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doc: add CMake macros documentation
author David Demelier <markand@malikania.fr>
date Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:54:59 +0100
parents d47e70da760e
children 19782ea1cf4a
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1 # FAQ
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2
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3 Frequently asked questions about the development.
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4
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5 ## Why not creating a game engine?
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6
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7 Game engines are usually too generic, too complex and do too much things. Lots
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8 of them also use scripting language which require another learning curve to be
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9 used.
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10
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11 Molko's Adventure is a solo tactical 2D RPG and its core is especially designed
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12 for that gameplay. Thus the code stay simple to understand and to follow.
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13 Coupling a general purpose game engine with a game design is sometimes more
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14 complicated than writing small code.
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15
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16 However, game engines are still interesting for people who already know how to
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17 use them and feel confident with them.
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18
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19 ## Why no prefix like "ma_" or "MA_"?
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20
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21 See also question above.
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22
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23 The purpose of Molko's Adventure is not to provide a drop-in reusable library
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24 to create RPG games. It is highly coupled with the gameplay of the original
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25 game. Thus we wanted to keep the codebase extremely simple and minimalist
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26 without adding bunch of generics.
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27
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28 The core API isn't meant to be installed system wide (possible, but not
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29 recommended), instead users are encouraged to copy the core code and to adapt
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30 to their gameplay.
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31
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32 A simple example: if someone wants to create a game and would like to allow
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33 only three playable entities at a time, it should simply edit appropriates
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34 structures and everything is adapted. Then, structures and array can stay
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35 static without dynamic allocations.
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36
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37 Also, having a large amount of different data types, this would generate very
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38 large function and type names.
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39
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40 But if there is a high demand of having a proper independant library, it may
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41 change in the future.
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42
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43 ## Why C?
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44
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45 C is an awesome language. It still has its place in the industry especially in
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46 low-level, kernel and game design.
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47
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48 Games are usually designed without OO in mind using simple procedural codes and
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49 lots of data. In C, writing code makes easier to understand what's happening
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50 under the hood without having to check if functions will generate dynamic
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51 allocations or not.
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52
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53 However, we also love modernity and as such, C11 is the minimal requirement to
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54 build and run Molko's Adventure.
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55
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56 ## Can I make a MMORPG with that?
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57
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58 Not easily.
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59
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60 This core API is really tied to a unique solo RPG adventure and therefore it
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61 does not separate logic from rendering.
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62
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63 Also, note that creating a server-client game is really different in terms of
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64 architecture than a local solo game. Most of the logic part is done server side
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65 and requires much more code to analyze to avoid cheats, lag, synchronisation and
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66 many other stuff than a local game does not require.
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67
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68 There are no plans to create a network oriented core API anytime soon.
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69
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70 ## What are these strange symbols `(+-*&?)` in member fields?
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71
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72 It's a custom notation to indicate ownership and user access.
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73
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74 See [ownership](ownership.md) file for more information.
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75
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76 ## Why not using RPG Maker instead?
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77
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78 RPG Maker is an indeed great piece of software, in fact it's even the original
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79 source of inspiration for writing Molko's Adventure.
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80
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81 However RPG Maker (in every versions) suffer from:
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82
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83 - Not opensource. RPG Maker is proprietary while Molko's Adventure is licensed
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84 under the very liberal [ISC][] license.
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85 - Per cell movements while Molko's Adventure provides per pixel granularity.
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86 This provides more interesting gameplay especially in dungeons.
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87 - Flexibility. Even though some RPG Maker variants provide Ruby programming,
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88 it's still based on GUI to design the game making less possibilities. Molko's
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89 Adventure API is a pure C library where you can do mostly what you want.
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90
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91 [ISC]: https://opensource.org/licenses/ISC