-1

C++\DX\OpenGL is the best bet for creating video games and game engines.

Will C++ mantain its spot as the industry standard in the future?

Vaillancourt
  • 16,325
  • 17
  • 55
  • 61
user73830
  • 181
  • 4
  • 1
    Technology doesn't just "go away". C++ has had a significant impact on gaming technologies, and general software development. I doubt it will go anywhere, look at C for physical evidence. – miguel.martin Jan 12 '13 at 06:45
  • 2
    Maybe should be migrated to soothsaying.SE. – Trevor Powell Jan 12 '13 at 07:19
  • Not only is it a bad question, it's a bad question that's been asked before: http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/37361/will-c-remain-viable-for-game-engines-in-somewhat-distant-future – House Jan 12 '13 at 07:52
  • 1
    @mlvljr My little ideas :) – user73830 Jan 12 '13 at 09:30
  • Dupe: http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/38011/why-is-c-used-for-game-engines-how-about-its-future-in-game-engines – Laurent Couvidou Jan 12 '13 at 10:33
  • Another one: http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/37361/will-c-remain-viable-for-game-engines-in-somewhat-distant-future – Laurent Couvidou Jan 12 '13 at 10:33

2 Answers2

5

First: Game Industry is moving really, really slow. It's a huge (financial sense) industry, so there are always many people against everything which is new/unknown/maybe smarter than them and/or no competitor uses it and/or no projects are known which were successful using this new stuff. some kind of catch-22.

Second: Performance matters. Way (!) more than in other development areas. So, a possible successor of C++ must be at least as fast as C++. Also, to compensate the massive amount of RAD-Tools for C++ Game development, the new thing must boost productivity as much as ruby/rails did in in the web-development world.

Third: crossplatform. In the last months, Microsoft lost credit in every area. Blizzard doesn't like Windows 8. Steam moves in giant steps to Linux, in collaboration with eg.: nVidia, the new Steambox will run on top of Linux. Microsoft even started dropping development of some of their core technologies, starting with Silverlight. The amount of OS X Users increases steadily. And in the future, the biggest selling points will probably be the tablet/"smart"phone-market. In this cluttered market you have many Operation Systems and derivates to handle simultanly. C++ is quite nice for crossplatform development, since it "just" needs a compiler on/for the target system.

So: "the next big thing" is not here today. C++ just works fine. The next thing has to fulfill all the 3 points above and must be somewhat different from C++, because people don't switch just for a small gain (development/re-learning time matters, too).

Maximilian Stroh
  • 166
  • 4
  • C++ is really not that cross-plattform compared to other programming languages like Java. Sure, the C++ standard library runs everywhere, but to do something useful like graphics, audio or mouse input, you need to use the APIs of the operating system, which are different on each plattform. When C++ would really be that cross-plattform, we would have more AAA titles for Linux and Mac. – Philipp Jan 12 '13 at 12:09
  • 2
    That's correct mostly. But the absolutely main reason for this is, that many developers use DirectX instead of openGL. Therefore they have to stick with having windows consumers only. That said, C++ is currently crossplatform enough. Time will tell what will happen. – Maximilian Stroh Jan 12 '13 at 12:47
-6

Hell Yep, Buddy!!

(now fire up your MS VS!!)

:)

mlvljr
  • 101
  • 4