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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Is DBPro still viable as a game making language?

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klarkit
14
Years of Service
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Joined: 27th Feb 2010
Location:
Posted: 21st Feb 2016 15:52
Just as title says, I love DBPro but it seems a little dated. Should I move on to something else or stick with it?
Looking to make a go at using it in a professional matter.
Thanks
wattywatts
14
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Joined: 25th May 2009
Location: Michigan
Posted: 21st Feb 2016 18:43
Depending on what kind of game you want to make of course,, yeah I don't see why not.
The larger the game, the bigger the problem I would think, as DBP runs on one CPU core.
klarkit
14
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Joined: 27th Feb 2010
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Posted: 21st Feb 2016 21:27
So single player RPG and FPS games are best?
wattywatts
14
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Joined: 25th May 2009
Location: Michigan
Posted: 23rd Feb 2016 02:44
Well that would depend on the scope of the game. Offhand I would say a sidescroller might be best, but there are some massive sidescrollers out there that would be tricky to pull off.
hakimfullmetal
9
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Joined: 17th Feb 2015
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Posted: 27th Feb 2016 08:03 Edited at: 27th Feb 2016 08:05
An artist name Mike Inel made this fantastic-looking game in DPRO years back. I think it's even worthy for commercial use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnUrPE9nYZE
Chris Tate
DBPro Master
15
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Joined: 29th Aug 2008
Location: London, England
Posted: 27th Feb 2016 15:38 Edited at: 27th Feb 2016 15:42
Take this is a personal opinion; I'd advise you seek advice from a variety of sources.

I'd say only use DBPRO if you want to target Windows only, or can handle the process of porting your source code for other tools. The majority of my target audience is using Windows PC's to play their games. For this reason, I continue to use the tool for my work, porting any code required for other platforms when possible.

If you want to tap into the mobile market and at the same time implement 3D functionality, I'd go with AppGameKit (App Game Kit). This is a multiplatform support development environment by TGC which has a more active community.

From what I can tell, mobile (Android/iOS) gaming is on the rise with more and more non-gamers being drawn in, kiting the success of social media and video marketing. AppGameKit is better to take advantage of that, and offers better support.

On the other side of the coin, there is a rise in success of indie game projects (often using older technology for) sandbox, zombie survival and MOBA's. This is attracting people to PC gaming, for quality mouse+keyboard competitive or long-term-casual gaming, and I think the console industry is slowly but surely morphing itself to the PC (Steam / Media PC). DarkBASIC is in a better possition to take advantage of this trend, utilising time and tested technology being proven by successful indie releases.

So for better support, and alround funtionality, AGK. For better facilitation of Windows Gaming, DBP.
Sph!nx
15
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Joined: 3rd Dec 2008
Location: The Netherlands
Posted: 1st Mar 2016 16:50 Edited at: 1st Mar 2016 16:51
Well said, Chris. I tend to make my custom development tools with DBP and use AppGameKit for game projects because of the reasons you describe.
Regards Sph!nx
Van B
Moderator
21
Years of Service
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Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 2nd Mar 2016 10:32
Of course it is!

These days people play a diverse range of games, from AAA FPS games that cost more than movies to make, to indie game projects that are designed to look 30 years old.

It's a case of the game justifying itself, not the language. If someone makes a zombie survival game in DBPro for instance, it might not have impressive polygon counts, details, or effects - those things may not be important - the important thing is how good the game is. Even if people have to root around for older installs of DX9 to get things running, well that's fine - the last 3 AAA games I bought needed to be messed around with, and still cause problems. Having to install an old DX to get a game working is far better than having to do a fresh install, or nerf your GFX card, or use older drivers, or pretty much anything that we often have to do anyway!

A good game idea does not start by deciding how much money is to be spent on visuals... a good game idea arrives at a less than ideal time, and demands to be considered, and expects to be developed quickly, otherwise it just dies - and being truly honest here, there is no language that comes close to DBPro for getting ideas investigated quickly. I really think that the best ideas don't rely on the XYZ of features that more complex development systems all have... we can make stuff happen in DBPro, and quickly, and modern graphics hardware just eats it up. I run old tech demos these days, back then they'd be designed to give about 100fps, like a terrain demo perhaps - now I get thousands of frames per second - that's thousands of frames to use on graphic effects, shaders, game logic. We really don't know what DBPro is capable of these days.
Ruwbaen
12
Years of Service
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Joined: 30th Dec 2011
Location: Cyberspace
Posted: 6th Mar 2016 22:44
I used to be a Dark Basic PRO user but I started writing my own engine now in C# and OpenGL. Why go through such hell? Because I love to do it, that is why. My audience? Just me for now because I have no intentions to distribute my engine just like that. What I do have is the interesert of publishing editors I made for creating games. Back in the good old days I used to write editors with the Dark GDK.net Windows Forms component. Unfortunately it is dated and contains bugs so I stopped using it. Instead I am using OpenTK and it's Windows Forms component. And it works like a charm. The software will be free to use and quite general so not just aiming at engines like DBPRO but it can be used. I know this sounds selfish and like I am promoting myself while you did not ask for it, but there is a good reason why I am still here.

It is quite simply in fact, I love how DBPRO is designed. I do not give a damn about it being outdated, I love how nice designed it is. But I will be honest, if you are planning to publish professional games you rather want to take a look at the big guys like Unity3D. Still it is a lot of work and requires more than DBPRO. It really depends on what you are aiming at, who your audience is. If you are doing this just for fun just stick to DBPRO. You can take it as professional as you want, just be creative. And now DBPRO is going Open Source I am certain it will improve over time.
\"Ce n\'est pas un bijou normale monsieur Will\" - Chaque Dupont in my game Jack Will

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