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Building for Mac and Pc using TGB - how hard is it?

by Josias Gibbs · in Torque Game Engine · 11/05/2008 (2:39 pm) · 4 replies

I'd like to publish my TGB game on both the Mac and PC platforms (when it's done in eleventy billion years) - and I'm wondering what's involved in doing this. I know that it's possible, and built into the engine, but I was wondering how difficult it was, and what pitfalls I should expect if i try.
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Employee Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
#1
11/05/2008 (4:48 pm)
If you are not modifying the engine, then there is very little (if anything) you need to be concerned about when developing a TGB game. The only thing you need to watch for is using appropriate assets supported by both operating systems.

You'll also want to have simple or separate action mappings for input configuration/usage. If you modify the engine itself, there is a whole laundry list of platform pitfalls you have to watch for.

Torque Owner Josias Gibbs
#2
11/10/2008 (10:14 am)
I'm not currently planning on modifying the engine - but I am planning on allowing the player to fully customize their controls from a single menu. Do you know if this might cause any problems with cross-platform compatibility?

Also, would there be any additional things to watch out for if I wanted to publish to the Linux OS?

Employee Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
#3
11/10/2008 (10:39 am)
Well, think about it. What's the difference between Mac input and PC input? They share most keys, but certain accelerators and OS hooks change. For the most part, customized input is auto-captured, but you still need to use smart design so you do not code yourself into a corner.

Linux vs Mac vs PC - Drivers, APIs, Input, Networking....all things to consider during development. If you check out cross platform discussion on other dev sites, you can usually apply it to game development.

Torque Owner Josias Gibbs
#4
11/12/2008 (2:29 pm)
So what you're saying is - as long as I don't use the keys that exist only on one platform, like "Command" and "The Window Key (I'm not sure if that's what it's called)", and as long as I don't modify the engine, then I shouldn't have any/many problems with building my game for the PC, Mac, and Linux OS.

That's very good to know - Thanks Michael.

And I'll definately take a look at some cross platform discussions on some dev sites.