I need a nudge in the right direction from someone more experienced in windows g

Question

I need a nudge in the right direction from someone more experienced in windows game development.

I want to write simple C# 2D windows game for fun (think something like old Sim City or Civilization). I used to write simple windows games before, but I was out of the loop from game development for a long time.

What would be good technology to start quickly these days? Quick google search, shows DirectX, Managed DirectX, XNA, but I do not know enough about those to make a choice.

To make this question more constructive, can someone explain what options are available, and what would be their strong and weak points?

Explanation / Answer

For rendering :

SDL is popular for 2D games. Freeciv (free game similar to civilisation) is actually using this library for rendering. SDL is not a C# lib but there is a sourceforge project on a C# wrapper (called SDL.NET).

I believe SFML is also well suited for your needs. It is dangerously simple and provide a binding for c# (SFML.Net).

If you have more time to dedicate to your project(s), using directly DirectX or OpenGL to render your sprites is a very valid option. It will be a little more complicated to setup but is very feasible even for super Indy game developers. Also, DirectX or OpenGL are 100% valid for 2D games even though they are generally more associated with 3D games.

For physics

If you need physics for your game you may be interested in box2dx (C# port of Box2D)

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.