BASIC variants I've used in the past:
- Aquarius (MS) BASIC
- Commodore C16/C64 (MS)BASIC
- AmigaBASIC
- AMOS
- BlitzBasic
- MS Visual BASIC
- Blitz3D/Plus/Max
I really liked Blitz3D, but it had it's limitations and wasn't developed anymore. Ideally had been merged with Plus and Max, Monkey but the creators decided otherwise, decided to restart from scratch multiple times. If you do that, you'll lose your public, fans and scare potential customers.
In AGK's case I can understand for it's now multiplatform and not every platform supports the same stuff, hence syntax needs to be more suitable/universal for all platforms. Perhaps was too hard to adapt. However, it would be great if they would incorporate all the features advertised and people expect to see in a modern dev platform and/or are currently missing.
Such as:
- Vertex commands.
- Full physics.
- Asynchronous loading.
- OOP for those who need it.
- Missing useful commands from DarkBASIC Pro.
- Possibility to compile standalone executables.
Include:
- Besides BASIC-script and C++, add C# and Python, which are very popular and seen as professional(important feat).
Do this either by default or.. launch a separate AppGameKit Studio Pro version to generate more revenue to pay for it all. = $$$
- A Terrain, Scene and Character Editor(can be taken from GamGuru) plus a Shader Editor (can be taken from DarkBASIC - I've heard Paul did one there?).
This could also be a separate add-on or included in suggested AppGameKit Studio Pro. = $$$
- Easy multiplayer network features such as Unity Networking Portal.
Create a separate, more advanced add-on for massive multiplayer games, such as Photon Networking and perhaps host the server against a monthly fee? = $$$
And that's, my dear ladies and gentlemen, is how you'll have a
guaranteed, big bucks making winner system at your hands .
Or as some might say:
Ideally I'd like to see all incorporated into one Studio, it might be bit too much at once.
For now we'll have to wait and see, keep fingers crossed they'll follow the logical path.