Hello Tronster,
Monday, October 1, 2007, 11:35:09 PM, you wrote:
> 2. Libraries
> I think there would be much merit in some library (e.g., "CoreGame")
> that is Apple specific for game development. Non-Apple libraries (i.e.,
> SDL) make game development easier by doing a lot of the heavy lifting,
> but are still insufficient in comparison to XNA (and IMHO would say this
> is true for DirectX as well.)
I agree that the Mac needs to get some library support for game dev. Atm, it's
pretty much "Well we've got GL, CoreAudio/OpenAL, HID manager, go work it out
yourself!". HID manager is an especially big pain in the ass, and I've
found CoreAudio's docs to be VERY poor compared to DirectSound.
SDL is also a good starter tool, but for serious game dev, it is too
old and crumbly. I did some early ports with it (Airline Tycoon Deluxe
is my doing!) but these are very low-end titles.
Another problem with Apple is attempting to "force" new versions of
the OS and hardware on people by forcing the developers to use it. For
example, we have our own inhouse DirectX emulation library. It would
really help us if we could use GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with the useless GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_EXT
because we cannot justify making our stuff 10.4 and Intel only at this
stage. 10.4 only we could perhaps get away with.. but not Intel only,
and i see NO REASON why Apple cannot push out an updated OpenGL for
PPC that has GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two support.
I'm just waiting to see what tricks Apple pull with Xcode 3, as that
will be 10.5 only. I bet it will be a pain in the ass to make apps
supporting 10.4 with it.
> 3. Language
> The larger game community (console and PC) is C++. This is great
> because at my non-game college I attended, all of the CS courses were in
> C++. And now I'm working on a triple AAA title and it's almost all
> C++. And from what I know of my friends, and IGDA members at the other
> local game studios... they are primarily using C++. In the Apple
> code-world, C++ is a second class citizen and bringing it up will most
> likely result in a zealous, flaming exchange. ;)
This is exactly what I was trying to say in the Cocoa thread. C++ is a
standard, yet the Mac requires you learn a completely nonstandard
language in order to write apps using any up-to-date API (some people
stubbornly stick with Carbon for just this reason).
--
Best regards,
Peter mailto:email@hidden
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