GamePascal - Cross-platform Game Development in Object Pascal

[Andru]

Hmm, some sort of deja vu here... just can't remember the name of similar project which has gone with author.

updated: remembered! SvPascal

[azrael11]

Hmm, some sort of deja vu here... just can't remember the name of similar project which has gone with author.

updated: remembered! SvPascal

and BareGame i think...

[drezgames]

@Cybermonkey
Great, thanks! Actually when I first started working on GP, I had found these headers. Since that time I've updated them a bit and made small improvements. I will contact the author and share my improvements if He wants. They are minimal and I am sure they have already been updated by now.

@Andru
Hi, yea, was not possible to complete it back at that time. There where some technical issues that prevented me from continuing. However, all that was learned is being brought forward. Now, I think I will be able to complete the project since many things are now in proper alignment. I will continue to iterate until it's done. Hopefully I can get great feedback along the way.

@azrael11
Hi, I've seen this, but its not my project. Respect to BareGame developer. What's great is that we have many choices. We can pick what works for us and make great games.

I love Pascal as do all of us here, so I want a development system that is gamedev focused, affordable, great features and easy to use. For example take Construct 2, when you export to Node-Webkit, it will create a project for Windows, MacOS and Linux all at once. That sort of ease of use I like to see. What if you can just select the platform, hit compile and there it is... BAM! No hoops to jump through... it Just Works™. Something I noticed with GameMaker is when you export to Windows, it can create a packed EXE, and installer EXE or a folder structure with all needed files for deployment. Now for me, I love the "feel" of code so I want to see a code editor where I can get down and dirty, but why not have features in the IDE that make development easier? In time I hope to add the things that developers need. Give me your feedback and we can try to get it in.

Development is hard and time consuming. We often can not anticipate the problems that lie ahead. I have many failed projects that can testify to this. I think this is common to all us developers. But what I have realized is that I can always go back over my old projects and pull something out that I learned/discovered/developed and bring if forward and use it to maybe finish another project.

It's now way easier to compile to these different platforms, and different ways to build and test on them. For example, if you do not own Mac hardware, rent it. I was so impressed with them that I rent a dedicated server. I have real mac hardware to work on, until I can of coarse get Macs in the office and all. In the mean time, this is the next best thing for me.

If I was not a Embarcadero Technology Partner, I could not afford to update Delphi every year. Sigh! Up until 2006 I had purchased every version since Turbo Pascal 3.x (1985). That's a long time and a lot of money when you think about it (phew, I just did). So I am thankful for being accepted into the program.

So the barrier to entry is much better (and cheaper) now, which for me, makes it possible to maybe... actually... finish this thing? Fingers Crossed! Haha.

[Cybermonkey]

@Cybermonkey
Great, thanks! Actually when I first started working on GP, I had found these headers. Since that time I've updated them a bit and made small improvements. I will contact the author and share my improvements if He wants. They are minimal and I am sure they have already been updated by now.

Thanks, I will have a look. What I am most interested in is that you obviously statically linked the library to the executable. How can this be achieved?

[drezgames]

Actually I found no easy way to do it so far. Having just sdl2.dll was not so bad, but by the time _mixer, _net, _image and _ttf was added, the DLL count on Windows is high. For the Windows platform I'm currently using Enigma Virtual Box (specifically the more advanced version that comes in The Enigma Protector, no protection features are enabled, only taking advantage of the higher compression and other enhancements) to bind all the DLLs to gprun_win32.exe.

The idea is to have a gprun_xxx for each platform so compile/deploy become easy. No complicated hoops to jump through. It contains all the dependencies needed to run either the bytcode or the native image on that platform.

Of course Avast will try to kill it so if you get this problem, there is no virus, just a false positive. In fact, it will try to stop any normal Delphi generated EXE at first. I had to exclude my whole DEV folder to prevent this annoying problem in general.

[Cybermonkey]

Found some other SDL2 bindings: https://bitbucket.org/p_daniel/sdl-2...ascal-compiler
Using them with your examples and freepascal works for 100% so far ...
There are now at least 3 "official" bindings, some guys from freepascal should really port/add an official wrapper to FPC 2.6.x.

[drezgames]

Oh cool. Good to know. Thanks.

[drezgames]

Alpha Release 3 is now available (see link in first post). Apologies for the delay. We were having some server issues. All should be sorted out now. Please let us know if you experience any download problems.

If you want to provide feedback, we encourage you to register an account at http://gamepascal.com and post in the support forums. Also, you are able to send feedback directly from within the IDE

Thanks.

[drezgames]

I recently got asked the question: “with all of the other game programming products out there , that you intend to compete with , why is yours a better choice? What is it about your paid product that would be to my advantage to switch to? Does this product do something unique that other don’t, etc.?”

Simple & Elegant

We hate complexities and feel that software should be powerful and capable, but must be very approachable. It should be simple to use yet elegant and feature rich. For example, you should be able to select your target platform and generate output for that platform without jumping through tons of hoops.

Intuitive

The product will be intuitively designed. It will work the way you need to work so that you can be very productive.

Fairly Priced

It will have price points suitable for everyone. You can have a great product that is very desirable but if it’s priced beyond what the majority of the people who will use it can afford, then what’s the point? The Point is if its popular it will get pirated!

Community Driven

We listen to feedback and wish for YOU to be involved in shaping its development. We want to build a thriving community around GamePascal.

Quality Product & Support

Our standard practice is providing affordable high quality development solutions. But lets face it, the state of customer support across all industries these days is not good. I think most people can give an account of more than one bad experience. We aim to make quality customer support a top priority. Offering great products and services is just part of the process. Backing them up with quality support is key to a successful operation and building customer loyalty.

Iteration

We’re a small company with limited resources so it’s all the more important that we stay agile and be reactive to market demands. We will iterate our company in all areas to be better, faster & stronger.

Transparency

We shall will be honest and transparent. No hidden motives, ploys or dishonest business practices that are so common this day and time. We will conduct business fairly, honestly, profitably, and cheerfully, while avoiding debt and extravagance; to support an efficient non bureaucratic organization based upon teamwork, honest and frequent communication, careful and thoughtful decisions; to offer employees meaningful work, fair compensation, and all necessary help for them to do their best work; to develop useful, reliable, and wonderful software products; to market our products effectively, professionally, truthfully, and with excitement; and to offer excellent support for our products.

Summary

GamePascal is a cross-platform solution for game development in Object Pascal. If you love Pascal, if you love game development and need a cross-platform solution that is simple and elegant, lightweight yet effective and very affordable, GamePascal aims for this and more.
Our goal is to make GamePascal a community driven, quality and affordable product that people will want to use and own and not pirate.

[drezgames]

This is a short video showcasing the integrated context sensitive HTML help. It turned out the be a little more bothersome to get working than I anticipated. Now I just have to finish working on the documentation.