What platform would you want to develop for?
by Travis Bolek · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 12/04/2001 (4:13 pm) · 20 replies
this can be either console or computer or arcade platform. i personally would want either console or arcade. im not much of a computer player, but if i did make a computer game it would (hopefully) be fore the mac. ;) or what about the xbox, ps2 or gamecube? all those sysetems are similar, i wouldn't mind developing on the xbox...but i would like ot take advantage of the HD in some way. but if i had it my way, i would go for either gamecube or ps2, ps2 for its huge fanbase, and gamecube....well damnit i like nintendo lol :D
About the author
#2
Haveing limited memory and graphics power...meens you must focus on gameplay to make a standout game.
12/04/2001 (6:40 pm)
as the resident "odd man out"...I'd say the Pocket PC, PDA, gameboy, even Bandai's little Japanise hand held system.Haveing limited memory and graphics power...meens you must focus on gameplay to make a standout game.
#3
12/05/2001 (5:01 am)
I'd like to and probably will try and develop for LINUX!
#4
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5578733.html
My coder buddy is a big linux guy, he was looking forward to this system, but unfortunately it "fizzled"
12/06/2001 (5:37 am)
This article shows the dream that almost was for Linux guys...http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5578733.html
My coder buddy is a big linux guy, he was looking forward to this system, but unfortunately it "fizzled"
#5
Why?
Typically, it's the most mature gaming audience. Now there's exceptions to this rule (lots of them), but I bet there are more 1337 haxor-wannabes with consoles than PC's.
Best support for everything. Hardware, Software, etc. It is the most standardized platform which to me is more important than anything else. I don't care if some linux geek can do this or that with linux. Linux sucks as anything other than a server; and I expect it to stay this way for quite a while.
Biggest PC audience. Of all the other OS's Windows beats them interms of numbers handsdown. You'd have to be crazy to make a mac only game so that like 5 people in the whole damn world would play your game.
With all of the faults windows has, its still the best workstation and gaming machine.
And no... I don't work for microsoft. :)
12/09/2001 (9:08 pm)
I'd choose a Windows-based computer.Why?
Typically, it's the most mature gaming audience. Now there's exceptions to this rule (lots of them), but I bet there are more 1337 haxor-wannabes with consoles than PC's.
Best support for everything. Hardware, Software, etc. It is the most standardized platform which to me is more important than anything else. I don't care if some linux geek can do this or that with linux. Linux sucks as anything other than a server; and I expect it to stay this way for quite a while.
Biggest PC audience. Of all the other OS's Windows beats them interms of numbers handsdown. You'd have to be crazy to make a mac only game so that like 5 people in the whole damn world would play your game.
With all of the faults windows has, its still the best workstation and gaming machine.
And no... I don't work for microsoft. :)
#6
Benedict
12/10/2001 (6:34 am)
I'ld have to say... X-box. Why? Its got the same ease of programming as a PC but with fixed hardware. That means you don't have the nightmare of putting in several different ways to do stuff because of different graphics cards' capabilities.Benedict
#7
12/10/2001 (7:04 am)
PC, both *nix and Windows (/me kisses OpenGL). The fanbase is a bit smaller, but they are much more devoted to a game than any console player. I want to see a modding community grow around most of my games (look at Half-Life, sheesh, it doesn't die).
#8
Why not be able to trade parks in "Tony Hawk", or create a stage for "Halo" and send it across the web?
12/10/2001 (5:59 pm)
As on-line console gaming grows, I don't see why consoles couldn't have mods. Why not be able to trade parks in "Tony Hawk", or create a stage for "Halo" and send it across the web?
#9
First I think it's cool that that a few are interested in developing for *NIX. Frankly, while it's a small market, it's growing. At least to me it seems like like there's a lot of Linux gamers. I also think that as long as your code is properly written (and you use OpenGL, obviously =) then it can easily be ported to Linux.
Second, Windows is the standard. 95% + of your market. I keep wanting to make games for Linux only, only to slap myself upside the head a few minutes later. It would be stupid of me to ignore the majority of the gaming audience.
Trevor, just a note. SDL is not like QT or GTK. It's not a GUI. it's more of Linux version os DirectX. It basically tries to incorporate input, sound, 2D drawing and so on. And all 3D stuff can be easily used through SDL.
By the way, if you've never used QT, you have to take a look at it. It is one of the coolest GUI's I have ever seen. It is so complete, and the code is so well written. It so cool to use.
