I’m a fan of game development paradigm where the entire game can be written in code, just like on Blitz3D and Raylib. At the same time, I admire the power of modern game engine editors such as Godot where you can design a map or UI in the editor instead of doing it by code.
What if you can get the best of both worlds and also be able to write your game in BASIC syntax and have a performance of C? Welcome to BlitzGD, an open source middleware for both beginners and advanced developers. The name BlitzGD is a tribute to Mark Sibly the creator of Blitz3D who passed away in 2024.
BlitzGD features a programming language that I also created: the Cp1 programming language (see the Cp1 Website). This programming language have a Standard Syntax mode where you use curly braces and semicolons, and also have a Basic Syntax mode where you don’t have to. The language compiles to C and each line you code is translated 1:1 without runtime overhead.
Here’s the files for the “Starter Kit 3D Platformer” ported to BlitzGD: http://bit.ly/4kqBjsP
Here’s how the code looks like:
Questions and Answers:
- Why this project is created?
– I created this project because I want a tool I can use to write my own games and to also have a project that I can share and grow with the open source community. - What is the status of the project?
– The project is currently in proof of concept. The project is 3 days old. - Is there a website for this project?
– Not yet. For now, refer to this forum post as the primary source of information and files for BlitzGD. - Is it true that I get the performance of C with the BASIC syntax?
– Yes, it’s 100% true. It is as if you’re writing in C. Plus, you also add some protection in your code because it is in unreadable form since it is compiled to a .dll in Windows. - What is the size of the compiled .dll?
– The screenshots of code above is compiled to a .dll of 16KB - Is there a build option where there’s no .dll at all?
– In the future, yes there will be and that requires building Godot from source together with the codes you’ve written. - What operating systems are supported?
– Windows. I’ll port this to other platforms if there’s enough interest for it. - What text editors I can use to edit Cp1 codes with syntax highlighting?
– Currently, only Sublime Text have syntax highlighting. The files of the “Starter Kit 3D Platformer” attached above contains a folder that you can put to Sublime Text to enable syntax highlighting of Cp1 codes. - Where I can download BlitzGD?
– Currently, you can only download the files of the “Starter Kit 3D Platformer” attached above. Once I got this project out of proof of concept stage, there will be a downloadable file that you can use to make games.
Feel free to ask any questions!