What to make a game in, part 2
After some serious thinking (based on my previous post), I’ve decided to go with PyGame as my initial platform for making a game. As much as I like Processing for making ‘interactive visuals’, the more I learn Python, the more I like it (as in, the language itself… Python has no great graphics abilities on its own). The syntax is just so much cleaner than Java (Processing). I also looked closely at XNA, but approaching C# doesn’t give me any great joy, based on its structural similarities to Java. There is a huge XNA community, and I’ll probably come back to at during some point. I also took a serious look at Blender, and its game creation system. But since I’m so used to Maya as my DCC tool, switching to Blender was really hard. You can’t change the hotkeys! It’s just too much for me 
Maybe when version 2.5 comes out… So for now, PyGame FTW!
I have picked up some books on the subjects to supliment the vast quantity of tutorials on the web:
PyGame:
- Beginning Game Development with Python and Pygame: From Novice to Professional
- Game Programming: The L Line, The Express Line to Learning
XNA:
And while I was at it, got one on the Arduino, since you never know when that will come in handy 😉
I’ve already got a simple 2-‘player’ game up and running where you can drive two ‘tanks’ around the screen. A pleasing start.
On a side note, my Xbox 360 got the RROD last night. Sigh…
I had an idea of making a game in my free time, so I’ve been doing some research and game up to a very similar conclusion to yours, actually. I have a Java and PHP background; after experimenting with DarkBASIC Pro and XNA a little, I’ve settled on pygame and seem happy so far.
Indeed. I have a buddy doing XNA stuff, and it’s cool no doubt. But I like the whole open-source idea. Although, it would be nice to be able to play them on your Xbox 😉 Right now I’m goofing around with PyMunk to get 2d physics into my game. Good times 😉
A major advantage of the XNA is the financial advantage of being able to sell products for Microsoft platforms (Windows / Zune / Xbox 360); that fact has not been lost on me… I figure if I can make a compelling, interesting product and polish the gameplay and assets in a more familiar language and there seems to be a market, then it will be worth the time investment to learn C#.
A major advantage of pygame is the massive community support going back for years and the cross-platform compatibility. There have been pygame finalists in IGF, so I know failure isn’t the fault of the tool
My buddy just released his first iPhone app. It’s now selling a couple hundred copies a day he says, for $2 each (minus apples take). Not too bad for something in your spare time. 😉 They need to get PyGame on the iPhone 😉
To me, c# looks a lot like Java, which I’m familiar with via Processing. But compared to Python, it’s just has so much more cluttering syntax… I just can’t get myself to learn it yet…
Take a look at Phil Hassey’s blog entries on iPhone – he talks about porting some of his games from pygame to the iPhone and prototyping in pygame. Of particular interest –