Box2D Forums

Hi. :-)

I have years of programming experience, but I've only made some tiny toy-games so far.

Now I'm about to make a real game. I want it to be 2D, and with physics.

So far I've managed to select Box2D as the physics engine, but what more do I need to make a game?

I am really lost with the amount of game/graphics engines listed on the net. It's not tens, but hundreds.

Would somebody with experience suggest some good combination that merges well with Box2D?

I'm looking for a good combination of Box2D with some game engine(s) (graphics/audio/input/algorithms, etc.), so that the whole well-working game can be developed easily.

Some of the requirements I think are important for the whole setup:

1. Platform/compilation:
- Must work in GNU/Linux 64 and 32 bit and Windows. I work in GNU/Linux, but if I want to sell the game, I guess it better work in Windows. Working on some game consoles would be an advantage, but is not required.
- Must allow the game to be compiled into single binary file without dependencies. I don't want the user to install anything except for the game itself.
- I was thinking about C++, but if some other language fulfills my requirements (can be compiled to native code), that's OK.

2. License issues:
- Must be very cheap. I don't have money for buying expensive licenses, so I would love if it could be free of charge or very cheap.
- Must allow to license my game so that it can be sold as binary without problems.

3. Features:
- Must be 2D.
- Must be easy to learn with good documentation and tutorials.
- Must integrate well the physics with graphics, so that I can easily create some polygons/circles with textures that will work well. In other words I don't want to move/rotate textures/sprites by hand in response to physical movements.
- Must provide high-quality results, so that e.g. graphics is drawn well with antialiasing and hardware acceleration.
- Must minimize the amount of coding. I don't want to code things that are common for 2D games. E.g. let's say I want to add mist to hide unexplored part of the environment and show them when the hero comes within 12 meters. It should be ideally implemented by calling gameEngine.addMist(12.0); I don't actually need the mist, it's just an example of what I mean.
- Must be as feature-reach and customizable as possible. It would be nice if it included many common 2D game algorithms/effects, e.g. short path finding, flames, explosions, etc.
- Must be relatively mature, actively developed, with good support (e.g. community/forums).

It looks like I require a lot. :-) But as an example, Box2D fulfills all of my requirements, so I am just looking for other pieces of puzzle that also do.

I guess many people who want to use Box2D for making a game (or some other software) have the same problem as I do. I hope some experienced users can suggest some good additions to Box2D so that a good game can be made quite easily.

Thanks in advance.

If you have an intel mac lying around just go Obj-C. Easy, tons of examples, I could help ya out, and the license is only 99 bucks. Which means you get practically free advertising and a possible audience of millions.

That's one way to go.

There's also Farseer Physics Engine, which works together with XNA, and is a pretty decent engine. That's another route to take; if you work hard enough you could get the game on Steam (such as, for example, a game called Sol Survivor, which was written in C# with XNA).

-P

No, I don't have an intel mac. I want a truly multi-platform solution, which I can develop on my GNU/Linux system, as I said.

C/C++ is your only way to go then really.

There aren't any full frameworks that I know of (otherwise I'd be using them).

The only way to get everything you wanted above in your large list of features is to write one yourself. It's a sad truth, but it's the truth none-the-less; several of your features clash with each other and nearly all engines sacrifice one for the other.

You do have several options beside this though, mostly what third party libs to combine to make your super-game. If you're going cross-platform you've only really got OpenGL as a rendering engine, so that limits your choices quite a bit. You can use SFML as the windowing/input backend.

-P

I just read about XNA at Wikipedia and it looks like it does not work under GNU/Linux - showstopper for me. Also I had a look at the game you mentioned - nice one, but it's 3D. I want 2D, that's why I want to use Box2D.

It doesn't matter. A game is a game. I just said that because it was written on XNA and got some good coverage over at Steam. XNA is a generic framework for games.

XNA does use DirectX and the .NET Framework, both of which together are almost exclusively Windows.

To get anything cross-platform, you'll have to use cross-platform libraries, and there aren't many that would also give you the opportunity to get your game released on big-name sites. Several indie games do make their way to Steam, that's probably the best way to go if you're looking at cross-platform (although to be honest with you, games released on Windows and Xbox 360 together seem to generate the most revenue these days, as you tailor to two different audiences, and can use one framework to develop for both (XNA)).

EDIT: Not to mention, XNA has possibly the best fixed timestep system I've ever seen that works perfectly with Box2D.

-P

Aha! This seems like one thing I will investigate. Thanks! Few questions that come to my mind... Do I need to write OpenGL code in SFML, or is it used by SFML under the hood? Can it also use DirectX on Windows? I guess it would be nice if it used OpenGL in GNU/Linux and DirectX in Windows, so gamers don't have to install anything.
Let me research SFML a bit and I'll get back with more questions.

OpenGL will work out of the box in Windows, don't worry about it. OpenGL and DirectX have a huge difference anyway, porting would be a pain.

SFML handles the windowing, then you can use OpenGL calls normally (SFML uses GL internally). It also has an input subsystem for keyboard, joysticks and mouses.

-P

In my search for a game engine that incorporates Box2D, I found LÖVE. It's a game engine consisting of 10 or so modules, one of which is called love.physics and is a wrapper around Box2D.

Has anybody used it and could give opinion?

Also, I've look for some time now and it's the only set of game libraries that incorporates Box2D that I found. Am I correct in my conclusion that there is nothing else that integrates Box2D?