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Alright, I havent jumped in headfirst yet, so I've been looking around to see what DB has to offer. I've always strayed away because, well, I do a little c++ and all, and have always been under the impression it was a basic, cant do crap, kids language, if you get my meaning. So, a couple questions to clear up some issues I have.. =) It looks like it might be worth the $$ to cut down development time and make it easier to do what I want, from what I've seen so far..

I installed the trial of DB Classic, i think it is.. First thing I cant stand is the UI.. UGH.. Pray tell me (aside from using something like notepad) that there's a different editor / ide for DBPro that I can use?! The one im seeing is black screen, like 800x600 fullscreen, It just bugs me.. Im used to software like visual studio. Do I have any other options here??

If I buy the DBPro version, I assume updates are free for the life of it? Or when you hit 2.0 or 6.0, am I going to have to buy the new version again?

Also, Is this similiar to other lanugages / kits where Im going to have to buy a 'shader pack' for 29.95 to use shaders, a '3d audio pack' to use 3d audio, etc.. or is my $70 or whatever the total is going to be it?

Im mainly after 2d, but would like to switch to 3d eventually. I did see something about DarkGDK but havent looked at it much yet.. Worth it? easier / harder?

Im sure I have a million others, but as soon as I started typing, I drew a blank.. the main thing I have is the issue with the gui.. Any responses are greatly appreciated!

Looks like you guys have an excellent community for support here!

Also, whats the biggest difference between dbpro and db? Im mostly after 2d, maybe 3d later, and would like to release as shareware maybe..

First of all, with regards to the IDE for Classic, check out the sticky on the DB Classic board:

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=103611&b=10

As for Pro, it uses a proper Windows IDE straight out of the box.

All minor version upgrades to DBPro are free. Major upgrades - like when TGC release the new DX10 version will probably not be. They are a company trying to make a profit after all...

Having said that, not everyone will want - or even have the necessary hardware to make use of the new version for a while and I guess a lot of users will stick with the current version at first.



Some third-party add-ons you have to pay for, but the vast majority are free - including some produced by TGC. And, the things you mention are core features and I can't think of anything that you can't do even with a vanilla version of DBP with no add-ons.

Chargeable TGC packs from what I've seen tend to be for advanced features that you wouldn't expect to be part of the core product anyway. And even then, I'm pretty sure that you could still do most of the things they do in DB, but it would just involve a lot more hard work.

Differences between DBC and DBP:

Pro is a lot faster and produces proper compiled code.

It also has a lot more commands, shader and particles support and a lot more besides.

The BASIC syntax of both however are essentially the same, so if you did go for Pro, you won't have to start again from scratch after learning to use DBC.

As both versions of DB are aimed at the 3D game writer, 2D support isn't that fast - especially with DBC. I believe that Pro now simulates 2D in 3D and is therefore faster and also allows you to use the more advanced 3D capabilities - like shaders with sprites.

I'm a DBC user more than Pro, but I'm sure that one of the DBPro experts will correct me if I've got anything wrong!

TDK_Man

I agree with you on the UI with DBC, I can't stand it either . Luckily DBP's is nothing like that. TDK answered your questions, but I wanted to point you to this link:
http://darkbasicpro.thegamecreators.com/?f=trial
Which is the trial version of DarkBASIC Pro, and should give you a good idea of what the product is like . Also, the default editor that it comes with isn't the best, I recommend the free CodeSurge instead .

I appreciate the responses and the info. I've gotten used to free things, especially when it comes to c++, I can get just about any library for free, so paying for advanced stuff bugs me, but I understand they are trying to make money too. DB looks like it might be a good solution for me since Im tired of hundreds of lines of code to set up joystick routines, etc.. I'd rather focus directly on the game and gameplay, which DB looks like it could help with.. I was looking at Dark GDK, since i already do c++, it might be a good option as well.. choice choices.. =(

Codesurge looks quite nice.. simple yet elegant.. Thanks for the link!

Im planning on downloading the dbpro trial I think.. but not till monday when i have time to sit down with it.