🚀 go-pugleaf

This isn't a flame, just a collection of my own thoughts on game
languages.

As I see it, the reason why most game languages (especially those
used by commercial groups) are best suited to a particular kind
of game is that game designs can call for just about any
variety of programming. In other words, the best general - purpose
game language is a good general - purpose programming language.
Being a professional programmer who cut his teeth writing games,
I'm aware that many of the algorithms I was subsequently taught
in college had already been invented by necessity in my game
software.

To elaborate, games can be in radically different categories:
adventurish games, which don't require real - time movement, and
arcade games, which have to be optimized to be practical at all.
These two categories are as different as word processors and
art software, if not more so. The only languages suitable to
creating both of the above are general - purpose languages.

I won't get into the flamewar over what the best general - purpose
language is, but one technique that tends to be beneficial in
game programming, since if games have anything in common it's their
divisibility into objects, is object oriented programming. Thus
languages like Turbo Pascal 6.0 or C++, both of which support
object - oriented programming and are still pretty well optimized,
are probably among those best - suited to games development.

But just about any general - purpose language can do the trick.
What we would benefit more from is a collection of games
programming LIBRARIES - distinct libraries for distinct general
categories.

The need for a real - time graphics library is obvious; there are a
million people babbling about sprite libraries on this group
(me included; too bad I didn't have time to pursue that project
further - no one seems to finish it). General - purpose drawing
libraries are less needed since most general - purpose languages
include them. Less obvious is the need for things like useful
image - storage and general - purpose windowing libraries, since
most games call for numerous still images (which should be compressed
in a professional game's distribution) and most users expect
a windowing environment these days.

A 3-D library would be a nice gadget too; a few have even come down
the pike in this group.

Perhaps what this group could really use is a set of FAQs explaining
certain basic nifty things: 3-D rotation, the basic tricks of
dealing with retrace, where to find PD or shareware windowing 
libraries if they exist, even a list of good commercial libraries.
But a special - purpose "games programming language," I think, would
either reinvent C or some other already - existing language in
order to be general, or be limited to certain types of games.
I would encourage folks to develop reusable libraries we can
call instead.


-- 
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Believe it or not there is life after college. At least if you live
near NYC.