C++ Sdk?

[Steven M]

If I wanted to create a 2D game (sidescrolling platformer for instance, or sidescrolling beat-em-up, or even SHMUP), what would be the best software development kit to use in conjunction with C++?

[Gear_The_Hedgehog]

well there are many of them, GM is written in C+ if i remember right, so it can be a decent start, as well some of the 3D game creators are written in C++ or Lite C+ yes they are 3D oriented gaming creation tools but as well i saw pretty good 2D games come out of them, so is just go there and search a little.

[Ristar]

visual c++ 2008? dunno.

[DimensionWarped]

VC isn't an SDK, it's an IDE. As for the best SDK to learn on, I'd opt for just SDL. It's pretty bare-bones and mostly just provides a bunch of tools for loading and displaying images as sprites as well as some OpenGL stuff and ways to keep timing and a bunch of other things like that.

[OverbounD]

Game Maker is was made in Delphi.

[Ristar]

VC isn't an SDK, it's an IDE. As for the best SDK to learn on, I'd opt for just SDL. It's pretty bare-bones and mostly just provides a bunch of tools for loading and displaying images as sprites as well as some OpenGL stuff and ways to keep timing and a bunch of other things like that.

forgive me for spilling my thread into this one... but what exactly is the difference between an IDE and SDK?

see this is why I stick do dishing out advice for music and art apps

edit. nvm, googled it obvs.

[Shonumi]

I second SDL. I've been using it for years and it's pretty darn handy for any task I need. I'm currently working on my first full original game with it. SDL is written in C, but you can use it in C++ without any problems. It's got extensions to it that allow the loading of nigh any image format you'd actually want to use in a game, music, sprite rotations, fonts and more.

The biggest pluses I find are that it's small, simple, and cross-platform. You can basically write code once and have it compile on Windows, Linux, or OS X without changing anything. SDL is great for 2D work, but I've been working with it and OpenGL for 3D things. It's been the easiest way yet to get into 3D game programming for me without resorting to system specific code.

Another alternative is SFML which is pretty good too, so I hear. I have no personal experience with it, and it's written in C++, so it has a more object orientated approach to its API. If you're desperate, I guess there's always Allegro. Dunno all that much about it though.

[Steven M]

I decided yesterday to install SFML. It's been a bit of a bumpy ride in terms of library linking and installation, but I've already got a sprite to rotate and move around by keyboard, so that's more progress than I expected. I'll keep working on C++ as I do SFML, so with any luck I'll have a minigame sorted out sooner rather than later (although I'm actually partial to some adventures in text parsing now...).

[justin123]

I recommend that you don't get into SFML hell. Try getting your hands on the latest OpenGl libraries ( although DirectX SDK is a whole lot easier to get a hold of) and start from there. There are a bunch of tutorials to get you started, GameDev.net has googobs of tutorials and articles and a forum full of professionals.

[Aerosol]

Oh? Why is that? What is SFML hell? I've never heard of it.