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The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - Oddity007 - Aug 3, 2009 06:10 AM
MODERATOR EDIT
There is an up-to-date list maintained at: http://www.idevgames.com/articles/big-list-of-mac-and-ios-game-engines
There is an up-to-date list maintained at: http://www.idevgames.com/articles/big-list-of-mac-and-ios-game-engines
At the Request of AnotherJake:
The Game-Oriented List of Game Engines, APIs, Libraries, Frameworks, Middleware, and Vaporware:
Game Engines:
Dim3
Link: http://www.klinksoftware.net
Target: Beginners
Language: Javascript
Pros:
— Easy to use
— VERY helpful community
— Great to start out with
— Well documented
Cons:
— Scripting is somewhat of a mess
— Your game will pretty much be a first-person shooter, anything else feels more of a hack
Panda3D
Link: http://www.panda3d.org/
Target: Beginner to moderate advanced
Language: Python
Pros:
— Very well documented
— Very flexible
Either Way:
— Developers dont put much emphasis on realism
Will get back with more when my friend reports back
Baja
Link: http://bajaengine.com
Taget: Moderate to Advanced
Language: Lua
Pros:
— Powerful
— Flexible
— Clean Lua APIs
Cons:
— Not very well documented
— As of August 3rd 2009 the last update was a year and a half ago.
— Glitchy map editor
— Built around Softimage XSI
— Really dead and n00bish community (i.e. LOLZ I WILLZ MAKEZ TEH 1337est MMO)
Most of these were promised to be solved in 2.8, but I'm still waiting.
LÖVE
Link: http://love2d.org/
Target: 2d developer
Language: Lua
Pros:
— Very pretty API
Either Way:
— 2d
Will get back with more when friend does
Graphics engines:
OGRE
Link: http://www.ogre3d.org/
Target: Advanced
Language: C++
Pros:
— It does 4 variants of shadows, many other effects, handles culling, handles animation from blender, does the dishes, hangs the laundry
Cons:
— Did I mention it does the dishes?
— C++ only
OpenSceneGraph
Link: http://www.openscenegraph.org/
Target: Moderately Advanced and up
Language: C++
Pros:
— Built as a project focused on OpenGL
— It is more focused than OGRE, and faster
Cons:
— C++ only
— Has some issues with multiple monitors and fullscreen
— Its still a beast of an API
OGv1 aka "Broken"
Link: http://log.ep-7.net/?p=3
Target: The DIY guy
Language: C99
Pros:
— Highly flexible
— Clean as possible
— There are effect libraries in works
Either Way:
— I made it
Cons:
— You've got to be willing to do all the effects yourself
Irrlicht
Link: http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/
Target: Moderate
Language: C++
Pros:
— Fast Fast Fast
— Easier than OGRE or OpenSceneGraph
— Flexible
Cons:
— Not the prettiest thing, but there are many more important things
— C++ and .NET
Physics engines:
ODE
Link: http://www.ode.org/
Pros:
— Flexible
— Well done C API
Cons:
— Lots of tweaking
Newton
Link: http://newtondynamics.com/forum/newton.php
Pros:
— Easy to use
Cons:
— Bordering realm of not being free
Chipmunk
Link: http://howlingmoonsoftware.com/chipmunk.php
Pros:
— Well done API
— Flexible
— Made by the great people at Howling Moon Software (Skorche and AndyKorth)
Either Way:
— 2d
Audio engines:
sfxLite
Link: http://www.idevgames.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17498
Pros:
— No hassle
— Cleanest sound API yet
— Made by AnotherJake
Cons:
— Mac only
— No pitch or tempo control
FMOD
Link: http://www.fmod.org/
Pros:
— Name what high end game doesn't use it?
Cons:
— I believe it is in the same boat as Newton
Other Libraries:
SDL
Link: http://www.libsdl.org/
Language: C
Pros:
— It does every thing
— It does well at not shoving its bloat in your face
Cons:
— Pulls some nasty tricks with main()
GLFW
Link: http://glfw.sourceforge.net/
Language: C
Pros:
— Very focused windowing library
— In my opinion, it is a well designed library
Cons:
— 2.6 uses Carbon, meaning its getting outdated (OneSadCookie has the story behind why it uses Carbon)
More to come, possibly embedded languages, judged on API.
Don't be afraid to pull a shameless plug!
