SDL license terms no problems making commercial stuff there either.

I think DirectX, openGL, irrlicht, Allegro, sdl and clanlib are all free for commercial use. I'm currently using DirectX for a simple game I'm working on, and I've used OpenGL in the past. For my next project though, I think I'm going to use sdl or clanlib. It seems to be a bit less work than using DirectX, and both libraries offer 3D support through OpenGL.

I must say that Allegro can definately make commercial games, and so can SDL. In fact, SDL has been used on a number of professional projects. The one that comes to mind most often is Neverwinter Nights. Now granted, it was mostly using the OpenGL integration of SDL, but it used SDL for quite a bit of other parts too if I'm not mistaken.

Will ClanLib be a good choice?

Sorry, looks like everyone is posting the same stuff on 2 threads: concurrent thread

(act of shameless marketing to follow (please don't boot me))

Have you tried our engine?
site | documentation

To be really honest, we're still pretty small, and the engine is not intended to be competitive with BSP leaf blower style engines (e.g Quake 4) until version 2.x (Which has BSP nodes). The Aurora engine was designed to generate games that look like pre rendered movies (in real time). It was loosely based on real life development experiences with the NetImmerse engine (Elder Scrolls of Morrowind) and the VTK engine (commercial and scientific tools development).

Its structure was completely altered/redesigned to solve certain API, performance, stability, graphics pipeline, and compiled code size issues. In other words, we designed Aurora from scratch to address design issues that arose during project development in both the game developer and scientific communities. It may not have every bell and whistle, but it does have almost everything one needs to write a competitive game. If it doesn't claim a particular feature, you can probably write one for it in a day or two.

The docs should give you a pretty good idea of what it looks like on the inside (both simple and powerful). Royalties were just discontinued, so there are only the simple up front costs associated with title development. The tutorials and demo are still a little weak, (still working on them) but they should be enough to get anyone with a basic understanding of 3d space started.

(As a side note, the demo on the site is "programmer art" and runs pretty light on the vertex pipeline). Aurora should do "A Bug's Life" quality real time rendering (minus the depth blur effects, which are planned for v2.x).

Let me know what you think.

Aurora3D, I'm focusing on 2D games now.

Quote: Original post by danne89
If you just targeting the Windows-marcet: go for DirectX. You'll don't lose anything. But if you're want Linux uses to play too, take a look at SDL. Today, I havn't heard about any commercial project that uses it, but I think it will grow in popularity.

Read the SDL front page; it was designed for Loki Software's Linux ports of SimCity 3000, Heavy Gear 2 and some other games, and has been used successfully in non-Loki games like Call to Power.

And let us not forget! Betty's Beer Bar