I'm still kinda bummed against SFML for the BS way they treated 1.6 to 2.0 upgrade. Even with 1.6 still the official build, and with all the documentation and materials working for 1.6, they refused to fix a game breaking bug because he frankly didn't want to.

That left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth at least so far as actually relying on the product goes. I expect it to happen again too, as I believe the underlying core is pretty much fixed pipeline, meaning there is probably going to be another massive change in the future, which will again leave existing developers unsupported.

Other than this experience, and some serious attitude i've experienced towards beginners, it is a nice enough library.

I also recommend downloading Unity and giving it a try. Since you already have some 2d tiles drawing to the screen in C, I'd say you made it past the initial learning and motivation hurdle. The video tutorials are pretty darn slick and you'll be surprised at how quickly you get something moving on the screen.

- Eck

Yeah I downloaded everything I could find last night. Got the day off so I have some time to screw with it all today!

Python is a relatively common language used to script games, so is Java. C is used more for lower level coding, such as game engines, generally speaking. Any of your past experience in coding might help some day.

It seems that you expressed no desire for sophisticated 2D or 3D art in your future games, so building totally or mostly from scratch is fine. You have enough experience to start any general strategy for game development - game engine, game dev libraries, whatever.

If you want nice textured 2D or 3D art, then you will likely need to choose a game engine some day, but for now you have nothing to lose by doing what you want.

I spent the day messing with SFML and I'd have to say it's great for anyone with c/c++ experience trying to get a game development project off the ground. I sense a few interesting SFML nights in my near future! Thanks all for the input. This site seems pretty great, I'll be sticking around.