How "professional" is SDL?
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Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it:
Are there any professional game developers that use SDL? Could you get a job based on SDL knowledge alone? Being a small open-source project, it doesn't seem like you could, but it is a fairly comprehensive API.
Just wondering.
SDL has been used professionally, but DirectX pretty much has a stranglehold on the PC gaming industry.
Money making SDL projects tend to be from independent studios, where the small but game starved *nix userbase can can be the difference between success and failure.
Not the SDL isn't worth learning. It's an excellent stepping stone to DirectX and OpenGL. It's an excellent balance of OS abstraction without being too high level allowing you to learn the fundamentals.
Money making SDL projects tend to be from independent studios, where the small but game starved *nix userbase can can be the difference between success and failure.
Not the SDL isn't worth learning. It's an excellent stepping stone to DirectX and OpenGL. It's an excellent balance of OS abstraction without being too high level allowing you to learn the fundamentals.
*shrug* define "professonal"?? :)
There are plenty of indie companies plying their wares through SDL and having great success with it.
Gish! is one project that springs to mind, but there are plenty of others that are based on SDL of various genres across the board.
The real power is being PC and Mac friendly though which can bring in bacon.
There are plenty of indie companies plying their wares through SDL and having great success with it.
Gish! is one project that springs to mind, but there are plenty of others that are based on SDL of various genres across the board.
The real power is being PC and Mac friendly though which can bring in bacon.
Quote:Original post by SippyCup
I read that Quake 4 used SDL.
Correct. It used SDL for the Linux Port.
Search SDL on wikipedia and it will tell you many games that used SDL. Civilizations 2 and Quake 4 are a few.
Quote:Original post by programwizard
Could you get a job based on SDL knowledge alone?
No more than you could get a job based only on knowing how to make a WinMain function.
Many places find it easy to port commerical Windows games over to Linux using SDL. Loki Software did just that with a bunch of games.
In terms of development lifecycle, SDL reduces the amount of time required to get a base/skeleton application up and running. It also wraps other useful functionalities (threading, window-manager message-pump, input, etc). The good thing about these, is they allow you to focus on developing the game, without worrying about OS-centric APIs.
This might be considered a Bad Thing(tm) by some, but considering the time savings, I'd say the attitude of "unprofessional" library usage is pure, unadulterated FUD.
This might be considered a Bad Thing(tm) by some, but considering the time savings, I'd say the attitude of "unprofessional" library usage is pure, unadulterated FUD.
SDL is as professional as you make it. If by "professional" you mean huge, overkill 500 meg API that does everything you could ever think of, you're out of luck. SDL is pretty minimal, but that's not to say it isn't effective. It does the job, it's cross-platform and it's small enough for a single person to understand it.
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