Hello everybody,

I don't know if this the correct forum to put this, but does anybody knows what programming / software was used to develop Shovel Knight.

I still haven't played it, but the general IA and game design is pretty well done.

Thanks everybody for your time.

From their official website here:

What engine is Shovel Knight being made in?
It’s our own custom c++ engine. It uses DirectX on PC and OpenGL on Mac+Linux. For our level editor, we use tiled: http://www.mapeditor.org/

Even though I'd have personally chosen a different path.

Note: last comment based on what I have seen in the trailer, what is definitely not enough to make tech decisions (haha)

Ha! The last resource I saw was their own site.

Please, tell me how would be your dev approach?!

I'd probably use Haxe or MonoGame for a game like this.

About the map editor, I'd use Tiled just as they did.

Still, I don't know if it has any "hidden complexity" behind that simple looks.

@edit

Let me just rephrase myself a little.

I am not saying that Haxe or C# + MonoGame couldn't handle complexity in questions of performance and all that.

I am referring to their choice on DirectX and OpenGL, maybe they are planning some special lighting features or other details that corroborate that choice.

But, looking at their trailer, it certainly doesn't look like it.

You are right. Haxe could have made a good job creating this game in a cross-platform format.

Do you have something to show that you have made with Haxe?

Noob Q, are you able to make your own game engine with Haxe? The same way that the guys from Shovel Knight should have? Preparing to make my own C++ engine but I want to do it the "old way" with SFML.

Yes haxe is just a language, you can build engine on top of that no problem, there are a few out there already I believe.

I have never really used haxe for games, I did use it to make a website though.

But you could take a look at Evoland:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/haxelang/tCtgvJNivoU

- first post (by Nicolas Cannasse) in case replies are collapsed

And yes, you could make an engine with Haxe, but you wouldn't need to. You could simply use the HaxeFlixel.

Take a look here:

http://haxe.org/use-cases/games/

and here:

http://haxeflixel.com/demos/

I'm sure they used C++ because that's what they're used to. They probably had either a lot of pre-existing code they could use, or the know-how to very quickly make something. I myself would make any game in C++ just because I have a lot of the code in my head. This isn't to say which tool is best for making something like Shovel Knight, other than the best choice is probably what you're most skilled in.

Given that they are a brand new studio I doubt they had that much legacy code. I also have 95%+ of my personal reusable code base in C and C++, but I still would've picked something different.

I guess their main reasons were probably to take advantage of C++'s cross-platformity and be able to release on both computers and consoles with little hassle. Of course, people who pick C++ even though it would be over-engineering are usually experienced users and used to it.

Anyway, there's no point in speculating.

Hello everybody, thanks so much for your kindly responses.

You can build engine on top of that no problem

I did use it to make a website though.

But you could take a look at Evoland:

You could simply use the HaxeFlixel.

I myself would make any game in C++ just because I have a lot of the code in my head

the best choice is probably what you're most skilled in.

but I still would've picked something different.

Thanks again you guys, I really appreciate your time. If you have anything to add, do it. Love to share thoughts.