2d graphics engine

Pages: 12
Hi everybody.

Im looking for a 2d graphic engine. I dont wanted to start over with oger or something equally big.
Just a small engine where i can import my own images, move them around and check for collisions.

Regards, nullGrind
Google SDL.
SDL.

What about this SFML? It looks fairly promising.
What about this SFML? It looks fairly promising.

Is that because of http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/16091/ ?
Yes, it is. I looked it up; it actually looks quite good.
I was simply suggesting that, SDL being not the only (or, even, necessarily the best!) graphics API, it would do to include more APIs. That's how Microsoft are still so rich... people are so used to Windows being the dominant OS that they assume that you use it. I've had teachers say "Your homework is to open up Microsoft Powerpoint and make me a Powerpoint [surely thou jest; it's a slideshow or presentation?!] on xxx."
I then had to say "Sir, I don't have Powerpoint. Are you suggesting I should spend £50 so I can do your homework?"
Him: "No, you can do a poster in Word instead."
Me: -sigh-.

I actually do have MS Office but I absolutely can't stand people assuming I and everyone else with a computer does. Plus then I have to spend ten minutes for vista to boot up (it actually takes less than one minute; but Minix takes literally a second on QEMU), open powerpoint (which I actually don't think I do have; but I do have word and some others) and create his stupid slideshow; then I have to shutdown windows (which, interestingly, takes literally about five minutes) and boot something else instead... It's just too much hassle!

I actually prefer OpenOffice. It does some illogical things like indenting numbered lists more when the number has two digits (e.g. 10 will be indented more than 9; which throws off the formatting of the entire page. And once it inserted random line breaks into the file and I was marked down on a history essay because of it) but generally it does well. I got 96% on some Chemistry questions at the start of this year that I did in OpenOffice in like ten minutes; so that was good.

Thinking about it, though, the GNU Project and Microsoft are both similar -- both want to dominate the software market; but for different reasons. GNU want to dominate it because they want everyone to have free software (and, in all honestly, most likely to boost their egos (they are human after all (if anyone says "Daft Punk" I will email them my fist)) as well) whereas Microsoft pretty much only care about money. They're a company so that means they want money and nothing else...

But I digress... massively.

Edit: The threat of a fist-in-email is genuine; I have found a way to send 3D objects over SMTP using an exploit which involves very large wires. After all, the internet is a series of tubes...
Last edited on
There are several 2d APIs out there (SFML, SDL, Allegro, etc...), but you could of course use a 3d API to accomplish 2d, but it would be more difficult than using a 2d API. SFML doesn't quite have the popularity or support as SDL does. The big difference is really that SFML is written entirely in C++ for those looking for a purely C++ solution... which typically I am. If you're looking for a purely C++ 3d API, I recommend Ogre3d.

MS Office is the standard productivity package used in corporations. I once declined to hire a guy simply because he had little to no experience with MS Office... His role was going to be a technical writer so obviously this was a crippling blow...
Last edited on
Thanks for your advise, guys!
On Windows, Direct2D.
Avoid SDL (obsolete and slow (not hardware accelerated...))
Avoid SDL (obsolete and slow (not hardware accelerated...))


Obsolete and slow? Come on george135...
obsolete and slow

It's neither.
not hardware accelerated...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_drivers are hardware accelerated, not APIs. An API simply provides an abstraction layer so you don't have to do things like memory allocation yourself. They don't interface directly with hardware; drivers do that, on monolithic kernels directly, and on microkernels, through syscalls.
For george135 anything non-Microsoft is obsolete and slow
but i thought microsoft applications are slow..!!!
someone said openoffice which is free and far better than ms office.
I can say that my mum's computer + Win XP = really slow, mum's computer + Ubuntu = fast

I don't think OpenOffice is better than MS office, they are somehow at the same level: both have features that the other should have
if we see the expendable features of openoffice they are very good.. we can develop applications on top of it which we cannot for ms office.. localization was in openoffice long back and microsoft gave this feature recently. and who can forget that it can run on all the major platforms..

i have done lot of work openoffice + localization. writing in local languages, language keyboards, dictionaries etc etc and openoffice really work very well for these. but yes giving features to applications and in usability no one can beat microsoft.. windows is the best example. :P
closed account (S6k9GNh0)
Not going to lie, Ubuntu probably isn't the most optimized Linux build not to mention it's userland is terrible compared to most. Gentoo isn't much better except you can optimize at code-level. WinXP has issues I've yet to understand. Windows itself has problems I've yet to understand. They have the man power and the knowledge to fix their crappy OS not to add the billions of dollars. I feel like slapping them across the face for spreading commercial software that is complete crap. Instead of fixing their problems, they add more features, instability, and hole-in-the-pocket frustration. That is why my main OS is Linux outside of Windows based games.
That is why my main OS is Linux outside of Windows based games.

And therein lies the problem. Hard as you may try; it's impossible to be a purist unless you have no interest in games. :(

I have to agree; though, Ubuntu isn't meant to be fast. Ubuntu is meant to be easy. It's still fast; that's because the Linux kernel is fast. It has almost nothing to do with the Ubuntu developers themselves.

I would say FreeBSD is probably one of the fastest OSes out there...

Oh and the reason Microsoft don't fix their bugs is because they don't have to. Enough people still are buying their crap so they don't care. As long as they have a reasonable amount of income, they don't care. They're a company --> they only care about money.
exactly.. windows is selling for the usability and its many features.. general user dont have to care which version is running, if the new application is supported by the kernel or not.. they just have to click setup.exe :P
Games is one of the most important part.. to run a game like quake or myth or warcraft one has to give day and night to run it on linux and than also it wont run.. it been days i am trying to run myth-2 on linux.. a normal user on windows has to again click setup.exe :(

on linux if i want to install lets say VLC player its a work of many hours but on windows its just a click.. or if its complex like installing broadcom wireless driver for dell m4400 on fc10 a normal user cannot do it in his whole life.. why wont one buy windows even if it has bugs like taking ages to even shutdown or requiring shutdown every second day..
Ubuntu isn't meant to be fast. Ubuntu is meant to be easy.
My mum doesn't even know what an OS is, I couldn't install on her machine something difficult to use...
Enough people still are buying their crap so they don't care.
If you think about it, most people use Windows only because it's already installed on most new PCs
on linux if i want to install lets say VLC player its a work of many hours but on windows its just a click..
On Linux is easier than Windows if your distro as good repositories.
closed account (z05DSL3A)
writetonsharma wrote:
general user dont have to care which version is running, if the new application is supported by the kernel or not.. they just have to click setup.exe :P

This is not quite so anymore, Vista and the imaginatively named Windows 7 have put an end to that. I have had a lot of people, who have bought new PCs and tried to install their software and hardware and have no end of problems, asking me to 'fix it' for them.

I am installing XP on my machine because it the software that I need to have on it will not run under Windows 7. (there is nothing more boring than rebuilding your machine)
If the distribution uses a package manager, e.g. apt-get or YUM, it is easier. It isn't hard to install software from source, usually
./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
but it can take a while; QT4 takes hours to make.

(there is nothing more boring than rebuilding your machine)

Installing Minix on QEMU was "fun" because it was a new OS I'd never tried. Installing an OS you've never tried before is much more fun.

My mum doesn't even know what an OS is, I couldn't install on her machine something difficult to use...

That was my point. Someone said it wasn't fast; I was saying it isn't meant to be, nor does it need to be. It's meant to be almost like an "introductory distribution". At least; that's what I used it for...
Pages: 12