Löve2d vs HaxeFlixel

[edwardander]

as a newbie, i wonder what are the pros and cons of Löve against Haxe or HaxeFlixel. after discovering Löve, i begun to study Lua. it is great. easy and robust. but Haxe is seductively blinking to me everytime when i see games and applications which are made with. they look smooth. also you can implement to any platform directly. but in the other hand, lua is really good for a beginner.

anyway, what are the cons and pros to you? which sides of haxe do you wish that they would be in love too?

[blaknite]

Being brand new to the world of game development I figured I'd give a dew different things a go over the past week to see what I liked the most. I attempted HaxeFlixel earlier in the week before giving LÖVE a go.

I had a few issues which I think may have been due to versions of the various libraries that got installed by following the HaxeFlixel docs. Those issues were mostly solved by downgrading to OpenFL 1.4 instead of the 2.0.0-beta that was automatically installed. I had issues with loading assets after that and then moved on. LÖVE on the other hand just worked. When you're just starting out that's a huge plus in my books.

No doubt my issues could have been solved with some poking about but I didn't feel like it at the time

[edwardander]

yes. honestly, i could not install haxeflixel properly to my linux distro (mint 16) too. also, you need to search and find stuff to get going on.

as this guy said;

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/LarsDoucet/2 ... OpenFL.php

haxeflixel is not a batteries included toy. it is kind a lego package. if you need yellow brick you need to search for it.

[OttoRobba]

Haxe as a language takes a bit more work to develop with than Lua, for the simple fact that, as you guys have seen, it is a bit of a hassle to set it up. It is focused on performant code, with far more strict syntax - but still not as strict as C or Java. Yes, it does compile to C++ and other languages and that is great - but I like how Lua is so easy to modify because it is focused on being a great scripting language.

I adore the flow of coding in Lua - as a language it feels incredibly malleable in that I can find a way that better fits my own style. While some like classes, I preffer closures. While some type their functions with sugar, I type mine without. The ability to monkey patch the language is BEAUTIFUL. It feels like a tool that will be what I make of it, it is empowering - It just is superbly engineered.

Syntax wise, Haxe is symbol minded and reading compreehension is, in my opinion, not that great with all the noise.
Then again, if I could, I would prefer a programming language with syntax very close to english (which is one thing I really like about Lua).

Code: Select all

--Feels very natural, I would love to have a "is not" instead of ~= though.
If x ~= 10 then print "X ain't 10 maaaan" end

Code: Select all

//This is haxe, it doesn't look too bad but it is not beautiful either.
if (x != 10) print("X ain't 10 maaaaan");

For fun, same example in AppleScript

Code: Select all

if x is not equal to 10 then 
    say "X ain't 10 maaaaan"
end if

HaxeFlixel is, like LÖVE, a framework. By default it does include more things so in that sense, it might be better if you don't want to mess with libraries - or if they don't exist. Then again, adding libraries to a LÖVE project is so incredibly easy (and monkey patching is a fine practice imho), so there is little to lose in starting small and adding up what you need.

Would I mind if LÖVE had pathfinding, camera management and whatnot by default? Nope, I probably would like it, simplifies a few things. But I also like being able to easily add and remove what I like and what I don't. This freedom has a cost but is one I'm glad to pay. I also know that the bigger that LÖVE gets, the harder it can get to maintain and improve it. I'd rather have an extremely solid, well documented framework than a very broad yet poorly documented engine.

PS: Maybe someday I'll do like Leafo and create a language that compiles to Lua.
PPS: If you have the time and the will, learn both languages. You will be a better programmer for it