Quote: Original post by superpig
Mmm. After considering this further, I'm not going to grant any extra points for being cross-platform, as it's unfair to people who only have access to a single platform for testing.

What I will look into is whether it's feasible to allow entries that run exclusively on platforms other than Windows (i.e. native Mac or Linux entries)...

That seems the best option. I don't have anything agaisnt people wanting to make Linux/cross-platform games. Just those who think they should be rewarded for it.

Quote: Original post by dmoonfire
There are a ton of libraries and ways of doing cross-platform. SDL, Flash, Silverlight/Moonlight, FreeGlut, C#/VB.NET (Tao for example), browser games, Java, etc. The main reason I suggested it was because I'm in a Mac shop and have been for two decades. My boss and half the office are Mac obsessive and about a third of the office is a Linux zealot. Interestingly, not me, but I think that it is a honorable goal to actually try getting good quality games on those platforms.

SDL, OpenGL make it possible but it's still not easy. Well I guess it should be pretty easy in Java, but cross-platform C++ is always ugly with nasty #defines...
I agree it is cool to increase the number/quality of games on other platforms. But making it some sort of quest is a little too idealistic for me!

Quote: Original post by superpig
Mmm. After considering this further, I'm not going to grant any extra points for being cross-platform, as it's unfair to people who only have access to a single platform for testing.

What I will look into is whether it's feasible to allow entries that run exclusively on platforms other than Windows (i.e. native Mac or Linux entries)...

I like everything about this post. [grin]

Quote: Original post by d000hg
I agree it is cool to increase the number/quality of games on other platforms. But making it some sort of quest is a little too idealistic for me!

Got to start somewhere. :) One of the complaints I hear is that Linux isn't mature enough of a game platform. The catch-22 is that game developers won't touch it unless there are more games. Plus, games are one of the drivers toward a platform's acceptance and stability, at least from my experience.

I don't consider programming against an ideal to be a bad idea. I mean, proper commenting even if you don't think anyone will edit it, coding guidelines if you are the only coder, and even using MVC for development all add complexity, time, and effort into any project. It is easier to write a program when you don't have a strict line between model and view, but it makes things harder if you end up going down an unexpected path. Most of the projects I'm on don't even think about localization until they are 18 months into the project, then there is this huge scramble to add in multiple languages without breaking things. Same thing with security, installation, unit testing, asset tracking, and updates. Its always the things you don't plan for that get you in the end.

superpig has spoken and I have no problem with what they said. I wouldn't say the "best" answer, but it is the most reasonable one. And, if we didn't ask, then there would have never been a possibility of a Mac or Linux-only entries, so it works out in the end.

Now, while it may be idealistic, my entry will still be as cross-platform as possible purely because I think it is important. Doesn't matter if I don't get points and it doesn't matter if I don't "win" because of it, it is just important to me as a developer that I do it "right." Same thing with everything else I mentioned. Yeah, it would be nice, but not needed. :)

And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

...fear...it smells somehow like fear...

what is the problem coding your stuff crossplatform? Is it, that you may not be able to use all the beautiful windows libraries or MSVC? For me, it was the reason. I started with Win 3.11 always counting on this crappy lib which ties you to the one and only platform. I tried Linux several times and always failed because of missing IDE and good mesh generators. Why is the Gimp so much different to Paint Shop? Wtf is /usr/bin?
But I can tell you, if "hello world" compiles on Linux, it will compile on Windows, too. It is the gnu, which kicks you into the cross platform heaven. It is very enjoyable to see, that the terrain demo runs with your selfmade tga loader on WinXP, Unix, Linux and MaxOSX. But hey, this is the different between Linux and Windows - Linux is for Fun, Windows is for Money.

I have to code cross platform everyday at work and believe me when your talking about NDS and Wii you're talking about two very different machines. If I chose to enter a competition for fun, I want it to be about the game I'm making, not seeing how many limitations I can set on myself and still get a game out the other end.

If you really want a technical challenge (keeping the cross platform motif) try drawing a triangle from scratch on a PS2.

Competitions like this are about imagination, creativity, commitment and hard work to seeing your idea through. Giving extra points to people who make it harder for themselves (Or more likely already have developed cross platform libraries and want to swing an advantage) is just counter productive.

Last 4E, IIRC, some company offered extra prizes for the top-scoring games that used their tech. If someone here wants to boost crossplatformism, that would be one useful way of putting up or shutting up.

Quote: Original post by Alcorithm
Competitions like this are about imagination, creativity, commitment and hard work to seeing your idea through. Giving extra points to people who make it harder for themselves (Or more likely already have developed cross platform libraries and want to swing an advantage) is just counter productive.

Umm.. Whilst I somewhat agree on that no further points should be accumulated through doing cross-platform games as it would be quite unfair to some people, but saying what you said above is just silly.

I mean, not everyone here runs a Window system. I for example, do not.

Quote: Original post by Blygis

Quote: Original post by Alcorithm
Competitions like this are about imagination, creativity, commitment and hard work to seeing your idea through. Giving extra points to people who make it harder for themselves (Or more likely already have developed cross platform libraries and want to swing an advantage) is just counter productive.

Umm.. Whilst I somewhat agree on that no further points should be accumulated through doing cross-platform games as it would be quite unfair to some people, but saying what you said above is just silly.

I mean, not everyone here runs a Window system. I for example, do not.

How is what he said silly in the slightest? He is just saying that the competition should be about making a game, as opposed to developing a cross platform application that happens to be a game.

Nowhere in his post did he mention Windows, just how making a game cross platform should not be a part of the judgement process. Makes sense to me.

Quote: Original post by XDigital
what is the problem coding your stuff crossplatform? Is it, that you may not be able to use all the beautiful windows libraries or MSVC?

Well MSVC is the best development tool available today, so it's a factor. And you can complain about the Windows libs but DirectX is a pretty big factor if you don't like OpenGL.

Quote: Original post by XDigitalIt is very enjoyable to see, that the terrain demo runs with your selfmade tga loader on WinXP, Unix, Linux and MaxOSX.

I wouldn't say that. In the time you can write a TGA loader I could get my engine framework started. Unless you enjoy writing a file loader for each file format then it's just bad software development.

Quote: Original post by XDigitalBut hey, this is the different between Linux and Windows - Linux is for Fun, Windows is for Money.

Well almost. Windows is for money and/or fun. I would have much less fun coding on Linux. I used to code under DOS, where you had to write custom loaders and custom code to access SVGA & extended memory, and the fact that I don't have to do that crap anymore is a blessing.