Feedback request for a Qt-based game engine featuring QML & Cocos2D

[feldifux]

Hi,

I’m Chris and I would love to hear your feedback on a really exciting project I have been working on: The V-Play Game Engine

So what was the intention for it, and why do I post it here in the game dev forum?

Well, first of all, I really LOVE game development – in the last decade I’ve used many different game engines, written all kinds of game systems like rendering, physics or particles in various programming languages and, of course, made a game demo with each technology ;)

And one day, I had a look into QML: I was fascinated how easy and fast it is to create applications with this technology, thanks to the declarative approach and JavaScript. And you still have the possibility to use the full C++ Qt library or existing native source code for performance-critical tasks, and then easily provide the API of your systems and components for QML.

That got me thinking: How cool would it be, to use QML as the front end for an underlying, fully equipped game engine? So that is exactly what V-Play is about :)

We have created a C++-based engine with QML components for all parts of game development: sprite animations, physics, particles, audio, and AI. Additionally, at creation of our games we had many issues, like audio working on all platforms, easy-to-use multi-touch and support for different screen sizes and aspect ratios to name a few. We managed to solve these issues, and they are now available as QML components in the engine.

So with V-Play, you can create a 2D game with a single code base for the desktop platforms, and for the mobile ones Symbian & MeeGo – AND, as well for Android and iOS!

Yes that’s right, your game is also available for Android and iOS. We do, however, have a different approach than the existing Necessitas and Qt4iOS projects: At games very specifically, performance is a key factor for user engagement, thus it was clear to us that we need to reach the maximum 60 fps on all platforms we support! As we had a look at the performance of QGraphicsView-based rendering on iOS & Android, we were disappointed that this aim was not achievable at all, even with the easiest game scenes. So we bit the bullet and changed the rendering system completely. Actually, QML is only used for the game logic , whereas for rendering we bet on a modified & optimized version of Cocos2D. Thus you get the combined power of both: an amazing rendering performance with Cocos2D, along with the great features of QML including combinable properties and the signal&slot concept, the great Qt Creator IDE and JavaScript support.

What makes that even easier for you as existing QML developers, is that the API of the visual elements like Image or Rectangle are exactly the same with our Cocos2D-based renderer. So in other words: You don’t even need to change your existing QML code but simply can run it with V-Play and enjoy the performance benefits on all platforms including iOS and Android!

V-Play is available now as a beta on "http://v-play.net/en":http://v-play.net/en – so if you’re interested just download the engine SDK including examples, demos and documentation in Qt-fashion, and publish your game for all platforms.

I would love to hear your thoughts about my vision: easy game development with QML for all platforms, in no time

Cheers,
Chris

[leon.anavi]

Thanks for bringing V-Play. Sounds like a great tool for game dev!

Although I am not a game developer I voted for MeeGo. I know it is the least commercial platform compared to all others but I am keen on it and I still hope it will have future.

[feldifux]

yep, I like it too - I think we have to hope for Jolla to keep and grow the MeeGo spirit

[MichK]

Hi,
I am not experienced game developer but engine description is very promising, and I think it is very good idea.

Could you tell me will it be possible to mix QML and c++ or only QML?
Will it be possible to use box2d :)??

[feldifux]

Hi,
it is absolutely possible to mix QML & C++, already with the current SDK!
@Box2D: Our physics system is using Box2D, so you get the Box2D functionality with QML ;)

[MichK]

Thanks, this sounds very interesting :)

[feldifux]

I'm glad you like it :)

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask them here or in the V-Play forums

[TobbY]

wont able to download SDK, it says access not available. :(

[feldifux]

Hi TobbY,

which platform are you on?

Does the "access not available" message appear in the Qt SDK Maintenance tool, after you entered the repository from the installation guide in the beta area, or somewhere else?

[feldifux]

Alright, together with TobbY we figured out what the issue was: Please remember that the SDK is only downloadable via the Qt SDK Maintenance tool - just add the repository for your operating system as described in the installation guide "here":http://v-play.net/beta-area/installation-guide/ (only available when you registered as a beta user). This has the advantage, that you can easily update to the latest engine version and get notified within QtCreator about any updates. Additionally, you can select the SDK components as you like (Game Examples, Project Templates, Documentation, Symbian and Meego platform support) and thus only download the ones you are interested in.

cheers,
Chris

[adrz1]

Nice, i will check the Project, is it open source or commercial? i am very interested. thanks

[feldifux]

Hi,
the components that are implemented in QML are open source and come as part of the engine SDK.

Our accelerated renderer is closed source at the moment, but we will provide different licenses in the future where one of them includes the source code access.

best regards,
Chris