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So if I wanted to make a simple 2d game, should I go with godot, pygame, or a JavaScript game engine?

fiblye 6y ago
Only use Pygame if you only know Python, refuse to learn another language, you're not planning on working on your project after a week, and you don't ever plan on having other people actually play your game. Javascript engines are going to be inferior to any proper engine and offer less portability.
krapp 6y ago
Godot. The sprite, tilemap and animation blending functionality alone are worth it, just grit your teeth and put up with gdscript (edit - or use C#). And it exports to the web anyway.
- tomtheelder 6y ago
  You don't have to use GDScript, C# support is very strong at this point.
  - krapp 6y ago
    Fair point. Unfortunately for me anyway, I'm using the Steam version which doesn't support C#.
    - mrlala 6y ago
      Why can't you just download Godot yourself https://godotengine.org/download/windows https://godotengine.org/download/windows and grab the 64-bit mono c# version?
      - krapp 6y ago
        I can, I just like using Steam to manage it. I'll probably change in the future, though.
mrlala 6y ago
Asking the same question myself right now.. I was playing around with Gamemaker Studio yesterday and it seemed ok at first for something simple, but suddenly realized just how stupidly simple it is.. seems like it will be a pain to have any real control and do anything even a little bit complicated.
- Trasmatta 6y ago
  Yeah, I've heard stories from a number of gamedevs who have said that using Gamemaker for anything other than non trivial projects can get really difficult and messy really fast. Godot is a much more robust engine, while still being pretty beginner friendly.
IggleSniggle 6y ago
If it's really simple and you want a community of like-minded individuals, PICO-8 and similar are super fun: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php Definitely more for hobbyist projects, it shares lots of the features that got me into programming in general. Features: - the .png image aka "cartridge" also contains all the code to run the game. - built-in tools for editing code, music, sound, sprites, maps - community of shared games where all the assets of the game are immediately editable by the players. A game hacker's platform. That last point can't be overstated. Hear some music you like in a game? You can modify the score and add it to your game. Playing a game but somethings not quite right? You might be able to do the necessary edits with your game controller. Want to "cheat" your way past that last boss? Edit the boss. It's the sweet spot between playing games and making. The more serious answer is that it heavily depends on your skills, the goals of your game, and your constraints. Knowing nothing about any of those, Godot seems like the clear winner.
PinkMilkshake 6y ago
All of the above, really. At the risk of worsening your analysis paralysis, another good option is LOVE2D, https://love2d.org/ https://love2d.org/
hnick 6y ago
Depends if you want to sell it or not, plus your target platforms. IIRC Godot is not great at exporting to Switch or other consoles but maybe that has changed. To add another option to the others, https://www.monogame.net/showcase/ https://www.monogame.net/showcase/ is fairly popular. It's probably worth running through a tutorial in each and seeing what clicks for you if you have no experience.
- ignaloidas 6y ago
  There have been several games made with Godot released on Switch recently. The main blocker is Nintendo's NDA's. There's a recent twitter thread[0] from developers of one of those games. [0]: https://twitter.com/monolithofminds/status/1259913355176927238 https://twitter.com/monolithofminds/status/12599133551769272...

Only use Pygame if you only know Python, refuse to learn another language, you're not planning on working on your project after a week, and you don't ever plan on having other people actually play your game. Javascript engines are going to be inferior to any proper engine and offer less portability.

krapp 6y ago

Godot. The sprite, tilemap and animation blending functionality alone are worth it, just grit your teeth and put up with gdscript (edit - or use C#). And it exports to the web anyway.

tomtheelder 6y ago
You don't have to use GDScript, C# support is very strong at this point.
- krapp 6y ago
  Fair point. Unfortunately for me anyway, I'm using the Steam version which doesn't support C#.
  - mrlala 6y ago
    Why can't you just download Godot yourself https://godotengine.org/download/windows https://godotengine.org/download/windows and grab the 64-bit mono c# version?
    - krapp 6y ago
      I can, I just like using Steam to manage it. I'll probably change in the future, though.

mrlala 6y ago

Asking the same question myself right now.. I was playing around with Gamemaker Studio yesterday and it seemed ok at first for something simple, but suddenly realized just how stupidly simple it is.. seems like it will be a pain to have any real control and do anything even a little bit complicated.

Trasmatta 6y ago
Yeah, I've heard stories from a number of gamedevs who have said that using Gamemaker for anything other than non trivial projects can get really difficult and messy really fast. Godot is a much more robust engine, while still being pretty beginner friendly.

IggleSniggle 6y ago

If it's really simple and you want a community of like-minded individuals, PICO-8 and similar are super fun: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php Definitely more for hobbyist projects, it shares lots of the features that got me into programming in general. Features: - the .png image aka "cartridge" also contains all the code to run the game. - built-in tools for editing code, music, sound, sprites, maps - community of shared games where all the assets of the game are immediately editable by the players. A game hacker's platform. That last point can't be overstated. Hear some music you like in a game? You can modify the score and add it to your game. Playing a game but somethings not quite right? You might be able to do the necessary edits with your game controller. Want to "cheat" your way past that last boss? Edit the boss. It's the sweet spot between playing games and making. The more serious answer is that it heavily depends on your skills, the goals of your game, and your constraints. Knowing nothing about any of those, Godot seems like the clear winner.

PinkMilkshake 6y ago

All of the above, really. At the risk of worsening your analysis paralysis, another good option is LOVE2D, https://love2d.org/ https://love2d.org/

hnick 6y ago

Depends if you want to sell it or not, plus your target platforms. IIRC Godot is not great at exporting to Switch or other consoles but maybe that has changed. To add another option to the others, https://www.monogame.net/showcase/ https://www.monogame.net/showcase/ is fairly popular. It's probably worth running through a tutorial in each and seeing what clicks for you if you have no experience.

ignaloidas 6y ago
There have been several games made with Godot released on Switch recently. The main blocker is Nintendo's NDA's. There's a recent twitter thread[0] from developers of one of those games. [0]: https://twitter.com/monolithofminds/status/1259913355176927238 https://twitter.com/monolithofminds/status/12599133551769272...