You know what. That Linux console had a lot of potential, but it was seriously unrealistic. Only Microsoft had the ressources to squezze themselves in the console market. Supposedly Toshiba is planning to bring a sort of media entertainment center to the market. They've also signed some sort of deal with Loki (the biggest, yet struggling Linux game company) to bring games to it. Indrema was sadly doomed to failure, but it would have been really cool to have Linux based console.
I heard that the XBox only uses the hardrive to cache data of the DVDs. Gamecube and PS2 don't have harddrives. How would you mod console games then?
12/13/2001 (10:39 pm)
Wow, so many things to comment on. First I think it's cool that that a few are interested in developing for *NIX. Frankly, while it's a small market, it's growing. At least to me it seems like like there's a lot of Linux gamers. I also think that as long as your code is properly written (and you use OpenGL, obviously =) then it can easily be ported to Linux.
Second, Windows is the standard. 95% + of your market. I keep wanting to make games for Linux only, only to slap myself upside the head a few minutes later. It would be stupid of me to ignore the majority of the gaming audience.
Trevor, just a note. SDL is not like QT or GTK. It's not a GUI. it's more of Linux version os DirectX. It basically tries to incorporate input, sound, 2D drawing and so on. And all 3D stuff can be easily used through SDL.
By the way, if you've never used QT, you have to take a look at it. It is one of the coolest GUI's I have ever seen. It is so complete, and the code is so well written. It so cool to use.
You know what. That Linux console had a lot of potential, but it was seriously unrealistic. Only Microsoft had the ressources to squezze themselves in the console market. Supposedly Toshiba is planning to bring a sort of media entertainment center to the market. They've also signed some sort of deal with Loki (the biggest, yet struggling Linux game company) to bring games to it. Indrema was sadly doomed to failure, but it would have been really cool to have Linux based console.
I heard that the XBox only uses the hardrive to cache data of the DVDs. Gamecube and PS2 don't have harddrives. How would you mod console games then?
#10
It's me again, I said EVENTUALLY!
Also with XBox and PS2(?) supporting on-line gaming, why not have a "repository" somehwere. Create a "Mod" and download it (much like people do now).
I heard that the PS2 Game "Frequency" will allow tracks to be downloaded, so it's possible.
12/14/2001 (5:13 am)
Yacine: It's me again, I said EVENTUALLY!
Also with XBox and PS2(?) supporting on-line gaming, why not have a "repository" somehwere. Create a "Mod" and download it (much like people do now).
I heard that the PS2 Game "Frequency" will allow tracks to be downloaded, so it's possible.
#11
Especially with the Xbox... doesn't it run Windows CE or something?
What would little tommy say to his mother after a mod he downloaded ruined the bios on his 300 dollar toy?
02/21/2002 (8:09 pm)
Can you say security/virus issues?Especially with the Xbox... doesn't it run Windows CE or something?
What would little tommy say to his mother after a mod he downloaded ruined the bios on his 300 dollar toy?
#13
I am pretty sure the console crowd is mainly younger than the PC gaming crowd. It's probably pretty hard for a ten year old to convince his parents to buy another $300 toy after he just fried the first one.
02/23/2002 (3:08 pm)
Yeah, but there's no such thing as Xbox antivirus software.I am pretty sure the console crowd is mainly younger than the PC gaming crowd. It's probably pretty hard for a ten year old to convince his parents to buy another $300 toy after he just fried the first one.
#14
It seems to me that the X-Box more than any of the "Next Gen" consloes is targeted at a "Mature Gamer"
Also, why couldn't the Software itself have anti-virus software built-in. Something like the built-in scan that Hotmail has!
I'll admit that security is an issue(once again as it is with any on-line exchange).
I still say that on-line console gaming is going to get bigger and bigger.
02/23/2002 (6:49 pm)
Anthony: It seems to me that the X-Box more than any of the "Next Gen" consloes is targeted at a "Mature Gamer"
Also, why couldn't the Software itself have anti-virus software built-in. Something like the built-in scan that Hotmail has!
I'll admit that security is an issue(once again as it is with any on-line exchange).
I still say that on-line console gaming is going to get bigger and bigger.
#15
02/23/2002 (8:09 pm)
Oh, no doubt about that. Console gaming is going to be huge. It's a necessity; people realize than the only thing cooler than playing a good game is doing so w/friends. Look at the huge support behind this -- the next Final Fantasy game is going to be an MMORPG, for chrissakes.
#16
Exactly.
I told this to a friend of mine who played Starcraft on-line a lot.
