RE: [GD-General] I just don't get it (Was: Scripting Systems)
Brought to you by:
vexxed72
Menu
▾
▴
RE: [GD-General] I just don't get it (Was: Scripting Systems)
|
From: tweety <mi...@sy...> - 2004-04-21 04:27:38
|
this is a real thread ressurection, so be amazed! :)) Anyway, have any of you looked at http://www.angelcode.com/angelscript/ ? It's a byte-code interpreted scripting language that mimics c++, including classes and pointers (ok, so you can't move them, but you can use operator*() on them). It's portable, too. ---------------------------------- Peace and love, Tweety mi...@sy... - twe...@us... YahooID: tweety_04_01 -----Original Message----- From: gam...@li... [mailto:gam...@li...] On Behalf Of Garett Bass Sent: February 4, 2004 8:05 AM To: gam...@li... Subject: [GD-General] I just don't get it (Was: Scripting Systems) Design folks, Ok, sorry to distract you all, but I just don't get it. After reading about Brian's problems with his scripts (and additionally having considered the problem at length without actually implementing any scripting system myself [except for my pitiful attempt at *writing* a scripting system for Deer Hunter 3, which we won't go into here for fear of grave embarrassment to myself]) it seems to me that "scripting" is being used to solve problems that could just as easily be solved by real code. Please enlighten my heathen mind: Why not simply compile your "scripts" into C/C++ .DLLs? These are the arguments I can vaguely recall for scripting, but I just don't think they hold up: 1. You don't have to compile scripts. I mean, ok, yeah, you gotta spend a few seconds on compiling some C/C++ into a .DLL (holy mother of poo!), but that serves a handy purpose: the compiler checks a variety of error and warning conditions that give you immediate feedback before you even try the script. And if it is so difficult to arrange a test case for the script's performance, are you really saving any time by not using a compiled language? 2. Scripting code is easier for designers to write. Um, really? Is Lua any easier to write than C? Ok, it's more verbose, but verbose just means more symbols to remember and use correctly. At work I'm stuck using Visual Basic, and while it is pretty handy for our problem domain (RAD w/ database and native GUI), it also really confuses some of my C++ instincts (and vice-versa). 3. The security of a sandbox. Ok, you've got me there, if your primary goal in scripting is to allow your fanbase to create new content without exposing other users to a variety of security scenarios, then I suppose you've found your holy grail. At the cost of 15x performance of course. I seem to recall the user community (PlanetQuake et al.) doing a pretty good job of filtering through the security of mods, in fact, I don't recall any news of blaster or welchia worms arising from Q2 mods, but you know, whatever keeps your paranoid heart skipping happily along, go for it. Even if it is a huge pain in the ass. All that aside, I do believe there are some C-syntax scripting languages out there these days (http://csl.sourceforge.net/csl.html). In the realm of other ideas, Battlefield 1942 uses a "scripting" language that is really more along the lines of a gameplay balancing dataset. You can code up new vehicles in plain text by combining engines and meshes and various attributes in new and interesting ways, but you can't really change the core gameplay mechanic. I'm just not significantly compelled to go beyond dynamic library-based extendability for the time being. However, I am significantly compelled to find out why the higher minds of my time think otherwise. Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. Regards, Garett Bass gt...@st... ------------------------------------------------------- The SF.Net email is sponsored by EclipseCon 2004 Premiere Conference on Open Tools Development and Integration See the breadth of Eclipse activity. February 3-5 in Anaheim, CA. http://www.eclipsecon.org/osdn _______________________________________________ Gamedevlists-general mailing list Gam...@li... https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-general Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=557 |
