Not to kiss too much derierre here, but many many thanks to you guys who have made this library.
I remember when DirectX first came out I tried to work with Micro$oft’s disaster of an API.
I remember when openGL first came out I tried to work with their equally difficult API.
I longed for the days of BASICA:
Code:
for x=1 to 640
for y=1 to 480
pset(x,y,rnd()):rem sets random colors to pixels
next y
next x
Now, I have come a ways since the above code. But still, just getting one damn triangle to render with DirectX was a nightmare 8-12 hours of research.
And recently I decided that I was going to write the game I have always wanted to write. Not for profit, but for fun. I tried some other API’s out there. Namely some higher end 3d engine APIs. They are great if you have an army of people to work on your project. You know, developers for the code, the graphics guys, the 3d modelers, etc. But that was just so much work that it took me a month to get a terrain to show up and then it was so slow that it was painful. I was faced with rewriting a frame handler to get the terrain to work right.
And along comes libsdl. WOW. You guys have put together an API that is both powerful and easy to use. I mean its FAST and I am only using software rendering right now.
The biggest problem I had was with my side of the code – the total amount of work required to get libsdl to display and manage surfaces the way I need is about 1/20th of the amount of time I spend coding. Thats a HUGE benefit for a one man shop and I presume it is a huge plus for bigger projects as well.
I don’t know how often you guys hear it, but thank you for this API – its an absolute dream come true for me.
-Rattyboy
PS: How the hell do you guys have time to code all of this? And manage it? How does it work with 50+ people working on the code? How do you decide what to include in releases?
You guys have put together an API that is
both powerful and easy to use.
That’s why most of us use it. Simple DirectMedia Layer, with emphasis on
simple. Easy to use and gets the job done without a lot of cruft.
PS: How the hell do you guys have time to code all of this?
Don’t tell anyone, but Sam was born on Krypton. 
JeffOn Saturday 23 January 2010 05:28, rattyboy wrote:
You’re welcome!
Ryan Gordon and I work on it in our spare time, so progress happens in
spurts when we have time or have good contributions from the community. :)On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 5:28 AM, rattyboy <dennis.comeaux at gmail.com> wrote:
Not to kiss too much derierre here, but many many thanks to you guys who
have made this library.
I remember when DirectX first came out I tried to work with Micro$oft’s
disaster of an API.
I remember when openGL first came out I tried to work with their equally
difficult API.
I longed for the days of BASICA:
Code:
for x=1 to 640
for y=1 to 480
pset(x,y,rnd()):rem sets random colors to pixels
next y
next x
Now, I have come a ways since the above code. But still, just getting one
damn triangle to render with DirectX was a nightmare 8-12 hours of research.
And recently I decided that I was going to write the game I have always
wanted to write. Not for profit, but for fun. I tried some other API’s out
there. Namely some higher end 3d engine APIs. They are great if you have an
army of people to work on your project. You know, developers for the code,
the graphics guys, the 3d modelers, etc. But that was just so much work that
it took me a month to get a terrain to show up and then it was so slow that
it was painful. I was faced with rewriting a frame handler to get the
terrain to work right.
And along comes libsdl. WOW. You guys have put together an API that is both
powerful and easy to use. I mean its FAST and I am only using software
rendering right now.
The biggest problem I had was with my side of the code – the total amount
of work required to get libsdl to display and manage surfaces the way I need
is about 1/20th of the amount of time I spend coding. Thats a HUGE benefit
for a one man shop and I presume it is a huge plus for bigger projects as
well.
I don’t know how often you guys hear it, but thank you for this API – its
an absolute dream come true for me.
-Rattyboy
PS: How the hell do you guys have time to code all of this? And manage it?
How does it work with 50+ people working on the code? How do you decide what
to include in releases?
SDL mailing list
SDL at lists.libsdl.org
http://lists.libsdl.org/listinfo.cgi/sdl-libsdl.org
–
-Sam Lantinga, Founder and President, Galaxy Gameworks LLC