Hi Davy:
While it is true that Angelscript, the scripting language built into
BGT , can be compiled and run on Mac OS X it is my understanding
Philip Bennefall has no current plans to port BGT to Mac. Besides not
owning a Mac, having to rewrite various components for the Mac, Philip
has stated on more than one occasion he doesn't feel porting BGT to
Mac is a solid financial investment. the market is still too small to
make it financially worth while. So while he may change his mind in
the future I think for the time being there are no plans for a Mac
version of BGT.
I am also a Java developer, but in my experience cooking one
executable in Java and having it work on Mac, Windows, and Linux as
expected doesn't always work out as intended. Variations in JRE can
cause unforeseen bugs or technical problems which is why I haven't
relied on it for audio gaming. Although, I'd agree it is easier to
make cross-platform versions of games and applications in Java than it
would be to use something like C++.
Security is and has also been a concern of mine as well. I love the
Java language, feel the speed is comfortable, but I don't like the
fact some two-bit hacker can take my class files and convert them back
to human readable source code in like two seconds flat. That makes me
very weary of using Java for any of my commercial endeavors, because
it is too easy to hack and any security keys or code generation in my
code can be reversed engineered fairly easy by another Java developer.
Not good.
Still faced with a choice between Java or BGT I'd take Java because
all of the options it gives me as a developer in terms of Windows,
Mac, Linux, and of course Android development. BGT while a good
product is in many ways a dead-end to anyone who wants to develop
outside of the Windows environment which is becoming more and more
necessary by the day. There is already a large and growing community
of blind users who have switched to Mac OS, an even larger blind
community of blind users now using iPhones, and a small but vibrant
handful using Android phones. All of those are possible markets to
target with accessible games, and BGT is going nowhere in that
direction in terms of game development. So Java or C++ is still your
best bet for accessible game development.
Cheers!
On 12/11/13, Davy Kager <[email protected]> wrote:
Whoa, has been ages since I last posted here!
Anyway, nerd questions coming up. I’d be interested to know if there are
any plans to turn BGT loose on Mac OS. I believe the scripting language it
uses is capable of running on Mac OS, so that’s a start, isn’t it?
Here is the background story, for those interested:
I’ve been developing both “regular” applications and games, although to be
fair I’ve spent very little time on games over the last few years. I use
mostly Java, occasionally C++ as well. Recently I figured I’d start being
serious about games again. The obvious thing to do would be to turn to Java
(which is what I did), since I have to use that for more professional
projects anyway so I might as well stick to something I know. Java is great
for cross-platform work. Except for a few nitty gritty details you can
basically cook one executable and run it on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Java’s performance is good too, and with the upcoming Java 8 and 9 it will
become less painful to distribute the required JVM with your source code,
removing the need for your users to install extra software. Not to mention
that debugging code is a breeze. The single disadvantage is that it is
super easy to decompile Java, to the point where the original source
emerges, so encrypting user data is virtually useless. Things like TLS for
secure Internet communication still work of course, but all security keys
you store in your code are visible to anyone and everyone. .NET kind of
suffers from the same thing, by the way. Had some good times messing about
with Entombed back when. J
So then, I could use C++ (and optionally one of those executable scramblers
that the cool kids love to use). To the trained professional disassembling
a program written in C++ to find a certain bit of logic can be as
straight-forward as decompiling Java, but it definitely makes life harder
for the average Joe who wants to hack some sounds he particularly likes. On
the other hand, as a developer you have to take a few extra steps to produce
the required executables for the platforms you want to support. Debugging
might also be a bit more cumbersome.
In comes BGT. It’s very secure (although no software is truly unbreakable),
its syntax isn’t a problem if you know C++ already, and it creates very
efficient executables. On the donw-side, I’m told it’s only available on
Windows, and you don’t get to use standards directly (AKA OpenAL, Java
runtime, standard C++ library). I really don’t mind about the standards,
but I believe I’d upset a few people if I’d leave out support for Mac OS.
Actually, knowing standard things can be fun, too. If you want to develop
for Android, Java would be an excellent choice, so it helps if your products
for PC and Mac are already using it. Similarly, knowing OpenAL is great for
moving on to iOS games, since Apple natively supports OpenAL. But really,
Java’s not good at running on the same machine where the encrypted data
lives without applying security on the OS level. I’m not too concerned
about people coming up with their own keygens. If you have a members-only
area inside your game that requires authentication with a remote server you
won’t get anywhere with just a serial number anyway. But not being able to
securely encrypt sounds is a bit of a boring thing to live with.
So, I thought I’d check out alternatives, since I’ve not paid much attention
to recent developments and would like to know how things stand these days.
(Oh, and no, I don’t want to use Python, sorry. At least, not just right
now.)
There, your daily dose of nerdy musings. Enjoy!
Cheers,
Davy
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