Chapter Review

Now that we’ve looked at the many languages and several authoring tools, you are probably wanting an answer to “which language or tool should I use?” Unfortunately, there is not a single solution that will work in every instance.

Assembly is by far the fastest language available, but it is probably not a good solution for a complete game. C and C++ are the most common languages used by game programmers, although they may not be the best choice for beginners. Visual Basic is definitely making headway as a game development solution, but it is currently limited to the Windows OS. Lastly, there are several authoring tools, Java and Delphi, that you can consider, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

With all of this information in mind, you are probably in a better position to determine the language or authoring tool that will best suit your needs. For example, C++ might be a great choice for a heavily used multiuser 3D game but is probably not the best choice for a card game like Poker. Therefore, it’s often easiest to determine which language best fits into the type of game you are working on rather than the other way around.