Sprite Kit, Box2D, Performance and LiveCode's Approach to Game Coding

[Lynn Fredricks]

> As you know, Apple introduced a new framework named Sprite 
> Kit targeting mainly game developing, 2D of course.
> It's quite promising and not just for games, either.  
> Particle systems and physics engine could serve business 
> apps, too, with nice little effects and sleek animations.
> It probably will do a lot of damage to Cocos2D, Box2D, 
> Sparrow and in time maybe a possible threat to gaming 
> consoles {see link #1 at the bottom of the post}.
> 
> What do you think RunRev's approach will be to this move?
> Are we going to continue with Box2D which is merely a physics 
> engine not a full gaming framework?

This is something that they should stay away from. Runtime has the herculean
task of providing a multiplatform solution. All operating systems are
evolving with some very intensive graphicly rich features. We have wars of
resolution on desktop and mobile that need to be addressed. Media enrichment
is a must. But how much? You should be able to handle casual games. But...

My team did Frankin 3D, which for the most part encapsulates the Irrlicht
game engine. What made Irrlicht attractive is that it has a lot of
implementations that are mature, and can handle both OpenGL and DirectX. It
is hugely complex. What you end up with is the ability to interact with the
engine in a way that's quite a bit easier than learning C++, but you still
need to be a seasoned LiveCode user to use it.

You could look at a solution like Unity 3D but there again....its a great
visual environment with a big learning curve. It's got a lot of power and
really great tools that are focused on 3D. But Unity 3D cannot make standard
applications or even 2D applications without another big learning curve -
totally not a LiveCode replacement.

An investment that cannot work on all supported platforms and not leverage
the natural productivity of LiveCode isn't a good investment for Runtime.
Now they could implement cross platform support that might otherwise send
you to some other 2D game tool, but certainly Apple isn't out to support
Windows, Linux or Android. Those who went down the road years ago with
Quicktime 3D know what Im talking about ;-)

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Paradigma Software
http://www.paradigmasoft.com

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