So whatever happened to the whole PGDCE thing?

[AthenaOfDelphi]

As much as I would like this to be true, in case of Delphi/Pascal jobs, unfortunately this is not the case anymore, especially in very specialized, highly technical areas, so when a person leaves, you have pretty much to rethink some of the priorities. Granted, as long as the project is well designed, written and documented (which is rarely the case), it is easy to just keep maintaining, but that usually doesn't go beyond changing comments, adjusting code formatting or doing some other "esthetic" changes - for an actual development you really have to have the same expertise as the other person and know the project well, where in case of large projects it could be increasingly difficult.

I've been in the industry long enough to know the problems caused when a key member of staff leaves and I also know it's part of the reason teams are better than individuals when it comes to large projects. Not to be too morbid, but what would happen to PXL if you ended up dead tomorrow? And it's a sad reflection of the times in which we live, but that's not a threat, it's an honest question... a question I've actually asked several members of my teams over the years.

The problem is that you've actually defined conflicting, self-excluding requirements, so either all frameworks fall into your criterias or none.

I struggle to see how being maintained by a team, well maintained to use the latest compiler/APIs, well documented with good examples are conflicting requirements. So please, enlighten me.

If you are a total beginner, then none of the existing Pascal engines would suit you because... in 99% of cases, you'll end up using JavaScript with WebGL instead of Pascal, or one of other attractive options such as C#, Java or Swift, depending on your needs.

Seems like you've just made my point for me... none of the existing Pascal engines would suit you. Isn't that what I've been trying to say? Isn't that a good reason to consider building one as a community? A community of people with varying degrees of technical capabilities... where the beginners can contribute and guide the experts in terms of what beginners need (because so often, experts forget they were beginners once and loose sight of the things that make it easy for beginners), learn from the experts so that the community benefits as a whole.

If you are aiming at native development and for some crazy reason can't use C++, aiming for Pascal, then it likely you are a mid-aged person or even someone who has already retired, to pursue a favorite language of your youth. In this case, wasting 10 years to master OpenGL is definitely undesired, so you can use any of the engines/frameworks from one of existing lists, that people enjoy making. Most of them are cross-platform and suit all your criterias.

Over the years, I have used numerous languages including C and C++. For some reason which I can't really explain my preference is Pascal. So when I want to write a game, it's logical to use the tool with which I am most familiar and feel able to achieve the most. Pascal it is. If I wanted to write games in C++ I wouldn't be here would I?

As an alternative, since you mentioned that existing engines/frameworks have deficiencies in your point of view, why not helping to improve them instead? Why not promoting Pascal itself by making events, LAN parties, conferences and so on, writing tutorials for existing frameworks, making new examples, etc.

1. I don't consider myself technically competent enough to contribute to existing projects, especially as they lack much in terms of documentation already (a fact I've stated clearly on numerous occasions... I consider myself a beginner who needs some help), the same reason I don't feel confident writing new examples or tutorials
2. My work/life balance has for the last 8 years been somewhat off. So much so that it has cost me a chance to get a maths degree, my ability to write code confidently, my mental and physical health have suffered. And in terms of this community, the fact is, the site is generally on-line and available.... do you think that happens by magic?
3. Conferences and LAN parties require money. Where do you think I'd be able to get the money together to do that based on the fact PGD is free, there is no advertising.
4. Previous community organised events have been, how shall I put this... less than well attended.
5. In essence what you're saying is that promoting Pascal, creating content etc. should be entirely on me? Why?

All I'm trying to do is figure out how to improve things, to breath new life into the community, to make things easier for beginners with good resources, good examples etc. That's it. In reality, I could drop the site tomorrow, simply suspend it's hosting and walk away because it (whether you see it or not) consumes my time and my resources. Either we do something as a community to improve things or we continue to loose people to other languages and tools. I'd like us to do something so other people can have the pleasure that many of use have experienced... the pleasure you get when people are playing your games, games you've developed with your chosen language.... Pascal. What's wrong with that vision?