Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

I'm looking to do some game programming for the palm - something along
the lines of games like Aggression (Risk), Settlers of Cataan,
Monopoly, etc...not those actual games, of course, but that gives you
an idea.

I know some C...but would like something a little simpler. I have a
long background in Perl and Python, neither of which are available for
the Palm (not including Pippy).

I'm looking at the following environments...

- CASL. Seems the most polished, it's been around a long time, and the
support, docs, etc. seem great. However, it seems oriented towards the
ISV market - filling out forms, interacting with databases, etc. Sort
of like Pendragon or Satellite (er, Intellisync). I've seen some games
done with it...and since we're not talking action arcade stuff, this
might fit the bill....? I'd be looking at CASLpro.

- NSBasic. Haven't played with this one as much. The man draw is that
it's more of a general purpose language than a forms-oriented package
like CASL. Last I checked it's still p-code and significantly slower
than CASLpro. One small bonus is that while today I don't anticipate
doing any Windows desktop apps, this is a potential route to go, though
I don't know if NS/Desktop can conduit to NS/Palm. Although I'm
working on games at the moment, I have some ideas kicking around for
desktop + palm setups...hmmm...

- HB++. Quite a jump in price...about $650 (USD). Compiles down to
native code, which is a bonus for speed. But double the cost of the
most expensive alternative.

- PocketC. I own this, though not the desktop IDE. Last time I played
with it a couple years ago it really wasn't up for full-bore
apps...maybe it's improved...there's "OrbWorks Form Designer" from the
same people. (If I was going to go the C route, though, I'd get the
Palm Eclipse setup or CodeWarrior).

....and a few others. I don't work in VisualBasic, so AppForge isn't
that attractive to me. High Speed PASCAL seems to have run aground
support-wise.

One thing that bothers me about all of these systems is that there
doesn't seem to be any cool games made with them out there...probably a
function of their target market being ISVs.
Any recommendations? thanks,

-AF

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Hi AF,

I'd recommend SuperWaba, a free Java-like programming environment for
Palm OS and Pocket PC. It has strong support for gaming as well as
dynamic forms. If you already know Java, using SW will be easy, and if
not it's a good language to be familiar with.

http://www.superwaba.com.br/en/default.asp

I've used SuperWaba for several of my projects and found it to be
superior to every other environment I've tried.
(Now if only I could figure out how to port Ruby to Palm...

Craig

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

survivalist@gmail.com wrote:
> I'm looking to do some game programming for the palm - something
along
> the lines of games like Aggression (Risk), Settlers of Cataan,
> Monopoly, etc...not those actual games, of course, but that gives you
> an idea.
>
> I know some C...but would like something a little simpler. I have a
> long background in Perl and Python, neither of which are available
for
> the Palm (not including Pippy).
>
> I'm looking at the following environments...
>
> - CASL. Seems the most polished, it's been around a long time, and
the
> support, docs, etc. seem great. However, it seems oriented towards
the
> ISV market - filling out forms, interacting with databases, etc.
Sort
> of like Pendragon or Satellite (er, Intellisync). I've seen some
games
> done with it...and since we're not talking action arcade stuff, this
> might fit the bill....? I'd be looking at CASLpro.
>
> - NSBasic. Haven't played with this one as much. The man draw is
that
> it's more of a general purpose language than a forms-oriented package
> like CASL. Last I checked it's still p-code and significantly slower
> than CASLpro. One small bonus is that while today I don't anticipate
> doing any Windows desktop apps, this is a potential route to go,
though
> I don't know if NS/Desktop can conduit to NS/Palm. Although I'm
> working on games at the moment, I have some ideas kicking around for
> desktop + palm setups...hmmm...
>
> - HB++. Quite a jump in price...about $650 (USD). Compiles down to
> native code, which is a bonus for speed. But double the cost of the
> most expensive alternative.
>
> - PocketC. I own this, though not the desktop IDE. Last time I
played
> with it a couple years ago it really wasn't up for full-bore
> apps...maybe it's improved...there's "OrbWorks Form Designer" from
the
> same people. (If I was going to go the C route, though, I'd get the
> Palm Eclipse setup or CodeWarrior).
>
> ...and a few others. I don't work in VisualBasic, so AppForge isn't
> that attractive to me. High Speed PASCAL seems to have run aground
> support-wise.
>
> One thing that bothers me about all of these systems is that there
> doesn't seem to be any cool games made with them out there...probably
a
> function of their target market being ISVs.
> Any recommendations? thanks,
>
> -AF

Hi AF,
I think CASL would be a great choice for the work you are looking to
do. CASL does have the ability to allow you to create powerful games.
The team at Wagware have created some excellent applications with CASL
such as Snurps, Snail Racer and Family Bingo, check them out at
www.wagware.com. Also check out the CASL gaming tutorial at
http://www.caslsoft.com/egarbacz/gametutorial.html. CASL is much more
than a forms generated language you can create just about any kind of
application with CASL at speeds comparable to those written natively.
With CASLpro you can even write functions in C to squeeze even more
speed out. If you have any questions visit the CASL Support Board at
http://www.caslsoft.com/bbs/index.cgi or send an email to
support@caslsoft.com any time. Good luck with your search.

Ed
Live the Dream -- Turn ideas into PDA applications
CASL -- Compact Application Solution Language
A multiple - PDA development environment
Visit the CASLsoft web page: http://www.caslsoft.com