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DarkBASIC Discussion / Does Dark Basic really worth the Money and Time?

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Sayonari Omega Black
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Joined: 7th Apr 2004
Location: On my desk.
Posted: 18th Sep 2004 07:17
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I would like to discuss about this important topic.

Since Dark Basic has ALOT of problems and bugs, Does really worth the Money and Time to create a professional Game(biped,havok..etc)?

Two of the most shocking problems that I've seen are:

-No .3ds bones animated objects support
-No virtual memory manage

Should I buy it or better start thinking in another?

You are the Chrono Trigger !!!!!!!!!!
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Kentaree
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Location: Clonmel, Ireland
Posted: 18th Sep 2004 07:22
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Well, it depends really. If you have previous programming experience in another language with a 3D API, such as C++ and DirectX, it mightn't be worth it. However, for most people, it is a very good alternative, because it is easy, and has very fast development times compared to other languages.

About your 2 problems, I could be wrong, but I dont think 3DS stores bone animation anyway.
As for virtual memory management, virtual memory is usually handled by windows, and all other memory management is done by DBP itself, making it easier to develop for.

AMD Athlon XP2800+
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BearCDPOLD
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Location: AZ,USA
Posted: 18th Sep 2004 07:27
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Quote: " -No .3ds bones animated objects support"

DarkBasic Classic does not natively support bones, but if you export the animation to a .x saving the mesh deformation but not the bones it works fine. Also, DBPro does support bones.

Quote: "-No virtual memory manage"

There's a little bit with memblocks, but you are correct in saying it's not very low level.

If you want to create a massive hit new game and are already a 1337 C++ coder then DB might not be what you're looking for. However, if you're just starting programming and want to make a cool game, or want to prototype a game idea, or you just want to play around with programing games, then DarkBasic is well worth the money.

Crazy Donut Productions, Current Project: Project Starbuks
Sony stole our name!
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Mentor
22
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Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 18th Sep 2004 20:32
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duh! try the trial, answer to post heading YES!............next .

Mentor.

PC1: P4 3ghz, 1gig mem, 3x160gig hd`s, Radeon 9800pro w cooler (3rd gfx card), 6 way speakers.
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Sayonari Omega Black
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Posted: 19th Sep 2004 02:11
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I posted about this topic 'cause I've already tried DBC and DBP and I'm a little dissapointed about few things, ok I'm not saying that DB is the worst programming language but DB Is not the greatest.

I made a demo (about seven months in development and 9000 lines of code, hope to upload soon...), but I encountered some critical problems (for me)

- NO 3ds. bones animation supported and no matter if you save it or convert it in .x (... 3dsMax PLuG IN converter,Milkshape,HexConverter,etc)
I'm not the first posting about this.

- NO virtual memory manage. My demo is about 80 or 90 megs so DB eats up my virtual memory so so fast that in the four or five load I need to restart my computer.

If you people don't know what I'm talking about better go to the forums search of "Dark Basic"/"Bark Basic Pro"/"Bug report" and writte Memory,Animation or Bones.

So if you know about the problems in this topic or have some similar problems the real question is:

Dark Basic was made for proffesional development or just for novice people who want to make a demo?

You are the Chrono Trigger !!!!!!!!!!
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BearCDPOLD
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Location: AZ,USA
Posted: 19th Sep 2004 02:55
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I see it as a tool for hobbyists and professionals who wish to prototype an idea, yet many people have taken it to the next level: see Star Wraith, and 3d Mahjong(you can find it on garagegames.com).

