» Wed Jan 21, 2015 3:37 pm I have a question that I hope some here will have sufficiently deep understanding of programming languages inside game engines to answer:
1. Could a game like Skyrim (meaning one with such exceptionally naturalistic 3d graphics and sophisticated physics) be coded in Java, instead of (as I understand it) in the C++ based engine in which it is coded.
The reverse question I think I already know the answer to, but I suppose it is worth asking too:
2. Could a game like Minecraft (meaning one with relative coarse and abstracted, 'fake' 3d graphics and more rudimentary physics, BUT with truly enormous gameworlds including seemingly infinite capacity for user 'building') be coded in C++
If I go by the prevailing rhetoric I encounter when I ask about Java for game programming, I'd guess the answer to #1 would be: No, not without severe increases in hardware demands, whereas the answer to #2 I would guess is: Yes, but with much more work to be done from inter-platform configuring and bug fixing.
I'm asking because I'm trying to decide which language to focus on in an upcoming certificate course I will be taking. So far I've leaned toward Java. The games I want to make, I have no desire to have the sort of sophisticated graphics or first-person physics depiction. A fake 3d, adjustable Isometric perspective with fairly simple models for people, plants, and other moving objects (think 'not quite as sophisticated as Civ 5, but with both a tactical level battles map along the lines of Jagged Alliance or Baldur's Gate) is plenty for my purposes (my vision is to make a historical rpg strategy game that is based in real anthropological science, sort of like "Civ but much bigger planets, much more realistic flora and fauna, and more focus on individuals"). I would think Java would be fine for that purpose but I have yet to hear enough advice and feedback that I'm really convinced. Nearly everyone I ask, including game developers who make games not dissimilar to the one I envision suggests either C++ or C#.
