I think one of the first things to look it is the architecture of how we build this. As in, what units will supply what functionality, what will it be based on (D3D vs OGL and such debates need to happen), how it will be structured (object wise and structure/class wise) and how it will be used (calling conventions and the like). Also, how much freedom do we award the pogrammers using this engine? Should they make a game that uses this engine (like a lot of current oferrings) or compile their code into our engine or run their game inside the engine on a higher level (basically like a script).
That said -
- I believe the requirement for delphi compatibility explicity is possibly redundant as FPC and delphi now share the core compiler code (correct me if mistaken) but delphi has its own FCL/LCL-esque equivalents/extensions? As I understand fpc code -> delphi is ok but latest delphi -> FPC = not always ok. Again, please correct me if I'm mistaken.
- I know that the Pascal community prefers OpenGL a LOT but from what I see a lot on a day to day basis is that compliance for the masses is 2.1 + Extensions. Meanewhile, DirectX 9 is ubiquitous - even under gallim
Also, if anyone has components/code/engines/libraries they work on in private and wouldnt mind submitting to this engine please drop a note as I think it might be worthwhile to 'cobble' an engine together from code already written once we have a rough idea to the above questions to test it out in some sort of useful environment (A PGD challenge this could be? 'make a game/demo with the engine' perhaps?) and using those results to refine it further.
Just a few thoughts as to what the next step I would take if this were my project based on my experiences. To be completely frank, if we're after a very basic, quick and dirty system I'd be tempted to go with ZenGL on graphics (as its faster than native OpenGL code to write but rather quite fast) and some utilities on the side. Personally I find myself re-using a lot of my config handler, TMX loader and various utility functions a whole lot, so for me that'd already be pretty close to what I work with currently
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