[Techtalk] Linux game programming

[Miriam Ruiz]

2007/7/18, Miriam English <mim at miriam-english.org>:
>
> Carla Schroder wrote:
>
> > I want to learn to write a few games my own self. Cool fun games that
> have no
> > guns, cars, drugs, or hos, and that don't need super-duper 3D video.
> What do
> > you think would be some good tools and languages to create some fun
> games in?
> > I think Frozen-Bubble is done in Perl, and Tetris sure didn't need the
> DOOM
> > engine in its original release.
>
> Hi Carla,
>
> I'm working on some stuff using python + pygame + pyOpenGL + pyODE.
>
> - Python is extremely easy to learn and to program in.
> http://www.python.org
>
> - Pygame is basically a simple way of accessing the SDL libraries
> (images, fonts, sound, mouse, keyboard, CDROM, joystick, and timers)
> from python, making visual games easy to create.
> http://www.pygame.org
>
> - PyOpenGL is an interface between python and OpenGL and python that
> lets you add 3D capability.
> http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net
> OpenGL documentation is at:
> http://opengl.org
> http://www.rush3d.com/reference/opengl-redbook-1.1/
> http://www.rush3d.com/reference/opengl-bluebook-1.0/
>
> - PyODE is a physics simulator library that uses ODE (Open Dynamics
> Library) from python, and lets you make things fall under gravity and
> bounce off each other, move vehicles by turning their wheels, have
> jointed creatures. Nice stuff.
> http://pyode.sourceforge.net
> ODE is at
> http://ode.org


Yup, I agree with Miriam, Pygame, along with the  OpenGL and ODE bindings if
needed, are probably the easiest way to get into game programming nowadays
using Python. I'd definitely go for  that.

Another thing I've become fascinated with lately, is RenPy, which is a
> python+pygame based program for creating interactive, visual stories
> (they are generally called games, but I consider them interactive
> fiction) known as Ren'ai ("Ren'ai" is Japanese for romance). One of the
> things that I love about this is the high proportion of women involved
> in their creation and consumption. But perhaps that shouldn't be so
> surprising as the stories focus upon relationships and personality
> rather than killing and conquest. Ren'ai is apparently very big in
> Japan, but almost unknown in the west.
> RenPy is at:
> http://renpy.org/wiki/renpy/Home_Page
> About 60 ren'ai games/stories:
> http://www.renai.us/special/all/
> RenPy has an enormous community:
> http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/
>
> You don't need to know python (or any computer language) to use renpy.
> My 10 year old niece is currently making a ren'ai story using renpy. It
> isn't as sophisticated as something that some of the renpy gurus can
> make, but the fact that she can do it at all is wonderful.


I packaged Ren'Py some time ago for Debian, and I'm  really interested in
free stories for it. Most of the stories out there, even nice, they're not
free, and some times not even legally distributable (they copy media  and
graphics files from other places)

If any of you want to make a Story for Ren'Py, or any free game in general
for that matter, and want to have it in Debian (and Ubuntu), please get in
contact with me (It might be through the list). BTW, if it's a nice story,
however not sophisticated, I'd be really willing to get your niece's game in
Debian. I guess it would be the program in Debian with a younger upstream,
and a girl, that would be great :)

Greetings,
Miry

BTW, Carla, There are many games in Linux where there is no killing, no
conquest and no usage of females as trophies in them. I'm taking care of
having the most of them I can in Debian and Ubuntu. :)