Elysian Shadows

I am using a Mac, and currently use XCode to program. Is there any other programs, like map editors, etc... out there that I can download for free (for mac) that will help when deving for a game?

Thanks
~MR

MisterReplicant wrote:I am using a Mac, and currently use XCode to program. Is there any other programs, like map editors, etc... out there that I can download for free (for mac) that will help when deving for a game?

Thanks
~MR

There are lots of open source/multiplatform map editors out there. Your best solution is to develop them yourself if you really want to make a game.

So, you are saying the only thing needed to dev a game is an IDE like XCode (Mac) or Visual C++ (Windows)?

MisterReplicant wrote:So, you are saying the only thing needed to dev a game is an IDE like XCode (Mac) or Visual C++ (Windows)?

Yep, and the library (or libraries) you need for graphics/physics/etc.

Step 1: Give me your mac.
Step 2: Get a cheap PC
Step 4: Get compiler and libraries
Step 5: ???
Step 6: Profit

In all seriousness do what they said... Get XCode or code::blocks, and then get the graphics libraries you need (SFML is supposed to be the new SDL) then look at some tutorials. Its all the same on mac just setting up a compiler may be different

I find it very useful to have a higher level language on standby, like DarkBasic Pro - for instance my current project has the level editor on the PC, then I transfer over to the Mac. The main thing is that with a fast development system, you can get your level editor knocked up in no time. For a tile based game a level editor needn't take much time at all, often it's just a sequence of byte values to save or load.

Most Mac owners have a PC as well, so grab yourself a cheap or free BASIC language for that, and use it for making your tools. The bottom line is that no matter what editor you use, there will always be something missing, so making your own and developing them for each project is a solid way to develop I think. I strongly suggest getting the free version of DarkBasicPro, real easy to use, a lot of professionals use it for prototyping, the sprite system is very very similar to OpenGLES and it's easy to mimic the more advanced GL stuff (DBPro is a DirectX 9 engine). I've written tile based editors in a single evening in DBPro, something that would take me a good week with Xcode and C++.

Another option is to take a freeware editor, like Mappy:
http://tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php
Then figure out the file format, or maybe theres a custom export system so you can develop your own map file format.