6 ms·

Polycode – Open Source, cross-platform framework for games and interactive apps

134 points by ariejan 14y ago

rip747 14y ago
why is it that i cannot find a link to the github repo?
- virtualritz 14y ago
  Go to 'Download'. There is /only/ a link to the github repo.
  - avolcano 14y ago
    Oof. Those build steps seem a bit obtuse (as someone used to a "brew/pip/gem/npm install"). Wonder why there are no binaries distributed?
    - mrcharles 14y ago
      Because he's not ready for full release. He's working towards it though, but right now it is still effectively in development but not fully ready for release.
    - eropple 14y ago
      > Those build steps seem a bit obtuse (as someone used to a "brew/pip/gem/npm install"). They don't strike me as particularly obtuse. But I write a decent amount of C++ already, and I've come to terms with the reality that there is always some assembly required. Binaries don't strike me as particularly useful for C++ projects. C projects, moreso, but with C++ you've got to support a number of different C++ runtimes per platform (the various MSVCRTs on Windows, libstdc++ and libc++ on OS X) and it's probably just better to have the user--who is going to be the one stuck with it--build it themselves.
    - virtualritz 14y ago
      I built it and it was dead easy just following the build instructions for Unix makefiles in the BUILT.txt (I'm on OS X but I never use XCode). Although I don't get why they do not distribute a shell script wrapper for these build steps, they have no variables. The build steps seem to miss the IDE though. The part I was most interested in. I have postponed playing with Polycode until I get that to work on OS X.
- ariejan 14y ago
  For your forking pleasure: https://github.com/ivansafrin/Polycode https://github.com/ivansafrin/Polycode
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
camus 14y ago
looks great !
davedx 14y ago
Lots of inspiration from Unity there. Looks good!
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
icemelt8 14y ago
Please don't down vote me. But can I ask that in a world where Unity exists, how is this relevant?
- aeze 14y ago
  Open source vs $1500+
  - untothebreach 14y ago
    To be fair, Unity3d _does_ have a free version, but it is not Open Source.
    - srik 14y ago
      The free version does have restrictions that would matter in s final production.
      - yowmamasita 14y ago
        That would be unfair for game devs who made it through and making money just using the free version. It does lack features vs Pro but it is still viable for a production release.
        srik 14y ago
        Yes, it is certainly viable and I don't mean to discount what Unity offers for free. However, IMO the restrictions matter as in, for instance, the free version does't come with pro's lighting and shadow etc. GAme devs do resort to small "hacks" to get around but it is a slight inconvenience at the least. Either way, doesnt hurt to have competition :)
        attrition0 14y ago
        A minor clarification, Unity Free does have real-time lighting, just not real-time shadows.
norswap 14y ago
Looks slick. But damn, this is how you build a product website.
- tolmasky 14y ago
  Having a page that says "binaries coming soon" instead of a download is the difference between me trying it today and forgetting about it for months.
ioquatix 14y ago
Another one!? Seriously, looks very interesting.
- Total_Meltdown 14y ago
  I've actually been looking for something like this (specifically the 2D game support in C++) for a long time. What other options are there?
  - samjohnson 14y ago
    You might be interested in Cinder. It's a mature C++ library with multiplatform support: http://libcinder.org/ http://libcinder.org/
    - yeureka 14y ago
      Cinder is not written for performance. I use it just to open an window and get a basic update/render loop. It is too slow to write games in. [EDIT] I will actually have a go with polycode to see if it solves the issues I have now with some other projects. Looks good.
  - yowmamasita 14y ago
    with C++ there are a lot of options out there: allegro, sdl, sfml and your favorite text editor.
  - skittlebrau 14y ago
    Cocos2d-x is another option: http://www.cocos2d-x.org/ http://www.cocos2d-x.org/
  - lobster_johnson 14y ago
    Moai [1] is very mature, used for a bunch of commercial games, broad support for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome (via NaCL), with Linux support forthcoming. Scripted with Lua and/or used directly through C++. Open source. [1] http://getmoai.com/ http://getmoai.com/
gavanwoolery 14y ago
cross platform c++, or just cross platform via LUA? I would imagine it would need to be somewhat bulky (like QT) to support cross-platform C++.
drawkbox 14y ago
Extremely clean api and C++ code. Code in C++ or Lua (http://polycode.org/features/ http://polycode.org/features/). Editor base like Unity (albeit still just 2D support). Simplified interface and nice looking coding environment using powerful languages for gamedev. This is off to an excellent start. Very Unity like look and feel but with the added open source and deeper C++ access that is still required in games. In Unity you can build plugins for each platform like I am sure you would need for extra libs here.
spoiler 14y ago
I really like this, but in absolute honesty, I am not the biggest Lua fan. I would prefer if it were Ruby or JavaScript, but I am guessing Ruby/JavaScript is a lot heavier (not counting in mruby) than Lua and hard to implement (well, implementing rbx would be very possible), but V8 would be easy to implement. I did embed Ruby into C++ once, but it was rather clumsy and it would sometimes cause a segmentation fault (my C++ was beginner level at best then, so I just abandoned ship without trying to fix it, since I wouldn't know where to look). I wish someone smart does this successfully. Daydreams

