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02.02 - Game Development Tools

Teej · 2004-04-22T16:00:51

Game Development Tools If you want to write games, you’re going to need more than NOTEPAD . In this article I quickly run through some of the tools you should have at your disposal, and mention some other considerations as well. The Operating System What is the target platform for our games? Although Linux is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds of late, we’re still going with the most popular of platforms, Windows. Of course, Windows comes in many flavors, and those we’re interested in are 95/98/ME/NT/2K. Luckily for us, software on these operating systems is compatible… …but not 100%. If you’re not aware of DirectX technology, don’t worry about it for now – all you need to know for the time being is that we’re going to be using DirectX components in our games, and one of these aforementioned operating systems doesn’t adequately support DirectX (at the version we’re going to be using). I’m referring to Windows NT, which is too bad because it has always been the choice for software developers. While it is true that there is a version of DirectX on Windows NT, it’s outdated – we would have to restrict ourselves to using it, and we wouldn’t be learning new technology, so it’s a concession we’re going to make. That leaves us with Windows 95/98/ME/2K. Hey, what about plain ol’ DOS? For years, DOS was the gaming platform, even when Windows was in wide use. The problem with the Windows of old was that it didn’t allow direct access to the hardware, and therefore games written for it were too slow to be considered. In DOS, you had direct control, and in Windows you had the GDI (Graphics Device Interface), which wasn’t designed for high-speed graphics applications. Of course, this was eventually remedied with technologies such as DirectX, which allowed games the conduit to the hardware that’s needed for speed. There’s one other important thing to note about using Windows as our gaming platform, and that’s compatibility. Windows provides an abstraction to the hardware in the form of drivers, which implement a consistent interface to the hardware’s capabilities. This allows us to utilize the video card, sound card and other devices without even knowing what vendor they’re from. In DOS, we’d have an insurmountable problem on our hands – all hardware is not created equal. Bottom-line: write your game in Windows and it’s going to work on a wide variety of systems and configurations. The C Compiler It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that I use Microsoft Visual C++ for all of my C/C++ programming -- it’s easily the most popular compiler out there. What about the others compilers out there? At first, you’d think that any C compiler would be fine, but there is a caveat: our code will be considered C++, and utilizes COM components. Sure, we’ll be coding in C, but we’re also using DirectX in our programs, and that requires a C++ compiler. Microsoft provides DirectX libraries for use with their own compiler (MSVC) and for Borland, so it would seem that there are your options in a nutshell. I’ve heard of people using other compilers successfully, but you’ll have to inquire in this forum about which compilers can get the job done. Graphics-Editing Software Since you’re in Windows, you already have at least one graphics-editing package – the infamous [b]PAINT . Right off the top of my head I can think of a couple of reasons why that won’t cut it, one being it’s lack of palette editing support, and another it’s total lack of features. Perhaps we can get some feedback from others in the forum on what they use – some will be rather interested in Freeware/Shareware applications. Personally, I use JASC’s PaintShop Pro . I’ve never had need for anything else when it comes to bitmaps. Sound Editing Software This may not be an important consideration for you right away, but there comes a time when you’re faced with the prospect of creating and editing your own audio clips. For the time being, I’ll just mention a few of the more popular types of audio software and let this aspect of game development slide until we have occasion to make it an issue. Sonic Foundry’s SoundForge is a sound-processing tool that let’s you manipulate almost any type of audio file, and is considered the ‘cream of the crop’ by many. Of course, you could use darned-near anything to record a sound, but if you need to do anything to it (other than copy it) you’ll need a sound-processing package such as this – there’s an amazing amount of features at your disposal. MIDI soundtracks can be created with a tool such as Twelve Tone System’s Cakewalk Pro Audio software. Steinburg’s Cubase is a similar title that comes to mind. Check out their websites for more information. Feel free to reply to this topic with your questions, comments or suggestions.

