I've decided to go ahead and enter into the GitHub November game jam using Pascal. I will use this thread as a sort of development log for anyone who wishes to follow along. I will try to make it least one post each day I make progress.

My entry is written in Free Pascal using Lazarus, with SDL2.

You can follow my progress and download here: https://github.com/dazappa/an-old-timey-murder-mystery

I am not exactly an experienced programmer and there are other problems with the game code (see below). Sorry in advance

I will not be providing a binary release until the deadline at the end of the month. The only binary release I plan to make is for Windows, but since I am using cross platform tools you shouldn't have too much trouble getting this project working on Linux and Mac OS.

Limitations of my game:
  • No threading. I don't have time to deal with it, and the game is not exactly resource intensive
  • All loading is done up-front (again without threading)
  • 16:9 aspect ratio is a requirement because I don't have time to deal with differing aspect ratios.
  • The game is a low color, low res game. The base resolution is 320x180, scaled to 1280x720. Fullscreen mode will stretch incorrectly at aspect ratios other than 16:9
  • I will probably only support keyboard controls
  • I will probably only support / test the US keyboard layout, and keys may not be re-assignable (I would like to, depends on time)


Tools:
  • Free Pascal via Lazarus
  • SDL2 and official extension libraries
  • GIMP for all graphics
  • FL Studio for all music


--- DAY 1 ---

  • Set up the game project with some separated units including some place holders
  • Window, loading, and keyboard input.
  • Can close window (ESC) and toggle full screen (F11)
  • Drawing text from a hand-made monospace sprite font


Here is a zoomed in view of the sprite font. The characters are separated into 8x8 blocks. It's not the best but I think it looks OK.


A hello world using the font


I plan to have the grid-based movement in a top down perspective. Tiles will be 16x16. I plan to use the Tiled map editor to create maps for the game.