programming/coding

[Grey]

Apprently this roguelike is written in BlitzBasic:

http://laby.toybox.de/index.php?sprache=1

I haven't tried it myself, but have a look to see what can be done. If the source code is available then it's a good resource to work from.

BlitzBasic should be fine for Windows games, but it may have compatibility issues on Linux or Mac. Otherwise it does have some advantages in being easy to set up graphical and mouse interfaces.

[Epythic]

WERDNA:

You can make nearly anything with nearly every programming language. What's more important is how long it takes you to actually do it.

I strongly recommend you not to use BlitzBasic.

1. Last time I checked it was not even gratis, let alone free. Bad thing, creates vendor lock-in.
2. Learn a real programming language, not some downgraded thing made for beginners only. I'd say BlitzBasic is wasted time.

Again, I recommend Python, because it is very easy to learn. If you mastered the basics of programming in general, Python should be easy to pick up. Which leads me to another point:

3. BlitzBasic is not very popular. Python is. Which is a great advantage, because whenever there is some problem, chances are somebody else has already done it.

Another advice is to stay away from the BASIC and Pascal families.

But then, that's just my opinion. Others might disagree with it. Feel free to use whatever you want.

Blah, maybe I/someone should put together a python/something-based equivalent of qhack.

[Grey]

WERDNA:
Another advice is to stay away from the BASIC and Pascal families.

I would disagree somewhat - both Free Basic and Free Pascal are fully functional freely-licensed languages, with the important distinction that they're easy to learn for people with no programming experience. Python is nowhere near as intuitive to pick up from scratch, however much existing programmers love it. Of course it is perfectly possible to learn quickly and effectively, but some may have more luck with FB or FP. DoomRL, GearHead and LamdbaRogue are all testament to the sort of great games that can be made in Free Pascal. There are no notable roguelikes made in Python, in spite of the many existing projects.

Of course one huge advantage to Python (and C++) is being able to use the amazing Doryen library/libtcod. And them being better languages in general.

Basic is possibly the worst choice, in spite of how easy it is to pick up. Too many roguelike-players use Linux, and many Basic games aren't easily ported. There's also less roguelike-specific support available for it.

[WERDNA]

Ok, thats all I wanted to know.

I'll probably start learning C++ or python, and maybe put something together with those.

Because I do agree with you that Basic is a beginners language, although it certainly allows you to put
games quite quickly, but C++ is definetaly more versatile.

Thanks for your replys,

And if you like, check out my current Basic project, Dragon Spirit, At
http://hosted.filefront.com/werdnaworld

WERDNA ^_^

[Grey]

gut, it's been suggested to me that there are specific speed problems with my own compilation. You may wish to try getting FPC and compiling the source yourself - it might actually be playable then.

[Grey]

Zeno from the forums has been kind enough to provide me with a compilation on his machine that runs faster, and has included a couple of little bugfixes too. Get it here if you're interested.

[gut]

Thanks, it may be faster, but the machine is the problem : )

[mike3]

Thanks, it may be faster, but the machine is the problem : )

What sort of machine would you be programming for that would be that slow?

[gut]

It's ~10 years old. Mostly, all I use a computer for is playing
and chatting about ADOM and Crawl, as most other games
rather irritate me. I also sometimes listen to books, but all
of these tasks are performed nicely on this ancient thing. On
principal, I refuse to upgrade until there is something I want
to use a computer for, but can't. Gruesome probably will be
the reason I upgrade, as JADE will probably take a while yet.
I'll wait for a few more versions to come along though, I'm
not one to rush : )

[vogonpoet]

Thats totally awesome - having to upgrade ones computer to play the latest ASCII based roguelike.

Whats sad is how brainwashed everyone else other than gut (including myself) has become about upgrading their computers.... I guess 95 % of general computer use today could be done 15 years ago on WfW 3.11 machines... maybe even more than that... 15 years of OS and hardware development, what have we gained?

Huge piles of scrap silicon, in chip and CRT formats, much of it contaminated with crappy plastic. W00t.


/I can haz suztainable?