Hands-On Interactive Game Development Workshops

Started by Teej April 09, 2001 12:09 AM

58 comments, last by Teej 20 years ago

Grayson

122

April 12, 2001 08:51 PM

Where can I find a good C++ compiler?

I downloaded one from borland but it seems to be only running in DOS without any text editor or anything. Is there a compiler out there that has an editor built into it that I can download for free?

--"Luck is something that happens to the prepared mind"

--"Luck is something that happens to the prepared mind"

Martee

476

April 12, 2001 09:10 PM

No compiler has a built-in editor
Some compilers come with an editor (that is, an IDE). Check out Dev-C++, which is a package containing the MiniGW compiler and an IDE.

~~~~~~~~~~
Martee
http://www.csc.uvic.ca/~mdill

ReactOS - an Open-source operating system compatible with Windows NT apps and drivers

Blazeroni

122

April 13, 2001 12:33 AM

I would warn against Dev-C++. I tried to use it during the tutorial''s first incarnation, but had some serious troubles. I eventually had to give up. This might be due to some inexperience with the program, but I believe it is due to some sort of incompatibility with DirectX. I don''t think Dev-C++ supports it. I read on several other message boards that this was the case. I never could find a way around it. So, I eventually broke down and bought MSVC++. It''s a mighty fine program if you can afford it. But, if you do decide to go the Dev-C++ route it will definitely take some finagling. Oh, and if anyone has actually gotten Dev-C++ to work on the old tutorial or gets it to work on this one, please post it. Thanks. Peace.

Blazeroni

Anonymous

April 13, 2001 07:41 AM

Indeed... I have had some problems getting Dev-C++ to work with DirectX too. I heard there was some kinda way to get it to work, but I couldn''t figure it out, and I ended using VC++ too... I wouldn''t reccomend using this Dev-C++ unless you either are very experienced or is very clever

, or unless you can get someone who is to help you. As far as I recall its a pretty good enviroment (though not as good as VC++)...

Kirneh

122

April 13, 2001 07:41 AM

Oops... double post...

I posted the above...

Edited by - Kirneh on April 13, 2001 8:43:16 AM

folleitor

122

April 16, 2001 04:09 PM

hello, four years ago,I got the MSVC++ 2.0 and that´s what i have , .....is it really necessary to use the 6.0 version¿?¿?
and if it´s really neccesary to get the 6.0 version...... , where did you get it¿?¿ did you pay for it¿¿?¿?

than you teej!

folleitor

122

April 16, 2001 04:25 PM

what development tools does Id sofware use? do they use DirectX?

OctDev

158

April 16, 2001 04:42 PM

Id built quake 3 arena using openGl.

The Tyr project is here.

Bifff

122

April 16, 2001 05:01 PM

The Free Borland C++ Builder Compiler

If you do not have much money to buy a compiler, or even if you do, I recommend you the free Borland C++ Builder compiler (nicknamed BCC), that you can download here:

BCC 5.5

It is by far one of the best compiler available as it knows (almost) all the ANSI C/C++ (MS Visual C++ don't).

When it comes to DirectX, BCC users will have to download specific Borland-compatible libraries at Fötsch's website:

Borland-compatible DirectX LIB's

UltraEdit

Being just a compiler, BCC does not come with an IDE. So I suggest you to use UltraEdit to edit your code:

UltraEdit 8.00b

And for an easy to use interface between UltraEdit and BCC, you can use UEMake available by his programmer's site:

UEMake

Edited by - Bifff on April 16, 2001 6:07:19 PM

kuyote

122

April 18, 2001 04:29 PM

Any students out there? I picked up a version on VC++ 5.0 Professional when it was hot for $99 from my book store. It was the same one they sell in the stores. Now I think you can get 6.0 if you are a student.

02.02 - Game Development Tools

Where can I find a good C++ compiler?

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02.02 - Game Development Tools

Where can I find a good C++ compiler?

This topic is closed to new replies.

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