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[SOLVED] Video game development with FPC — platforms support
furious programming:
I'm currently working on a video game, making it using FPC (Lazarus) and SDL2 (I'll switch to SDL3 in the future). Ultimately, this game will be exclusively for Windows, and I will consider supporting other platforms (mostly desktop) in the future. The first release will not take place earlier than in a few years (I plan to release in 2025, but these are only plans).
As far as I know, FPC also supports platforms such as Linux or macOS, so creating a port of my game to other desktop platforms is at least theoretically possible. What about other platforms (e.g. console platforms)? If I wanted to expand my "offer" as much as possible and release versions for PlayStation, XBox, Nintendo Switch, Valve Steam Deck, i.e. for game consoles, will I be able to do it, or will I be forced to rewrite the game, for example, into C language and use other tools than Lazarus and FPC?
Is there anyone here who deals with gamedev and tried to publish their games on different platforms (desktop and console)? I know FPC isn't a popular choice for more serious game development, but IMO it's pretty good at it, with capabilities similar to (or even greater than) C language.
I will be grateful for any helpful information in this matter.
KodeZwerg:
You can later expand Hardware acceleration for different Systems.
When creating, be sure to seperate logic from "what you see".
Eugene Loza:
Castle Game Engine supports exporting to Nintendo Switch (a limited-access branch due to Nintendo's NDA), I know that games made with it also were tested and working on Steam Deck (it's a modified Debian-based Linux AFAIK). So this is most certainly possible.
And X-BOX runs on a modified Windows, so also should be not too many compilation issues except for packaging.
I also know there was a PS4 emulator written in FreePascal https://github.com/red-prig/fpPS4 so I believe something inverse is also potentially possible. PS4 runs on some sort of a modified Free BSD according to Internet, which is a valid target for FreePascal. PS5 seems to run on a significantly modified PS4 OS however, I'm not sure how big the changes are - if those can break compatibility with Free BSD or not.
furious programming:
--- Quote from: KodeZwerg on December 30, 2022, 06:16:11 pm ---You can later expand Hardware acceleration for different Systems.
--- End quote ---
Hardware acceleration and the entire backend for rendering, sounds, windows, and joysticks is all provided by SDL. And this library officially supports Windows, Linux and macOS.
--- Quote ---When creating, be sure to seperate logic from "what you see".
--- End quote ---
I know how to write game code — I'm not asking how to write it.
I am asking if it is possible to compile code for console platforms using FPC, mainly platforms used by PlayStation, XBox and Nintendo Switch. I don't know what specific operating systems these consoles have and I don't know if anyone has dealt with such things before. But if any of you have already dealt with this, I'd like to know if it's possible or if there are any bigger problems with it.
--- Quote from: Eugene Loza on December 30, 2022, 06:32:13 pm ---Castle Game Engine supports exporting to Nintendo Switch (a limited-access branch due to Nintendo's NDA), I know that games made with it also were tested and working on Steam Deck (it's a modified Debian-based Linux AFAIK). So this is most certainly possible.
And X-BOX runs on a modified Windows, so also should be not too many compilation issues except for packaging.
--- End quote ---
So it looks like it's possible, given the current cross-platform support of FPC. Theoretically, if I decided to release anything on consoles, even PlayStation and XBox themselves would be a reasonable and sufficient extension, given their popularity.
I'm not very familiar with examples of large games written in Free Pascal, but one of them is Hedgewars, which also uses SDL and is available for download on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and macOS. So support for desktop platforms is theoretically guaranteed, now it's just a question of whether it can be compiled for consoles.
loaded:
--- Quote from: furious programming on December 30, 2022, 06:10:11 pm ---(I plan to release in 2025, but these are only plans).
--- End quote ---
Why is the release date 2025?
If your goal is just to write games, I recommend checking out Unity. https://unity.com/
It's cross-platform too, write your game once and then compile the publishable version for windows, ios and android even virtual reality systems for you.
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