque has been posted on http://www.game-engine.dk

@Joeled

Hi,

Well I am sorry that I am gonna have to disappoint you all, but I have moved into a house and have been busy fixing up the place and painting the rooms, but I have not yet had time to finish my new home office so currently my only computer is my laptop.

As soon as I get my amiga up and running and online again, I will post some screen shots / video of the current state of the engine.

@kas1e

As a licensee of the engine, I am actually allowed to create my own games with torque and release them on any platform without the approval of Garage Games.

Next step would be to get in touch the developers of the older Torque games and maybe get the source code and assets for their game and port them.

Unfortunately just getting a game for Windows and replacing the exe with the OS4 version will most likely not work, because games usually make custom changes to the engine, which I dont have access to.

I am hoping to get some kind of agreement with Garage Games, but TGE for OS4 will most likely not get official support from GG, but it might be possible to buy a licens for the engine from them and then I can supply the files needed for the OS4 port.

@kas1e

The exact version of TGE I am working on is 1.4.2.

I am hoping at some point to be able to get 1.5.x, but I dont know if I am able to get it from Garage Games.

The current version of Torque 3D, will most likely not run on OS4. As far as I know it is based on a programmable graphics pipeline which OS4 does not have.

With regards to games an example of a game running on TGE would be this http://www.torquepowered.com/products/thinktanks.

BUT actually porting this game or some of the other older GarageGames games, will ofcourse require some kind of licens.

Distributing the engine once it is done will also involve Garage Games and might not be possible at all, but I have not talked to Garage Games, so one never knows.

@Shadow

New progress report about TGE posted on http://www.game-engine.dk

New progress report posted to http://game-engine.dk