New Library: Hermes, a 2d game framework
in
Library and Tool Development
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9 months ago
Hi all, I'd like to announce a new Processing library.
Hermes is a 2d game framework designed for rapid prototyping of unique and experimental games.
Our homepage:
http://rdlester.github.com/hermes/
Source is on Github:
https://github.com/rdlester/hermes/
The library thinks of a game as a universe, consisting of worlds, beings, and interactions. Each piece is an easy-to-use block to which you, the game creator, simply need to add the rules defining your game. Once you've provided these rules, Hermes will bring the various worlds you've defined to life with little to no extra input. We've also provided a number of additional features, such as Physics, Animation, and OSC networking, that you can use in your game.
If you have experience with other game design tools, you might think of Hermes as occupying a middle-ground. It doesn't hide code like Game Maker or Stencyl. However, it is much more structured than libraries like Flixel, Allegro or Cocos2d; it takes care of several essential functions (the game loop, separation of graphics & update threads, etc), provides unique and helpful tools (user input, animations, physics) and offers a structured framework to help keep your game logic clean and ordered. We've also worked to make our library easier to work with, understand, read, and comprehend than other game libraries we've worked with in the past.
While it is incredibly easy to create prototypes and sketches in Hermes, the design philosophies making this possible come at the cost of high performance. Hermes is not meant for resource-intensive or performance-dependent games. Of course, if these are your goals, you should probably be writing in a language like C++ instead of Processing anyways.
All comments and feedback are appreciated!
