Corporal Tunnel,
DBP's Poly handling is alot better from what I can gather ( I haven't put it to extremes as yet, but that's cos I code wisely, so I have a minimum of polygons onscreen at a time ).
But, you musn't forget, when they make games for consoles, they are programing to a VERY specific computer system.
The PS2 has specific Specs ( ie, Video speed is xx, processing speed is xx, RAM is xx etc etc).
Then, if you are making games for a PC, you have to factor in many, many things. For example, one PC may have the latest Raedon 512MB video card with 2GB RAM-BUS and a 3.2GHz AMD proc, whereas the next PC may only have a 16MB TNT with 128MB SDRAM and only a 1.2GHz P2.
On that faster PC, DBP could handle alot more poly's than any PS2 game. But, on the slower PC, you'd probably get the BSOD ( Blue Screen Of Death ) in 98.
If you know your stuff ( programming wise ) and can set up your game so that it is efficient, and doesn't lagg on things that it shouldn't ( like most proffesional programmers ), then, sure, you should get out of it what you put in...
And, on top of that, it's like you said, "Assuming you had a very talented artist,that knew a thing or two about making good looking low poly models", you could quite easily make a TOP NOTCH game in either DBC, or DBP.
Basically, the only limitations of DBC is that is stuck on an older version of DX and that some of the in-built commands could have been optimized a bit more ( but easily solved with a simple DLL ).
The only limitations with DBP atm are the bugs that it contains ( lot's of little ones unfortunatly ) Which should be fixed in U6, meaning massive speed increased, and general releif for those that have been using workarounds for almost a year.
The only other limitation is your imagination and skill.
If you're just indi, with no real experience, then you won't get anything more out of DBP than you are willing to put into it...
But, if you take your time, and learn the language, and how to manipulate it to your advantage, then you can acheive some amazing things with it.
Here's just a few examples of what can come out of these two languages:
DBC:
Star Wraith 3 (
Home Page )
Strut Your Stuff (
Home Page )
Stoked! (
Home Page )
Tito the Bouncing Alien (
Home Page )
Firewall (
Home Page )
VANseam (
Home Page )
Driving Test Sucess ( This is one of the best products from DBC to date, and it shows by the sales that it makes!! [ Think W&H Smiths Best Seller! ] )
DBP:
Room War ( One of the Highly notable entries for the AlienWare Comp... So Highly notable, it won, lol )
The Lab Demo (
Home Page )
DUO (
Home Page )
MULTISCAPE Landscape Editor (
Home Page )
That's all I could find for now... But for anyone that want's to, be sure to add to that list
Don't be dis-heartened by these forums... Try to listen to what the MOD's say, and what the "experienced" people say, cos almost everything else is Newb bull-cr@p.
But remember, a proper project has multiple programmers, multiple texture artists, multiple sound engineers, multiple this, multiple that...
So, if you're on your own, no matter what language you try, you'r gonna have a hard time unless you're deticated.
Hope this helps.
Jess.
Team EOD :: Programmer/Logical Engineer/All-Round Nice Guy