It seems to me that on-line gaming has brought back the idea of games as not just play--but social interaction.
Much like our ancestors gathered to play cards, pool, or bowl. We now connect our computers and engage in some friednly exploring or good-natured destruction.
Sorry about getting philosophical:)
02/24/2002 (6:44 am)
Luc: Exactly.
I told this to a friend of mine who played Starcraft on-line a lot.
It seems to me that on-line gaming has brought back the idea of games as not just play--but social interaction.
Much like our ancestors gathered to play cards, pool, or bowl. We now connect our computers and engage in some friednly exploring or good-natured destruction.
Sorry about getting philosophical:)
#17
it seems so far, that the Xbox is loaded with security features, and boot checks, and other stuff insuring the integrity of the system.
Again, because of all this, I still doubt that mods for games for the xbox will ever work. So far, noone's managed to hack the xbox yet, to get something else running on it.
Also, in the case of the ten year old downloading something and wreaking its bios, it would be my guess that the os is loaded from a read-only chip onto the harddrive at boot time.
I agree with you guys that online console gaming is going to get bigger, but I also think it will take a while longer before people start using it. To me it seems like the console is more for a small group of friends shared physically, while the pc and pc games are more oriented to be shared online with a large group of people.
It just seems that online gaming is gonna stay stronger in the pc market than in teh console one.
02/26/2002 (6:59 am)
Anthony:it seems so far, that the Xbox is loaded with security features, and boot checks, and other stuff insuring the integrity of the system.
Again, because of all this, I still doubt that mods for games for the xbox will ever work. So far, noone's managed to hack the xbox yet, to get something else running on it.
Also, in the case of the ten year old downloading something and wreaking its bios, it would be my guess that the os is loaded from a read-only chip onto the harddrive at boot time.
I agree with you guys that online console gaming is going to get bigger, but I also think it will take a while longer before people start using it. To me it seems like the console is more for a small group of friends shared physically, while the pc and pc games are more oriented to be shared online with a large group of people.
It just seems that online gaming is gonna stay stronger in the pc market than in teh console one.
#18
sales numbers aside, i think consoles will be for non-pc owners mostly, while the pc market will cater to more demanding gamers who want complexity in their games. and the pc will have a lot of influence over the console market, at least in games with loyal followings and good longevity (ie a mod community)
03/04/2002 (12:00 pm)
unless the press release i read was wrong, the x-box runs a stripped-down version of win2k with a fancy gui laid on top. sales numbers aside, i think consoles will be for non-pc owners mostly, while the pc market will cater to more demanding gamers who want complexity in their games. and the pc will have a lot of influence over the console market, at least in games with loyal followings and good longevity (ie a mod community)
#19
about the mods..go to this site http://www.microsoft.com/games/PC/dungeonsiege.asp
this game for the xbox comes with an editor for dungeons, terrain, etc
03/07/2002 (7:12 pm)
Yacine:about the mods..go to this site http://www.microsoft.com/games/PC/dungeonsiege.asp
this game for the xbox comes with an editor for dungeons, terrain, etc
#20
You almost got me there. Sure the website is hosted by MS, but even your link itself it pointing to a PC game. It also doesn't help that I was just reading the review of this game.
The fact is, i am unsure if this game is coming to the XBox, but it is definitely coming out for the PC and it's being published by MS. I know that it's completely modable. For those games (Dungeon Siege, NeverWinter Nights), that's the whole point. They are doing their best to let the ocmmunity custom their games as much as they want.
I can't find actual info on mods for XBox games. Show me a link and I'll believe you. I thin kif you could mod it, you wouldn't be able to store it on the drive. Mayeb temporarily while it's downloaded from the net, but it would be erased when you turn off the XBox. Only memory cards could store it.
03/08/2002 (7:31 pm)
lol Shane:You almost got me there. Sure the website is hosted by MS, but even your link itself it pointing to a PC game. It also doesn't help that I was just reading the review of this game.
The fact is, i am unsure if this game is coming to the XBox, but it is definitely coming out for the PC and it's being published by MS. I know that it's completely modable. For those games (Dungeon Siege, NeverWinter Nights), that's the whole point. They are doing their best to let the ocmmunity custom their games as much as they want.
I can't find actual info on mods for XBox games. Show me a link and I'll believe you. I thin kif you could mod it, you wouldn't be able to store it on the drive. Mayeb temporarily while it's downloaded from the net, but it would be erased when you turn off the XBox. Only memory cards could store it.
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