Recommendations for top down game engines

[Shinobi Kenobi]

I have a lot of time on my hands now, so I thought it would be fun to make a simple top down game for System 7-9. There are a handful of game engines I found, such as Cold Stone, SCUMM, Unity, GameMaker, and various other tools to edit levels. But I was hoping to avoid having to try them all, and just ask for other people's experiences about what they would recommend.

The game I want to make would be top down, 2D, but being able to go in all 4 directions, instead of just left or right. I want to start out with just a simple action shooter game. This game won't be open world, in order to save me from having to make lots of maps and areas. It'll be linear, with some puzzle elements to figure out how to unlock doors, use certain items in special places, etc.

I'm familiar with Unreal Engine 4, but have never tried to make a game for Macintosh. Cold Stone looks good, but on the Garden, I read that it has problems, or isn't finished. I would hate to spend a hundred hours or more on something only for it to not work.

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[adespoton]

Ever tried HyperCard? I did a 2D top-down game in HyperCard in 1989. Once I figured out the techniques, it wasn't very difficult. You can even manage open world if you want, by programmatically generating the terrain, loading in sprites dynamically.

 

[Shinobi Kenobi]

Ever tried HyperCard? I did a 2D top-down game in HyperCard in 1989. Once I figured out the techniques, it wasn't very difficult. You can even manage open world if you want, by programmatically generating the terrain, loading in sprites dynamically.

I don't like HyperCard. The "stacks" or whatever the programs are called, are a small visual area, and black and white only (at least from what I saw). I'd prefer to stay far away from it. I'm sure it was convenient back in the '80s, but I don't understand the appeal of it.

 

[Phipli]

I don't like HyperCard. The "stacks" or whatever the programs are called, are a small visual area, and black and white only (at least from what I saw). I'd prefer to stay far away from it. I seriously don't know why anyone likes it.

Well, I mean, the stacks can be set to any size, and there is some colour support... But other than that...

I agree it isn't the best thing for your use case, but I suggest you re-visit it as a software prototyping tool and a fun thing for art projects on older Macs like compact macs.

Remember that, as everyone always says, Myst, one of the highest selling, colour, with video, games from the 90s was originally made in HyperCard

 

[Shinobi Kenobi]

Well, I mean, the stacks can be set to any size, and there is some colour support... But other than that...

I agree it isn't the best thing for your use case, but I suggest you re-visit it as a software prototyping tool and a fun thing for art projects on older Macs like compact macs.

Remember that, as everyone always says, Myst, one of the highest selling, colour, with video, games from the 90s was originally made in HyperCard

That's interesting; I never knew that about Myst. It was one of, or probably the first game I got for my first PC. However, I quickly lost interest in it. But I might go back and play it sometime just for nostalgia. But first, I'd have to find it.

By "originally", do you mean it was rewritten?

I also didn't know you could use color in HC; that's cool - I've seen more than a handful of apps for it, but they were always in b&w. I also didn't know you could make the window larger. That's also good to know. In that case, I'll plan on giving it a second look.

I just found this tutorial. Apparently at that university, they required you to learn how to develop with it in order to get a master's degree in education. I wonder if any of my teachers developed with it. My school (elementary, junior high & high school) had only Macintosh computers.

Correction: I think that guy just did his thesis on HyperCard.

 

[lobust]

What about SAT - Sprite Animation Toolkit by Ingemar Ragnemalm?

sprite animation toolkit (1992-1999)

Ingemar Ragnemalm first released the Sprite Animation Toolkit (SAT) in 1992. “I have always liked to make computer games,” Ingemar wrote in the SAT manual. “It has been one of my hobbies since the late 70’s. When I started using Macs, of course I wanted to make some games for it too.” After...

devnonsense.com

Used in lots of 2d shareware games in the '90's. It was my first foray into C programming as a teenager - after spending a week or two of late nights downloading a pirate copy of codewarrior over dial-up from some hotline server...

 

[Phipli]

By "originally", do you mean it was rewritten?

Yes, later versions used something else. I forget the specifics - I think Wikipedia discusses it.

HyperCard didn't exist for windows.

 

[Shinobi Kenobi]

What about SAT - Sprite Animation Toolkit by Ingemar Ragnemalm?

sprite animation toolkit (1992-1999)

Ingemar Ragnemalm first released the Sprite Animation Toolkit (SAT) in 1992. “I have always liked to make computer games,” Ingemar wrote in the SAT manual. “It has been one of my hobbies since the late 70’s. When I started using Macs, of course I wanted to make some games for it too.” After...

devnonsense.com

Used in lots of 2d shareware games in the '90's. It was my first foray into C programming as a teenager - after spending a week or two of late nights downloading a pirate copy of codewarrior over dial-up from some hotline server...

Awesome, thanks for that suggestion. I'll check it out!

HyperCard didn't exist for windows.

Oh, I knew that I meant was it rewritten for Mac?

 

[Phipli]

Oh, I knew that I meant was it rewritten for Mac?

Hum, now, I believe it was, but I don't have a source. Someone else can perhaps confirm.

I have a vague feeling they switched to MacriMedia Director, and if they did, that will have been capable of building PC and Mac versions with little additional work. As such, any updates would make sense to be based on that for both platforms so that you weren't doing work twice.

 

[Phipli]

*MacroMedia - sorry, fighting autocorrect as usual. No idea why it thinks an "i" is more likely, but it even did it again when I started the correction.