ive been struggling trying to see what is the best...
# gamedevt
tjb
02/26/2018, 3:45 PMive been struggling trying to see what is the best tools for game dev. i would like to use kotlin and stay on the JVM but most tools seem to be C++ exclusive…not sure if i am missing something. LibGDX is still good for 3D game development, no?
r
Ruckus
02/26/2018, 4:25 PMI'd recommend using a game engine instead of just a library, especially for 3D game development, but it's up to you. If you are interested in an engine, the recent Godot 3 is pretty sweet (https://godotengine.org/).
Ruckus
02/26/2018, 4:27 PMAnd if you're focused on Kotlin and feeling really adventurous, you could try to get Kotlin/Native to work with it's GDNative plugin system http://docs.godotengine.org/en/3.0/tutorials/plugins/gdnative/index.html
t
tjb
02/26/2018, 4:45 PMok so maybe im not understanding the difference between the engine vs. library
tjb
02/26/2018, 4:45 PMi thought LibGDX is a game engine?
tjb
02/26/2018, 4:46 PMive been looking at gotdot actually — GodotScript is v cool
r
Ruckus
02/26/2018, 4:58 PMThe distinction is blurry, and by many definitions LibGDX is indeed an engine, but I use a rather simplified definition based on tooling. Unreal, Unity, Godot, etc. I consider engines because the tooling that comes along with them (you can build that vast majority of the game visually and just "script" the interactions) whereas LibGDX everything is done in code, and you can use it in a normal JVM project by including it as a dependency, so I consider it a library.
Ruckus
02/26/2018, 5:02 PMGranted, I can't recommend Godot if you're trying to get a job in the industry. If you're an indie dev or (like me) game dev is just a hobby, it's great, but for an industry job you should stick with Unreal or Unity for now. Hopefully Godot gets more traction in the future (I actually prefer its scene structure to Unreal's blueprints and Unity's prefabs), but it's not there yet.
t
tjb
02/26/2018, 5:03 PMim not really gunning for a game dev job so much as wanting to explore game dev in general / stay indie
r
Ruckus
02/26/2018, 5:07 PMHonestly, since all three have free options, I'd download them all and spend some time with them to see which one clicks for you more. That's really the kicker. Whichever one feels most intuitive for you is the one you should use, so it can get the tedious stuff out of the way and let you focus on your game.
t
tjb
02/26/2018, 5:08 PMthats really good advice, thanks so much i really appreciate it
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