A portable game language for tiny games would be a success?

[Leandro Jardim]

A small IDE of an easy to use language like BASIC for you to be able to make portable 16 color games with ease, featuring synthesized analog sound (like the Nintendo NES) and with games of a ridiculous file size, useable for example, for streaming by over the Internet, or even for playing on small computers, like phones and old computers, would be a success?

Thanks, in advance!

[PS. Dont be afraid by the intimidating text of the options, you can vote and it doesnt matters, I would like to be friend of everybody. Anyone can vote and say what thinks.]

[Samurai_Crow]

While I think Amiga needs some game making tools, if you make it too simple you run into the same problems as Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit(often abbreviated as SEUCK).

The best thing you could do to make a good game development kit is to make it as open-ended as possible. Make it possible to write object codes in C and link them with a standard linker such as VLink. That way the user isn't limited by what's possible in the simple editor.

[Leandro Jardim]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

While I think Amiga needs some game making tools, if you make it too simple you run into the same problems as Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit(often abbreviated as SEUCK).

The best thing you could do to make a good game development kit is to make it as open-ended as possible. Make it possible to write object codes in C and link them with a standard linker such as VLink. That way the user isn't limited by what's possible in the simple editor.

I am aware. On the other side, the project need to start small, because I do not work in a team. So its natural that in the beginning it will lack features of the host system, and that it will probably be used more by beginners and children wanting to play. But I worry if it could fail miserably being so limited. The majority of people dont like games looking retro, at least this is what seems.

Thanks for the reply Samurai_Crow, you are welcome!

[Dreedo]

Game Maker by YoYoGames had a good system called 'Drag And Drop' where certain icons = certain pieces of code, with just simple text boxes to fill in.

Like to create an instance in code is: Instance_create(x,y,obj) so the x co-ords, y co-ords and what object to spawn.

In DnD you just drag and drop the 'instance create' icon, then theres a textbox for x, textbox for y, and a drop-down menu for you select which instance it should create.

That's a basic example, but DnD can be used to make hard commands relatively easy.

I think the Amiga actually already has one like this, but i found it hard to use.

Not sure if this is what you meant by your question.

[Photon]

I wouldn't use such a language, at least not on Amiga. It would have to be nicer that Python+SDL or whatever.

If you think coding such a language would be fun, then it's unnecessary to ask of course Just code it, have fun, and make it the best you can.

[khph_re]

the amiga already has blitz and amos for easy to us programming languages.

A drag and drop gui interface, like sheuck or backbone, would be more interesting for non programmers, i think.

[Leandro Jardim]

I did read all replies, and understood everyone, and these are good points to observe, Dreedo, Photon and khph_re.

The Amiga and Windows have similar languages, but they are not multi-platform, and the languages that are multi-platform on Amiga and Windows doesnt work with graphics and sound, or need some type of native extension or library to work with that, incompatible with other systems.

The language that I am visioning generate games that coded once, run anywhere, provided that an interpreter exists on the host computer. The interpreter would be like a virtual videogame console - it loads and executes its own datafile (cartridge) format with games, that adapt to the system they are running.

The simple graphics and sound features was chosen because the majority of portable or old machines doesnt allow much in this area, and they also decrease the size of the resources (very useful for a low-spec Amiga/Windows, and streaming by Internet for example) and I have seen quite impressive things done with a specification like this, like you all should have seen too.

Thats because it needs to be simple initially - if I make it too complex at the very start, it will grow so much that it will lose shape and I will get in trouble with it. After some time, when I squash the bugs and release a stable version, I can think of adding more colours, better graphics and sound routines, and support for other types of systems, especially the newer systems, more complex, that everyone wants.

Also, coding tiny graphics and sound routines should be the most fun thing on the earth, and I would really appreciate the results if I do it right. I am coding the garbage collector and compiler up to now, and its taking the shape that I would like it to be, and I am gaining progress very quickly. Unfortunately I do not work very often with it, as I would like to be.

And guys, I would not lie to you all, the first version is for Windows, unfortunately, I know... But its the API that I know more of. I well tried to learn AmigaOS programming in the past, but I never got access to the NDK and not even a working C compiler, in the country that I live. I played a bit with Intuition, and created windows and drawed text, but only.

[cosmicfrog]

Looking foward to seening this develop, start small think big and have fun

[khph_re]

You explain it really well Leandro, and I hope it works out for you.
As for running it on windows first, don't worry, we all love our Amiga's, but we also understand it's 2011