Hi,I know the basics of c++ and I'm planning to get into game development using engines. The game I have in mind is a 2D sidescroller rpg game, What engine do you recommend me to use?
I want the engine to be open source and cross platform, altought I'm not interested in porting it to Android or to IOs. If you know an engine that meets all these requirements, please let me know.
Thanks in advance.
Unreal Engine 4
A single $20 payment nets you source, a lifetime license, and is multi-platform.
Just SFML? I read that for physics in 2d games I should use something called Box2d. Does SFML takes care of the physics too? Or just the rendering part?
cocos2d - http://www.cocos2d-x.org/
and
moai - http://getmoai.com/
I wouldn't recommend moai, because it is a tad too complex for beginners, it is designed to be used by more experienced devs.
+1 for cocos2d.
Just SFML? I read that for physics in 2d games I should use something called Box2d. Does SFML takes care of the physics too? Or just the rendering part?
SFML is a multimedia library that "handles" media, system specifics and input. This includes rendering, audio, listening to kb&mouse/gamepads, networking and more.
But that's it, it gives you access to these resources, but it doesn't do any simulation. This means it does no physics, no collision detection...
Box2D is also a library, but it is a simulation one (physics simulation to be precise). This means it cannot render anything it is simulating, it "just does the math". You'd need to interpret its behavior to make it useful. Definitely not meant for beginners. There are many more ways to create physics though, and for a 2D sidescroller Box2D would probably be overkill, unless it is a physics game.
With the open source requirement, I'd go with libGDX or cocos2d-x.
Without the open source requirement, I'd recommend GameSalad or GameMaker:Studio, making sure you try out their free versions to ensure they fit your style. They are both known for quick-and-easy 2D multi-platform games.
You could also go for the bigger 3D engines and limit your game to a 2D view of the world, in which case Unity and Unreal are both free options until you are getting enough money to replace your day job, and then their fee is fairly small.
I'm not certain why I was downvoted. Sure Unreal Engine 4 isn't free and 100% open source(unless you pay a measly $20), but pretty damn close.
I'm not certain why I was downvoted. Sure Unreal Engine 4 isn't free and 100% open source(unless you pay a measly $20), but pretty damn close.
Two requirements were that it must be open source, and it must be made for 2D.
It is not open source. It is not 2D, although with some work you can constrain the viewpoint if you wish.
While both the Unreal and Unity engines could probably be made to meet his needs, there are many tools that are a better fit for the stated requirements.
Also, as this is For Beginners, there are special rules laid out in the forum FAQ. "Answer the question that was asked. Unless the question is completely illogical and makes no sense, you should at least attempt to provide a cursory answer before offering up alternatives." In this case he asked for a very specific set of requirements, and Unreal fails 50% of those specific requirements. Since the answer was technically wrong (fails 50% of his requirements) and it didn't try to answer his question, instead only offering up alternatives, I'm one of those that voted your answer down.
