Programming Post - Which engine?

I've seen a lot of people asking which engine they should use for their new shiny game project.  For me If I choose to make another mobile game I'll be using cocos2d-x http://www.cocos2d-x.org/ as a base.  It's a free, open source C++ engine with a thriving community, and currently runs on iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Marmalade, Blackberry and Bada (whatever that is).

The Windows and Linux versions are more intended for tools development though, as opposed to building full games.  It doesn't have a Mac version.

So if I choose to make a PC/Mac/Linux desktop game things are bit less clear-cut.  I'm starting to lean towards Unity http://unity3d.com/ for it's much hyped cross-platform capabilities and "new" way of working, but the coder in me thinks that SDL http://www.libsdl.org/ might be a better bet.  Mainly because I still like poking around at a low-level, and more importantly, change scares me.

It still amazes me how many great tools are available to indie developers now, it's easier than ever to pick and choose from a whole banquet of high-quality products for free or as good as free.  You kids better appreciate how lucky you have it.

N x

Hello World!

Merry Everyone!  I've decided to start a blog to post about the ups and downs of games development, everything from programming all the way to branding, PR, all that jazz.  For reasons which will become all too evident in the near future I'll also be posting stuff about the legal side of games.

I made Hard Lines for iOS this year, and I can say in my completely non-biased opinion that it's properly ace.  As I type this it's available for free on the App Store, so go grab it if you've not already!

I'm away to stuff my face with more food, drink beer, watch TV and attempt to fix my new remote controlled helicopter which seems to be stuck in the "fly directly into the nearest wall" mode.

Happy holidays!

Xxx