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What are the best languages or engines for 2d games

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Started by mightybeast November 02, 2015 08:32 PM

6 comments, last by SirWeeble 8 years, 5 months ago

mightybeast

109

Author

November 02, 2015 08:32 PM

Hi what are the best languages or engines for making 2d games?Im really motivated and if i have to i will learn programming language but i dont know where to start.So i really like 2d games Shumps(Shoot 'em up) and mostly rpg platformers with combos like this one http://www.indiedb.com/games/darkedenight/videos/den-character-showcase or this one

DividedByZero

1,261

November 03, 2015 11:03 AM

'Best' is a very subjective term.

If you are relatively new to programming then I'd recommend GameMaker: Studio. It is great for things ranging from beginner to advanced. It has evolved to a level where there is nothing that you can't achieve with it.

If you ever get to a point where it can't do something, you can even create Dynamic Link Libraries for it to fill the gaps. I have done this a few times myself and it is extremely easy to integrate.

Syntac_

1,356

November 03, 2015 12:38 PM

Using Python with Pygame and Box2D isn't bad for making small 2D games without too much hassle.

Cadoink

126

November 03, 2015 03:22 PM

There is no best language. All languages have strengths. Much of it comes down to preference or platform.

I enjoyed making little JavaScript games using the html canvas. It's fun, JavaScript isn't too challenging to pick up, and its pretty cross platform.

WozNZ

2,010

November 04, 2015 06:35 AM

The best language can just boil down to the one you are most comfortable with as you will spend less time fighting against the language that way :)

Most of the languages all have their merit and strong points and most of the OO imperative languages offer a similar set of features in the end so it could come down to tool sets that are available.

rnlf_in_space

1,918

November 04, 2015 09:06 AM

I wouldn't say it's the best, but certainly a great possibility that I like a lot: LÖVE. You program it in Lua, it's blazing fast and relatively minimal. Also, I am working on a proper web port, so you will be able to make HTML5 versions of your games with it in the near future.

bwhiting

1,562

November 05, 2015 03:40 PM

Very hard to answer as there are so many variables.

I have built games with js. It's very easy and on modern computers/devices the performance is acceptable if you are careful. We still experienced issues with sound though and there are a few other downsides that make it quite far from my fisrt choice.

Unity is also easyish to get up and running with but can be overkill for 2D although many have used it successfully. It's also much better at supporting many platforms. Sadly it can be rather expensive.

Air is an interesting one and have had decent success with it. Support for ios android and desktop, plus it's free and very easy.

But impossible to give you the answer you probably need without knowing more.

flash blog of doom

SirWeeble

1,061

November 07, 2015 05:44 PM

While there's no "best" language, there are some that aren't as appropriate for games.

For example, you probably won't want to program a game in Brainfuck or BASIC. (although i programed a game in basic)

It's probably best to start with something high level and object oriented. The most popular (and therefore more likely to have tutorials) are C# and Javascript. Javascript is easier to learn, since it's more relaxed about Types (i.e.: whole numbers, words, decimals) , but this actually becomes a weakness of the language once you're to a more advanced level and can lead to sloppy programming.

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