Best C++ game engine?

[ScaryRat]

for a potentially 2D, online/multiplayer game.
Also three main elements:
-popular so I can look up references on the internet.
-easy with conventional/standard format and code.
-free and easy to set up with VISUAL C++

Thanks in advance.

[TerranceN]

2D and online is pretty vague, but you could create an engine yourself that has both of those things fairly easily.

For the graphics I suggest SDL, here is a good set of tutorials. Theres also Allegro, I have heard it is good also, but I have not used it.

As for the online multiplayer, I would look at RakNet, it has lots of documentation on their site (although I have found parts that were missing or incorrect). I personally could not get it to work outside of my LAN, but I know this API is used a lot, so it must be something with my router.

Hope that helps.

[ScaryRat]

Thanks. What is the difference between SDL and OpenGL?

[bbi5291]

SDL is a layer over OpenGL, so hopefully if you use SDL you'll end up writing code that's shorter and more to-the-point. Inevitably, of course, this means it's a bit less powerful, but that's unlikely to make a difference when you're starting out.

[TerranceN]

SDL simplifies the process of making windows, handling events, and drawing bitmaps.

OpenGL is a very powerful rendering API, it's a little harder to use than SDL's bitmap system, but you can do a lot more (like vector graphics), a lot faster, if you use it right (though usually speed isn't an issue with 2d games).

SDL is also compatible with OpenGL so you can use SDL for windows and events and OpenGL for rendering (this is what I commonly use). See the Lesson 36 of Lazy Foo's SDL tutorials (it's the ones I linked to in my last post) on how to integrate OpenGL into SDL.

[ScaryRat]

So they are both graphic engines? Thanks.

[bbi5291]

Oops... I didn't know that; the only part of SDL I ever heard about was the video layer over OpenGL... sorry about that >.<

[TerranceN]

ScaryRat @ Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:14 pm wrote:

So they are both graphic engines? Thanks.

Yes, but SDL can also create windows and handle events, OpenGL cannot. Thats an important difference, because if you want to use OpenGL you need some window and event handling API such as SDL, or the giant mess that is Win32.

[yoursecretninja]

Not sure if you are really stuck on using C++ but Unity 3D is excellent and free for online games.

You could use it to make 2D games with a bit of creativity and a fixed perspective camera. It supports scripting in JavaScript, c# (mono) and python (boo). Final product is compiled to native code.

http://www.unity3d.com

[andrew.]

Off-topic: I remember hearing of Unity a long time ago and trying some tech demos on my iPod touch. What it could achieve on my first gen iPod touch was very impressive. How easy do you think it is to work with when developing for iPhone?

[yoursecretninja]

I used it for iPhone development back when I worked at a game studio. It was pretty much the same as building a game with it for any other platform, except you just had to be more aware of how you were using resources and the effect on system performance. Unfortunately, it's not free for iPhone development. Back when I was using it, the basic iphone license was $200. Not sure if it's gone up. The forums at their website are really helpful too if you are looking to learn the engine.