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - AnotherJake - Aug 3, 2009 08:15 AM
As is customary with these kinds of stickies, it's important for others to add more, so here's my first contribution:
Bullet Physics
Link: http://www.bulletphysics.com/wordpress/
Target: Advanced 3D
Pros:
- extensive C++ API
- alternative (albeit rudimentary) C API is offered
- professional, commercial strength physics library
- in addition to rigid-body, it also includes soft body physics (cloth, rope, blobs, etc)
- open source
- zlib license
- extensive multi-platform: Mac/iPhone/Linux/Windows/Xbox 360/Wii/Playstation 3
- modular (i.e. can be used as collision detection library only, and also can be used alongside other physics libraries, such as ODE)
- COLLADA physics support
Cons:
- C API is still very rudimentary at this point
- documentation is rough
- not very easily approachable if you don't already have experience with physics engines
Other notes:
- 3D only
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - stevejohnson - Aug 3, 2009 08:27 AM
I'll just link to my comprehensive round-up of game libraries and languages.
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - AnotherJake - Aug 3, 2009 09:06 AM
SOIL
Link: http://www.lonesock.net/soil.html
Target: Beginner to Advanced
Description: Very simple image loading library for use with OpenGL
API: C
License: Public Domain
Pros:
- very simple and easy to use
- small
- cross-platform
- loads: png, jpeg, tga, dds, psd, hdr, bmp
- writes: bmp, tga, dds
Cons:
- no compressed writable format (e.g. can't save screenshots to png)
FreeType
Link: http://freetype.sourceforge.net/index2.html
Target: Intermediate to Advanced
Description: Library for rendering TrueType fonts (and many other types of fonts as well).
API: C
License: 2 licenses: either GPL (for GPL compatibility), or more commonly, the FreeType license, which was inspired by the BSD license.
Pros:
- extensively cross-platform (builds with ANSI C)
- high-quality font rendering
Cons:
- not easy to figure out how to use at first, must read lots of documentation, and/or look at examples
- no text layout built in, although it supplies kerning info to work with
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - shupaer - Aug 10, 2009 07:49 AM
G-Builder
Link: http://g-builder.org
Description: A cross-platform game making IDE
Pros:
a simplified C like language
Free
Cons:
Still in development
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - Ingemar - Aug 10, 2009 02:11 PM
FTGL?
OpenAL?
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - AnotherJake - Aug 10, 2009 06:30 PM
Ingemar Wrote:FTGL?
OpenAL?
It'd be nice if you added: Link:
Target:
Description:
API:
License:
Pros:
Cons:
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - Ingemar - Aug 10, 2009 11:42 PM
Something like this maybe?
FTGL:
Link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ftgl/
Target: Intermediate to advanced
Description: FreeType on OpenGL, renders TrueType fonts in OpenGL.
API: C/C++
License: LGPL
Pros: Renders high-quality fonts in 2D and 3D. Very nice results.
Cons: Vector fonts are slower than texture fonts. Somewhat complex installation.
OpenAL:
Link: http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/default.aspx
Target: All
Description: 3D sound library similar to OpenGL.
API: C/C++
License: Free but copyrighted.
Pros: Portable sound playing library with advanced features. Nice API.
Cons: No support for audio file formats. ALUT (which gives WAV support) poorly supported on the Mac.
The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - AnotherJake - Aug 11, 2009 12:09 AM
Thanks Ingemar.
Hopefully others will contribute similarly as well.
RE: The Mega Mac List of Game related tools - mercy^4 - Dec 5, 2012 12:13 AM
I'd like to link my 2D game engine and the game development tool / IDE I'm working on. Both of these are still private and closed-source but it would be nice to increase awareness of them and see if there's any interest in a public release.
BravoSprites
Link: http://sound-of-silence.com/matt/?page=bravosprites
Target: Intermediate / Advanced
Description: 2D Mac game engine (animation, OpenGL sprites, Open AL sound, integrated Chipmunks physics engine, etc.)
API: C/Objective-C
License: TBD
Pros: Awesome
Cons: You can't use it yet.
Forge (Current internal name)
Link: http://sound-of-silence.com/matt/?page=forge
Target: Beginner
Description: Mac game creation tool / IDE
API: Custom IDE with BASIC-like scripting language
License: TBD
Pros: Simple and easy to get games up and running quickly. Flexible but easy-to-learn scripting language and scene/object based system ideal for adventure games but capable of making platformers, arcade games, etc. Additional support for AppleScript, etc. will make simple general Mac utilities also a possibility.
Cons: Still in the works
Demo video showing a WYSIWYG level editor built with BravoSprites; it features an interactive console, easy terrain creation, sprite creation, and instant play testing: