Should I buy Purebasic?...

[kano]

Hello,

I'm programming a 2D game for windows, I've done all the graphics, I'm now looking for a suitable program to write it in. I don't want to learn C (not enough time, I'm not a professional programmer) and Visual Basic turns me off because of it's bloatedness. The game will be a platformer of sorts but it will run in a window, not full screen.

I have some questions:

How good is Purebasic at windowed screens?

Is Purebasic good at throwing around a large number of sprites?

How does Purebasic compare to other packages in terms of 2D performance?

Thanks in advance, and if anyone has any other comments about Purebasic or other packages then please post them.

[Tranquil]

PB should be able to handle enough sprites! That is not the problem. Only the soundengine is more then bad.

Mike

[LarsG]

I would say; Go for it..

-PB's windowed screen work very well... (at least that's what I've experienced..)

-PB is fast, and I don't think you'll have any problems with the number of onscreen sprites..

-PB supports neat effects like alpha/transparency on sprites, and different blanding modes.. and even realtime zooming and rotating..

-PB is cheap.. (compared to other game-"capable" programming languages)

-PB creates small, stand-alone executables...

-PB is easy to learn..

-Lars

[D'Oldefoxx]

I would consider PureBASIC as being a good choice for much of your effort. You might also want to consider BlitxBASIC, which has both a 2D/3D capability. You have the ability of calling libraries writtin in PureBASIC from BlitzBASIC, but alas, not the reverse, since at present Blitz does not support the creation of libraries.

BlitzBASIC is somewhat better for graphics and such, althoug you can get admirable results with PureBASIC. But PureBASIC makes it easier to reach the heart of the operating system's capabilities.

You can also used OpenGL or DirectX graphics from either language. That means that there is no clearcut choice based on any one feature.

Run the demos or example programs available from both vender sites. Some of these are extremely well done and cleary show off the best features of each language. Try to relate to the demonstrated abilities and what you are trying to achieve with your own efforts. There is usually more emphasis given to visual over sound, but that doesn't mean that you cannot handle sound, you just have to focus on the specific exampes that use it.

I find that each language discussed still has certain language restrictions, which will cause you to consider calling Windows' API (Appliance Program Interface) functions more quickly in some cases, and Assembler code in other cases. But there are always people willing to help you in specific cases when you get on the forums.

But test driving the produce is still the best way to make up you mind. If someone else did it, you can too, and maybe even do it with code freely offered for your own projects.

[Karbon]

PureBasic is capable but doesn't have some of the more advanced things found in Blitz yet!

Both are delightful languages to work in, though...

For now I'd do a game in Blitz until PB's graphic functionality gets more mature, but that's just me! There is no comparison between Blitz and PureBasic for applications though - PB hands down.

[LJ]

I second what Karbon says. For example, go look in the Game forum and the game tutorial by hypervox message thread. You'll notice that PB can't really do shooting sounds because there is only 1 channel and if you play the sound again too quickly, it does strange things with the sound. I found a work around as you can read in the thread.

Until the sound problem gets resolved, you are probably better off with Blitz if you are looking to complete your project pretty fast, within the next couple of months.

I anticipate that the sound problem will be fixed soon because, if you notice, Fred responds very quickly to most bug reports and fixes things in the next version release which happens every couple of months.

PB will soon be better than Blitz for games because of its highly optimized compiler output, and tiny tiny little .exe's. Just right now, there is some functionality PB lacks in game develop when compared to Blitz.

[kano]

Thanks for the replies, you've cleared things up a bit. I've tried both Purebasic and Blitz now, and I'm really impressed with PB. I want to go with PB for several reasons. Awsome speed, always being updated with new commands and features, and a great forum here. Can I just ask two more questions?

1. Is Fred working on a new or updated sound engine? If so, I'll definately go for PB because I've done all my graphics, I just need to program the game now and that will take several months. Sound will come at the very end.

2. Are Blitz Basic's 2D functions and sprite capabilities better than PB? If so, what advantages does it have over PB?

[Karbon]

Personally I've never used PB to do a game so I'm no expert. Just by looking I see that we don't have any built in collision detection in PB yet - so that's one big leg up Blitz has.. As far as any others I'll let someone more educated respond!

As far as Fred working on the sound engine goes.. I'd say it's on his list but only he will be able to speak as to it's priority..

[Fred]

PB has build in collision for 2D game, even pixel precise one: SpritePixelCollision() and SpriteCollision(). And yes, PB has more features for 2D games, like realtime zooming, rotationing, blending and more. It even have a direct video buffer access for extra fast pixel manipulation, an unique feature for now. It's not because Blitz2D is a game langage only than it's better. Many users which are really used the PB 2D command set say overwise.. Else, tell me exactly what makes blitz 2D so much powerful against PB and I will fill the gap .

[GedB]

Fred,

You seem to be avoiding the issue of the sound engine

[Fred]

I'm not avoiding the sound engine or the 3D engine limitations, all the questions was regarding 2D capatibility. About the sound engine, you can use FMod (which is the one BB use) or Bass in PB easily as 3rd part libraries has been ported to it. Just search this forums in the tips'n'tricks sections.

[Karbon]

Whoops, my apologies for the misleading post!

[GedB]

Thanks for that, I'll start searching.

[Psychophanta]

For 2D games PB, and in general programming, kicks to Blitz2D.


Perhaps, and only perhaps, PB could require a bit more of time of familiarization.


AL