I am a long time (10y+) programmer but have very few experience in game development. I'd like to develop a 2D platformer but haven't yet found the language and framework that fit my needs. My requirements are:
- Support for loading and rendering Tiled maps
- Ability to compile an run on both desktop and mobile (Android)
I have been experimenting with the following languages and frameworks so far:
- Python + Arcade: Python is a nice language I think and Arcade renders Tiled maps nicely, but I can't figure out how I could run the game on mobile devices. Gave up here.
- HTML5 + MelonJS: I'm not a fan of Javascript but MelonJS features a lot of built-in logic for platformers. However it seems to me that physics is very strange (character seems to hit collision object for no reason) and I couldn't yet figure out how I could have more control over physics. I'm 100% sure that it's because I'm not really good in Javascript, especially I feel that debugging is a pain. I tried to get help in the Forum but people are not very responsive there. Seems that few people are using it.
- Libgdx: I like Java, I could quickly get it load and render the Tiled map but the renderer seems to be buggy. Sometimes there are about 1px gaps between the tiles. I can't figure out why it happens. I gave up at this point.
- C + Allegro5: I like C, too, but let's be honest, it will take a lot of time write anything useful in C. Also, I'm not entirely sure that I will be able to run my game on mobile devices.
What do you guys suggest? Should I try something else? Or should I get back to one of the above?