Crazy Donut Productions, Current Project: Project Starbuks
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Mentor
22
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Posted: 19th Sep 2004 03:23
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umm! you do delete unused objects, sounds bitmaps etc before ending the program?, bones don`t interest me one Iota since I can`t model for toffee anyway, never tried em, I thought they where part of the DBO format or something, but don`t quote me on that (theres a download about the format on the developer network.
as for critical problems, code round em, I hardly consider bones critical anyway, like I say I never used em, if thats all you can find to gripe about then I hope you never start to take a deep interest in the workings of the OS you are currently using , your typing fingers would wear out sending enraged E-Mails to Microsoft , you shouldn`t get memory consumption AFAIK, it doesn`t happen to me and I am a old school "code/run/alter/run/alter/run/alter/run......" coder, I write maybe ten lines and test the result (several times) then ten more and test again etc, never noticed any problems with memory getting eaten here.
I would suggest you disable the system keys and then impliment a neat exit, delete everything you loaded/made and undim all arrays before you finaly exit, I am not sure why you get a problem with that though, doesn`t happen to me.

Mentor.

PC1: P4 3ghz, 1gig mem, 3x160gig hd`s, Radeon 9800pro w cooler (3rd gfx card), 6 way speakers.
PC2: AMD 2ghz, 512mb ram, FX5200 ultra, 16 bit SB.
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SandraD
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Posted: 19th Sep 2004 06:59
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I agree Mentor, I've never had problems with DB eating up v-ram. But then I'm rather like you, paying attention to house-keeping in that if you use a resource, your make sure to release it. (Guess that comes from my old push/pop days of asm.)
I like DB for the ease of prototyping, it's far faster than others I've used.

Any truly great code should be indisguishable from magic.
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Phaelax
DBPro Master
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Posted: 20th Sep 2004 03:01
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I never had a problem with resources either, and i've ran db with unreal running in the background.
DB is like a hobby for me. I know other languages, but this lets me show ideas quicker.

"eureka" - Archimedes
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scout
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Posted: 21st Sep 2004 04:12
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u ask the wrong question, or the right question from the wrong side.

what u got to think of is: is ur game/idea/time to code worth to write ur own dx code & game engine.

if u want to learn basics in game developing or just want to see ur idea realised quickly, so db is just right for u.

if u got endless time & money, 20-100 man crew, the knowledge to kick id-softs ass and the ambition to earn "big" money, then better keep ur fingers away from db.

greets
scout
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blanky
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Posted: 21st Sep 2004 06:19
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I personally use a combination of Visual Basic with some really difficult DirectX 8 programming and DarkBasic Classic.

The only real feature i find lacking in darkbasic is:

*NO ERROR HANDLING*!!! An error comes up, program quits. End.

I normally use VB to do stuff like convter tools and editing toolkits, and DarkBasic Classic for the actual game, because I find Direct3D really, really hard.

I've considered chucking DBC in the bin loads of times, but it *IS* worth it.

You want to make a game? Make it in DarkBasic. Convert it to another language later if you really want to.

(Note: DB is a 3d language. It can do 2d, but it's not so good at it. Hell, I don't even know why I'm still here. Boing)

[img src=http://blanky.pt-web.net/ddd.gif] >::p
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BearCDPOLD
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Posted: 21st Sep 2004 08:05
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Quote: "*NO ERROR HANDLING*"

Mine does error handling.....

Crazy Donut Productions, Current Project: Project Starbuks
Sony stole our name!
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blanky
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Posted: 22nd Sep 2004 05:06
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yeah. using IF whatever.

but what if you get an error like 'cannot load file', or you make an editor and you get the error '3ds version must be 3.0 or above'? the person making the file has just lost their file!

But DarkBasic is GOOD. If you get it, i recommend you get DarkBasic Pro. It's too late for me now, i can't be assed to buy pro or even DarkMATTER.

[img src=http://blanky.pt-web.net/ddd.gif] >::p
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Game Freak10K
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2004 13:14
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1. Depends. Do you want to make a game in 18 months or 3?
2. Do you have 12 million dollars, or at most 43.69?
3. Are you attempting to compete with Id, or us at the DB forums?
4. Do you have lots of time to spare or just a little?
Think about it.....

Comics and Games-Bread and Butter.
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BearCDPOLD
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2004 14:37
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We can only show you the door.....you must walk through it.



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