Hi,
Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about Python.
For what my opinion's worth, I would suggest C or C++, all the way, 100%.
The one advantage I can see with Python, apart from the fact that it is
regularly maintained (always a plus), is its inherent ability to package
scripts together and interact with them separately but cooperatively. In
all fairness, I absolutely love that feature.
Other than that:
1. Python is far slower than C and C++ (to be expected with an
interpreted language using so many higher-level wrapper layers). You
might not think that's a problem for games, but it depends on how big
your games are, and how much you care about speed. As a developer, I'd
much rather plan for the worst case, that is to say a massive open-world
game which might have thousands of objects, and try and optimise it in a
way that allows it to take three seconds to open in a solid language
than having to stick with the limitations of it taking over 30 seconds
in an interpreted environment, simply because you have no control over
how memory is allocated or accessed.
2. Python is far too bloated. Again, so many moving parts, having to
ship the interpreter with the code, any DLLs (or indeed PYDs) that might
be being wrapped etc. None of this can be linked statically. There are
complicated workarounds that would trigger the alarm of certain virus
scanners, but they're not ideal by any means. With C or C++, as long as
you have the source code to what you're linking, you could link
everything statically and safely into one executable. As an example, if
SoundRTS was rewritten in C++, chances are the distribution directory
could easily contain 600 files less than the Python distribution does.
We already saw an example on list the other day of what can happen if
you just happen to be missing one DLL!
3. Python is far too vulnerable to reverse engineering, only making it
viable for open-source products. Experienced closed-source Python users
know how to get around that, either by using obfuscation, or even by
modifying the interpreter. But again, that's using complicated methods
that Python wasn't technically designed for, possibly making it even
slower at runtime, and definitely making Python more complicated for the
learner. On the other hand, try to decompile a release binary in C and
C++, and you get nothing but hex and assembly.
4. In some cases, Python seems a lot more complicated. I'm not sure
whether that's because of the tutorials or the philosophy behind it, but
start talking to me about virtual environments, pip, the processes for
building executables, or the process for trapping exceptions in pyw,
it's enough to send my head in a spin. In C++, you don't need packages
and environments, and its ways of exceptions and executables are a lot
more elegant.
5. On a more personal pet hate of mine, Python is far too visual with
its indentation requirements. I guess that's OK for people using braille
or partials that can see a screen, but mere mortals using speech don't
need it, and for my part I could spend the rest of my life without it. I
find it much easier to read code with deliberate boundary symbols. Of
course that is simply a matter of preference and setup.
The way I see it, Python wasn't designed for programming at all. In
fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Python is slightly like AutoIt. That is
to say, it started out as an automated or possibly shell scripting
environment, and has since evolved to try to be like any other
programming language, and for that reason, it suffers from many defects
and deficiencies. I believe even the Python documentation refers to a
few situations that arise as a result of previous bugs or design oversights.
Cheers,
Damien.
On 14/02/2021 11:20 am, Chris Norman via groups.io wrote:
Hi,
There are a few different audio game engines for Python, these include
Earwax <https://earwax.readthedocs.io/> (beta), Lucia
<https://github.com/luciasoftware/lucia> (which is supposed to be more
familiar to those coming from BGT, Framework
<https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/38239/framework-my-new-set-of-tools-for-audiogame-creation-in-python3/> (for
want of a better name), and pyAGE
<https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/38941/pyage-yet-another-python-audio-game-engine/> (which
is still very much in its early stages).
If you'd rather go the mainstream route, and don't mind a little more
work, there's Godot Accessibility
<https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/33909/migrated-godot-accessibility-to-github/>.
Finally, for some subjective comparisons, see this thread
<https://forum.audiogames.net/topic/38995/python-and-audiogame/> on the
audiogames.net <http://audiogames.net> forum.
There are others, namely MonoGame <https://www.monogame.net/>, and
probably some other stuff in C# too.
Other than that, please just do everyone a favour (mainly yourself), and
don't use BGT. It's like deciding to dig yourself a swimming pool, using
a plastic bucket and spade for digging, wattle and dorb for lining, and
stiff prayer for water purification.
HTH,
Take care,
Chris Norman
On Sun, 14 Feb 2021 at 02:42, Immigrant via groups.io <http://groups.io>
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hello, everyone. I have just joined the group, and I hope the
distinguished
gamers and writers in this gaming community understand that I am
very much a
beginner, trying to write perhaps a couple of simple dice or card
games. I
wrote a dice game script in BGT, and the script doesn't generate any
compilation errors. However, the game window stays open only for a
couple of
seconds, and then disappears, so none of the program's keystrokes can be
executed. I realize that BGT is no longer supported, but it does
work under
Windows 10, and it is the only engine where I know how to implement
keystrokes and add and manipulate sounds. I checked basic tutorials
for a
few programming languages, and realized that game logic can be
programmed in
any of the languages but none of these tutorials addresses
keystroke-driven
implementation, or addition of sound. And even in the BGT tutorial,
I have
not found answers to some of my questions. The game I am currently
trying to
write is a dice roller, but if one tries to create, for example, a card
game, how do you make a card playable? If cards exist as strings, or
parts
of an array, or even instances of their own class, they are just
abstract
logical structures. But cards need to be manipulated - picked up,
discarded,
etc. If I have a hand with 5 cards, how do I program a way to
navigate the
list of cards and then perform an action on a card currently in
focus? How
to make it an element of interface so it can be selected? I hope I
clearly
expressed my questions, and I am grateful in advance for any
clarifications.
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