Comparison of Blitzmax + MiniB3D with Blitz3d

BlitzMax Forums/MiniB3D Module/Comparison of Blitzmax + MiniB3D with Blitz3d

Amanda Dearheart(Posted 2008) [#1]
I'm looking for advice on how BlitzMax with Minib3d compares with Blitz3d.

I already know that BlitzMax supports DX9 while Blitz3d only supports DX7.

How are the commands different?
How are the variables different?
Is the syntax different?
Do you use braces ({} as in C++) for functions or (Begin/End as in Pascal) or max's own construct.

Things of that nature is what I'm looking for.


Sledge(Posted 2008) [#2]
MiniB3D uses OpenGL; Out of the box Max2D can use either OpenGL or DirectX7. Max supports DX9 only insofar as it supports everything you have the time and energy to provide an interface for -- there's at least one wrapper flailing around, although the Irrlicht module probably provides a better path into DX9 (along with Truvision, maybe -- not sure which graphics API that one uses) than rolling your own.

MiniB3D, as its name implies, is B3D with a bit of the air let out -- most of the main features are present and correct, however, and it was developed for a commercial port (I believe) so it's a fairly sound choice if you want to ship something. You don't get image buffers and this means that, on weaker hardware, some of the things you might have attempted in order to circumvent the absence of shaders are problematic to achieve, but I really can't say I've missed very much else. It's familiar, seemingly reliable and you can get stuff up and running very quickly indeed.

For syntax questions there's tons of code to inspect on the forums and a demo. Have a look, but the main difference comes from Max's object oriented paradigm so you have a choice of idioms -- 'ClearList myList' or 'myList.Clear() for example. SuperStrict mode will ensure that you write code that is far more explicit than you will have written in B3D. Other than that, Max code will look highly familiar to you and you shouldn't have too much trouble making the transition --- it's not a pig-ugly C-alike.


xlsior(Posted 2008) [#3]
I already know that BlitzMax supports DX9 while Blitz3d only supports DX7.


Unofficially, yes -- there's a (free) 3rd party module.