We have great news to share. Our team continues to work on BB. Currently
Laszlo is spearheading the technical upgrades to make BB cross platform.
I quote one of his many contributions:
"I vote for using QT.
Here is why:
- support for
Mac,Win,Linux, Android, IOS, Raspberry Pi (SFML is only for Desktop currently,
but it is under development)
- good support in Linux repos
- high level
abstraction or low level programming is also possible
- good documentation, a
lot of examples
- Qt is complete framework, not just OpenGl wrapper:
- easy to install IDE for all Desktop platforms
- GUI
description language with easy syntax ( QML )
- support in qml: buttons, lists,
sprite, animated sprite with smooth transition, web browser, video, image,
rotation, transition,...
- new QML objects can be implemented in C++
-
javascript scripting
- sound wrapper
- build system (like CMake)
- and so on....
-
you can also embed SFML widgets in QML programs! So this is also an option.
Disadvantage:
- the performance can
be slow because of the high abstraction but I think there is not much animation
in BB
Pros:
- it makes easy for new developers to start using it
- it
is productive for GUI development.
- we can achive better results later, if new
components are developed for QT.
With SFML only we have to implement each GUI
feature".
He already implemented several demos including screens, custom
buttons, galaxy windows, and stars. So far so good, but too early to declare
full success for all platforms.
So we are moving from C# to C++ and use QT runtime environment
for now unless we find a dead end or major performance problem. We maintain open
source repo.
Meanwhile Brent and I had lots of discussions and made some key
changes in design and have early implemenations, such as hex based space
battle.
Ivan contributes with technical expertise, experience, and
testing for now.
In addition, I have searched for and hired 2 master composers
who agreed to compose original music for this game. Fingers crossed that they
will actually deliver as promised.
So everything is heading in the right direction, but please
volunteer if you think that you can help and feel the burning desire like us to
do something good about this project. We do it in our free time as a service to
the community and our progress is slow.
