3 ms·

Even before the Raspberry, with the rise of open source programming languages and libraries (or even commercial toolkits that are cheap), there was the possibil

by the_af 5y ago

Even before the Raspberry, with the rise of open source programming languages and libraries (or even commercial toolkits that are cheap), there was the possibility to make some pretty complex games! And indeed, some people made use of them. But for most people, it's easier to play games than to create them, just as for most people it's easier to read books than to write them. But tool-wise, we've been living in paradise for a long time now. Whether we take advantage of that is up to us.

bullen 5y ago
True, but the energy consumption is key: Raspberry 4 draws 1/3 of a C64 at 1000x perf, at 2Gflops/W not even the M1 (at 2.5Gflops/w) chip is hurting that stat with 5nm vs. 28nm for the Raspberry. Tools are peaking and linux with TWM from the 1987 is winning! ;) For more depth on my reasoning: http://move.rupy.se/file/park_engine.html http://move.rupy.se/file/park_engine.html
- the_af 5y ago
  Why does energy consumption matter? In any case, I was able to start programming my first games using a pirated copy of GW Basic on a PC XT. That's all you really needed. Then I think around the 286 or 386 PC clones I discovered open source libraries like Allegro (a competitor of today's SDL), and it wasn't even pirated anymore! Really, all you need to program games.
  - bullen 5y ago
    Because, if you haven't noticed, we are running out of energy? Basic is not performant enough to make games that are interesting. If you could afford a 286/386 you are not really in the majority of the human population.
    - the_af 5y ago
      > "Because, if you haven't noticed, we are running out of energy?" Energy as an abstract concern is a very low priority for any hobbyist games creator. You care about building cool stuff. You only care about energy if it impacts your game. > "Basic is not performant enough to make games that are interesting." This is simply not true. There are even commercial BASICs that specialize in game creation. > "If you could afford a 286/386 you are not really in the majority of the human population." Nobody with an interest in videogame creation is. It was a very cheap 286 PC clone anyway; we couldn't afford a brand PC. But I acknowledge most people weren't programming at home back then. My point: Raspberries aren't at all needed for programming. Any computer would do. You don't need a magic device.

by the_af 5y ago

bullen 5y ago

True, but the energy consumption is key: Raspberry 4 draws 1/3 of a C64 at 1000x perf, at 2Gflops/W not even the M1 (at 2.5Gflops/w) chip is hurting that stat with 5nm vs. 28nm for the Raspberry. Tools are peaking and linux with TWM from the 1987 is winning! ;) For more depth on my reasoning: http://move.rupy.se/file/park_engine.html http://move.rupy.se/file/park_engine.html

the_af 5y ago
Why does energy consumption matter? In any case, I was able to start programming my first games using a pirated copy of GW Basic on a PC XT. That's all you really needed. Then I think around the 286 or 386 PC clones I discovered open source libraries like Allegro (a competitor of today's SDL), and it wasn't even pirated anymore! Really, all you need to program games.
- bullen 5y ago
  Because, if you haven't noticed, we are running out of energy? Basic is not performant enough to make games that are interesting. If you could afford a 286/386 you are not really in the majority of the human population.
  - the_af 5y ago
    > "Because, if you haven't noticed, we are running out of energy?" Energy as an abstract concern is a very low priority for any hobbyist games creator. You care about building cool stuff. You only care about energy if it impacts your game. > "Basic is not performant enough to make games that are interesting." This is simply not true. There are even commercial BASICs that specialize in game creation. > "If you could afford a 286/386 you are not really in the majority of the human population." Nobody with an interest in videogame creation is. It was a very cheap 286 PC clone anyway; we couldn't afford a brand PC. But I acknowledge most people weren't programming at home back then. My point: Raspberries aren't at all needed for programming. Any computer would do. You don't need a magic device.