[SDL] 2D API evolution (SDL 1.3/2.0)

[Torsten Giebl]

Hello !


> The problem is the combination of the average user who doesn't even
> know what a driver is, and Microsoft's desire to eliminate OpenGL as a
> mainstream technology on the Windows platform.
>
> It doesn't matter that a proper OpenGL + Direct3D driver practically
> downloads and installs itself on Windows these days, or that some serious
> PCs come preinstalled with the latest drivers for everything.
> The average surfing + casual gaming PC is still running a clean
> Windows install with nothing but the drivers included on the CD.
> What's worse, it's *your game* that is blamed when it doesn't Just
> Work(TM) out of the box.
>
>
> "All other games work on my PC, and this one
> doesn't, so this game is obviously crap!"
>
>
> Of course, we can dream about the entire developer community just
> boycotting Direct3D until Microsoft starts to include proper OpenGL drivers
> on the Windows CDs - but I don't see anything like that happening, ever.
> (That said, if it weren't because of John Carmack
> and supporters, we'd probably not have accelerated OpenGL *at all* on
> consumer hardware...)
>
> Note that AAA titles and all Free/Open Source games are just a
> fraction of the market, aimed at hardcore gamers and power users! Whatever
> hardware and drivers this minority of gamers may be using is pretty much
> irrelevant to the large volume casual games market.
>
> Of course, there's theoretically nothing wrong with focusing SDL
> 1.3/2.0 on power users and hardcore gamers, but it just doesn't seem
> to make sense to me. SDL 1.2 + OpenGL is pretty much all you'll ever need
> to support that user base, I think - so why bother with 1.3/2.0 if that is
> the *only* target user base?

Sorry i still don't understand the problem.

A few simple cases :


1. You are writing a 2D application, like an oldschool
JumpNrun for example. SDL 1.2 is the perfect choice
for you, it supports a lot of backends and is well and long tested.

2. You are writing a 2D application, but need for using
a lot of Alpha Blending stuff hardware acceleration. SDL 1.3
is your best choice it supports OpenGL, DirectX, X11 and the
user can choice whatever is the fastest on his system.
A way to make it easier is to include a little benchmark into your game
just testing the different backends and printing out the max. FPS.

3. You are writing a 3D game. You are already bitten today even without
SDL. You have to choice what System you use. Is your game only
for Windows and XBOXes. DirectX is perfect. Do you want to get it also
running on Mac OS X and Linux you have to write it with OpenGL. If you
now write two backends and be safe or just write the OpenGL backend
and people may yell about the bad performance is not a problem
that could be solved by SDL. Linux users most of the time
are pretty advanced in the knowledge of the system. Even the .... Windows
User today install the NVIDIA or ATI driver on his system and both
provide good OpenGL drivers.


CU