jjohn
03-27-2006, 11:52 PM
In my travels, I've found that the python (http://www.python.org/) folks have a really nifty binding to the cross-platform SDL (http://www.libsdl.org/index.php) library. Since both python and SDL are free, it's a great platform for those wanting to learn game design (like myself).
See the pygames (http://www.pygame.org/) web site for more details, examples and links to free and commercial apps using python.
Python is a dynamic scripting language like Perl. That allows for a rapid development of ideas. Python also has a way to compile .EXE files, for those that don't want to ship an entire python development suite to end users.
Python is a great tool for building puzzle games like tetris or freecell, but it can also handle retro-arcade shooters (think PacMan, spacer invaders, etc). It's not a great platform for say, rewritting Doom. You could rewrite Dink in it though (although one might want to precompile the dink scripts rather than compile them at runtime...)
Anyway, I thought I mention this here for those looking for a simple, but robust free game dev platform.
See the pygames (http://www.pygame.org/) web site for more details, examples and links to free and commercial apps using python.
Python is a dynamic scripting language like Perl. That allows for a rapid development of ideas. Python also has a way to compile .EXE files, for those that don't want to ship an entire python development suite to end users.
Python is a great tool for building puzzle games like tetris or freecell, but it can also handle retro-arcade shooters (think PacMan, spacer invaders, etc). It's not a great platform for say, rewritting Doom. You could rewrite Dink in it though (although one might want to precompile the dink scripts rather than compile them at runtime...)
Anyway, I thought I mention this here for those looking for a simple, but robust free game dev platform.