[OLPC-Games] New project: Treenimation

Mike Hahn mike at treenimation.net
Fri Oct 5 09:38:33 EDT 2007


Hi Roberto,

I spliced your 2 emails together. It sounds like maybe doing the whole thing
in Python may in fact be a better way to go. I looked into SDL,
http://gameprogrammer.com/sdl.html, which up until now I had never heard of,
and it sounds promising. So I guess the next steps for me would be to
install Python on my Windows XP computer, and Linux/Python/Sugar on my old
computer, which is a Pentium II at 266 MHz with 128 MB of RAM. (Also I need
to get advice from our network guru about networking my 2 computers
together.) Then I can get a feel for Python, first for Windows and then with
Linux and Sugar. Thanks Roberto for your sage advice.

Regards,
Mike

On 10/5/07, Roberto Fagá <robertofaga at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Mike
>
> I agree with you on your first point, but the others:
> - "Python is interpreted and slower" -> using PyGame you use for the
> crucial code (like rendering images) C code, SDL, compiled in native
> code. That mean, if you use Python, maybe yet you can take more 0.1
> seconds to load your game, but isn't too much more than if you use
> native code. Otherwise, SDL is a big project, using hardware
> acceleration and maintained by many people/enterprises, rarely you can
> get better performance programming by yourself (but isn't

Sorry, continuing..

but isn't impossible. You can take a try to check by yourself the
speed and performance. The same for pyopengl or pysoya, libs for 3d
rendering which uses OpenGL

Thirdly:

Python + PyGame + some python 3d lib runs on Windows.

Fourthly:
 but python runs on windows very well :)


You can also use PyPy (isn't stable yet I think) or Psyco to compile
Python in native code and maybe get a better performance. I know how
hard is to use another language / platform to program your game, but
this can ease your work, as porting delphi to XO will not be an easy
job, I think this will spend a lot of time and will not help so much
the windows 'paid' version if you do a python game for XO and delphi
for windows (one project will never help the other with new features,
you'll need always to recode)

Just take a look on Python + PyGame + PySoya or PyOpengl or any other 3d
lib!

[]'s

> On 10/4/07, Mike Hahn <mike at treenimation.net> wrote:
> > Hi Luke,
> >
> > I'd rather not use Python to develop Treenimation for Windows for the
> > following reasons:
> >
> > Firstly, I've been doing nothing but Delphi programming for 11 years
now, so
> > it seems too much of a nuisance to have to learn a whole new development
> > tool and language if I can possibly avoid it.
> >
> > Secondly, Delphi is a native-code compiler, but Python is an
interpreter. At
> > the heart of Treenimation is a scripting language I call Treescript,
which
> > like Java is based on byte-code that is interpreted at runtime. Instead
of
> > byte-code, I call it the Treenimation Intermediate Language (TIL). Like
the
> > .NET intermediate language, it's actually a text file.
> >
> > All games, and even most of the Treenimation user tools (but not the
> > compiler and IDE), are written in Treescript. It seems like too much of
a
> > performance penalty to run a Java-style interpreter like Treescript on
top
> > of another byte-code interpreter like Python. I copied the next
paragraph
> > from www.python.org:
> >
> > "You need to realize that your Python scripts have to be processed by
> > another program called the Python interpreter. The interpreter reads
your
> > script, compiles it into bytecodes, and then executes the bytecodes to
run
> > your program."
> >
> > Whereas Delphi generates native code, which is a lot more efficient.
> > Remember that eventually I plan to use Treenimation for Windows as a
> > development tool for modern, 3D, revenue-generating games, so efficiency
is
> > paramount.
> >
> > Thirdly, Treenimation for Windows is, to be blunt, more crucial to the
> > success of this project than Treenimation for the XO Laptop. Therefore
it's
> > important that it be as effective and playable an experience for the
game
> > developers and end-users as possible. The Windows version of
Treenimation is
> > more important because Windows runs on 90 percent of the world's
computers,
> > and all Windows users of Treenimation are encouraged (but not required)
to
> > become paying members. To learn more about how I hope to make money from
> > Treenimation, please visit www.treenimation.net, click on Treenopolis
(under
> > Links), click on Treenopolis again, and then click on either "Building
> > Treenopolis" or "OLPC Business Model" (2 business models to choose
from).
> >
> > Fourthly, if Treenimation for Windows is as good an experience for the
users
> > as it possibly can be, then more people will become paying members,
> > resulting in more financial resources for the organization:
Treenimation.net
> > (hopefully it will generate more income than expenses = profit). And
that
> > will enable the Treenimation for XO users to benefit as well. More power
for
> > Windows users = more resources for XO users, simple as that.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Mike
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: games-bounces at lists.laptop.org
[mailto:games-bounces at lists.laptop.org]
> > On Behalf Of Luke Paireepinart
> > Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 04:50 PM
> > To: Games for the OLPC
> > Subject: Re: [OLPC-Games] New project: Treenimation
> >
> > Mike Hahn wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I would like to announce a new project called Treenimation: a software
> > > tool used for creating web-based (real-time), multiplayer board games,
> > > as well as email-based games. Subsequent versions of Treenimation will
> > > add support for 2D, and ultimately 3D animation. For more info, please
> > visit:
> > >
> > > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Treenimation
> > >
> > > I am currently in the very early stages of implementing Treenimation
> > > for Windows, using Delphi. Due to my inexperience with Linux, I will
> > > eventually need help porting Treenimation to Free Pascal for Linux,
> > > and then translating it into Python for the XO Laptop. (I used Unix 22
> > > years ago, programming part of an accounting package in C for several
> > > months.)
> > >
> > > Anyone interested in helping out with the development of Treenimation
> > > for Linux, or anyone with Treenimation-related feedback, is welcome to
> > > contact me. Thank you.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Mike Hahn
> > >
> > Mike -
> > Why not just write it in Python to start with?
> > Then there's no porting necessary - it will automatically be
cross-platform.
> > -Luke
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> >
> >
> >
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>
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