134 points by ariejan 14y ago

rip747 14y ago

why is it that i cannot find a link to the github repo?

virtualritz 14y ago
Go to 'Download'. There is /only/ a link to the github repo.
- avolcano 14y ago
  Oof. Those build steps seem a bit obtuse (as someone used to a "brew/pip/gem/npm install"). Wonder why there are no binaries distributed?
  - mrcharles 14y ago
    Because he's not ready for full release. He's working towards it though, but right now it is still effectively in development but not fully ready for release.
  - eropple 14y ago
    > Those build steps seem a bit obtuse (as someone used to a "brew/pip/gem/npm install"). They don't strike me as particularly obtuse. But I write a decent amount of C++ already, and I've come to terms with the reality that there is always some assembly required. Binaries don't strike me as particularly useful for C++ projects. C projects, moreso, but with C++ you've got to support a number of different C++ runtimes per platform (the various MSVCRTs on Windows, libstdc++ and libc++ on OS X) and it's probably just better to have the user--who is going to be the one stuck with it--build it themselves.
  - virtualritz 14y ago
    I built it and it was dead easy just following the build instructions for Unix makefiles in the BUILT.txt (I'm on OS X but I never use XCode). Although I don't get why they do not distribute a shell script wrapper for these build steps, they have no variables. The build steps seem to miss the IDE though. The part I was most interested in. I have postponed playing with Polycode until I get that to work on OS X.
ariejan 14y ago
For your forking pleasure: https://github.com/ivansafrin/Polycode https://github.com/ivansafrin/Polycode

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

camus 14y ago

looks great !

davedx 14y ago

Lots of inspiration from Unity there. Looks good!

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

icemelt8 14y ago

Please don't down vote me. But can I ask that in a world where Unity exists, how is this relevant?

aeze 14y ago
Open source vs $1500+
- untothebreach 14y ago
  To be fair, Unity3d _does_ have a free version, but it is not Open Source.
  - srik 14y ago
    The free version does have restrictions that would matter in s final production.
    - yowmamasita 14y ago
      That would be unfair for game devs who made it through and making money just using the free version. It does lack features vs Pro but it is still viable for a production release.
      - srik 14y ago
        Yes, it is certainly viable and I don't mean to discount what Unity offers for free. However, IMO the restrictions matter as in, for instance, the free version does't come with pro's lighting and shadow etc. GAme devs do resort to small "hacks" to get around but it is a slight inconvenience at the least. Either way, doesnt hurt to have competition :)
        attrition0 14y ago
        A minor clarification, Unity Free does have real-time lighting, just not real-time shadows.

norswap 14y ago

Looks slick. But damn, this is how you build a product website.

tolmasky 14y ago
Having a page that says "binaries coming soon" instead of a download is the difference between me trying it today and forgetting about it for months.

ioquatix 14y ago

Another one!? Seriously, looks very interesting.

Total_Meltdown 14y ago
I've actually been looking for something like this (specifically the 2D game support in C++) for a long time. What other options are there?
- samjohnson 14y ago
  You might be interested in Cinder. It's a mature C++ library with multiplatform support: http://libcinder.org/ http://libcinder.org/
  - yeureka 14y ago
    Cinder is not written for performance. I use it just to open an window and get a basic update/render loop. It is too slow to write games in. [EDIT] I will actually have a go with polycode to see if it solves the issues I have now with some other projects. Looks good.
- yowmamasita 14y ago
  with C++ there are a lot of options out there: allegro, sdl, sfml and your favorite text editor.
- skittlebrau 14y ago
  Cocos2d-x is another option: http://www.cocos2d-x.org/ http://www.cocos2d-x.org/
- lobster_johnson 14y ago
  Moai [1] is very mature, used for a bunch of commercial games, broad support for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome (via NaCL), with Linux support forthcoming. Scripted with Lua and/or used directly through C++. Open source. [1] http://getmoai.com/ http://getmoai.com/

gavanwoolery 14y ago

cross platform c++, or just cross platform via LUA? I would imagine it would need to be somewhat bulky (like QT) to support cross-platform C++.

drawkbox 14y ago

Extremely clean api and C++ code. Code in C++ or Lua (http://polycode.org/features/ http://polycode.org/features/). Editor base like Unity (albeit still just 2D support). Simplified interface and nice looking coding environment using powerful languages for gamedev. This is off to an excellent start. Very Unity like look and feel but with the added open source and deeper C++ access that is still required in games. In Unity you can build plugins for each platform like I am sure you would need for extra libs here.

spoiler 14y ago

I really like this, but in absolute honesty, I am not the biggest Lua fan. I would prefer if it were Ruby or JavaScript, but I am guessing Ruby/JavaScript is a lot heavier (not counting in mruby) than Lua and hard to implement (well, implementing rbx would be very possible), but V8 would be easy to implement. I did embed Ruby into C++ once, but it was rather clumsy and it would sometimes cause a segmentation fault (my C++ was beginner level at best then, so I just abandoned ship without trying to fix it, since I wouldn't know where to look). I wish someone smart does this successfully. Daydreams