Now to the big guns...

[A Day Old Bagel]

Alright, I've written in javascript and dabbled in torque, but I'm sick of the noob stuff. What are good languages and progs up to date? (haven't been developing for a while now).

No rush... just thought I'd ask before dissapointing myself with

C++_+_---+_==--[;)]/

etc.

[Ezzaral]

If you are speaking in terms of game programming, C++ is still the king. C#, Java, and Python are also valid choices.

[A Day Old Bagel]

Thanks Ezzaral. Didn't know if anything knew had cropped up. Guess not.

[jbennet]

C++ has been the language for games for like 15+ years, i dont think its going to change that soon

[A Day Old Bagel]

:( Well I can dream, cant I?

[MattEvans]

C++ with OpenGL is joyful. My dreams are powered by that combination.

But, it depends what you mean by 'game' really. One could write tic-tac-toe in PHP; one ( or more ) could write Quake 3 in C++ with OpenGL.

You can get OpenGL for Python, and other languages probably.. To be honest with OGL, the redraw time when presented with all necessay information can be way longer per cycle than the time taken to mess about multiplying matrices, calculating and reacting to collisions, or running basic AI algorithms... the point being, using a language that traditionally executes slower than C++ for the main part of the game ( the part that isn't implemented in the, often 3rd party, complete, and likely written in C or C++ graphics or physics libraries ) isn't necessarily a limiting factor.

What language would you like to write in, and what would you like to create?

[jbennet]

yes i mean, a large number of modern games still use assembley code for speed critical parts (the rendering engine in quake, for example)

[Ezzaral]

C# with XNA is gaining some popularity as well, but production games for the most part still rely on C++. As said above - it depends on what you want to program. As a new game programmer, the language is going to be the least limiting thing you'll face.

[jbennet]

i agree. C# is just a bit too slow at the monent for real games though but maybe in the future

Why dont they make a new C - C+2 anyone ? (lol)

[Ezzaral]

C^2 :)

[TheGathering]

I would've thought Python would be painfully slow for any real games...

I mean, here's an earlier speed test I ran in Java, C, and Python using equivalent calculations for each language:

Python Pi Calculator: 10000000 (10m) iterations

11 seconds using floating point math;
8 seconds using integer math;

Java Pi Calculator: 10000000 (10m) iterations

less than 1 second using integer math;
less than 1 second using floating point math;

~3 seconds @ 100000000 (100m) iterations using integer math
~9 seconds @ 100000000 (100m) iterations using long math

26 seconds @ 1000000000 (1b) iterations using floating point math

C Pi Calculator: 10000000 (10m) iterations

less than 1 second using integer math;
less than 1 second using floating point math;

19 seconds @ 1000000000 (1b) iterations using floating point math

How could performance like that ever be used for 3d games like in C, C++, and Java?

[jbennet]

They use Python a fair bit in turn based strategy games actually (The newer installments in the Civ familty, for example)

[jwenting]

Python is used for scripting unit reactions, where speed isn't that essential, rather than for game loops.

AFAIK there are no complete (commercial class) games written in it.

[jbennet]

CIV series uses it for AI

[jwenting]

which is likely scripted so they can have a generic AI engine which the script adapts for the expected reactions of each AI controlled entity in the game.

[wvgoethe]

Try delphi with opengl