Thoughs on simple directmedia layer

[kihon]

Hi all,

Just wondering what people think of SDL. Is it a viable alternative to using Direct X? Would it make games a lot easier to port to other OSs - eg Linux/Mac from windows?

Is it an easier starting point than DX, but a lot less powerful? Or is it just as complicated, or just as powerful?


Did a search, but have not found any discussions regarding this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rodéric]

Hi all,

Just wondering what people think of SDL. Is it a viable alternative to using Direct X? Would it make games a lot easier to port to other OSs - eg Linux/Mac from windows?

Is it an easier starting point than DX, but a lot less powerful? Or is it just as complicated, or just as powerful?


Did a search, but have not found any discussions regarding this.

Thanks in advance.

Checked once or twice, toyed with it, not really used.
It's easy, it's crossplatform, it was used in commercial games ports, AFAIR.
It can be layered on top of Direct3D or OpenGL in windows, it has a fine doc, lots of "plugins"/modules/whatever
All in all, if you plan to write demos or stuff like that with multi platform in mind, it's a good option.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

I've used it and it is quite good.
It provides with basic functionality such as threading, timers, window context(No more MFC ) and a few other things.

You can use SDL in conjunction with DirectX. I t looks as though you're equating the two. They are completely different libraries doing different things.
SDL helps you setup your game/program while DirectX is an API that can do input, sound and graphics as well as it being lower level and is more powerful, you don't need to use all the features of DirectX with SDL. SDL can provide you with the basic functionality of input without the needs to go lower level.

 

[kihon]

Hi guys thanks for your responses

I thought that SDL had support for audio video and input? (sort of similar to dx, though Im not sure it has network and media functionality).

I guess I need to set it up and try it out (though have to wait till my wifes exams are over).