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Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

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Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#3
I've been wondering about this for some time, that how there really isn't a language that's made from the ground up just for coding gameplay logic.

Like we have SQL for databases, Julia etc for maths etc, but gamedevs still have to plod along in general-purpose languages with archaic conventions established 50 years ago by people who had nothing to do with games.

I'd love something with the syntax of GDScript and the features of Swift, with special constructs just for gameplay logic, which is often a hybrid between inheritance and composition, static and dynamic, declarative and imperative.

I've been toying with what would be the ideal syntax (for me), but I don't have the brains to actually make a language :')

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#4
post #3

I've been wondering about this for some time, that how there really isn't a language that's made from the ground up just for coding gameplay logic. Like we have SQL for databases, Julia etc for maths etc, but gamedevs still have to plod along in general-purpose languages with archaic conventions established 50 years ago by people who had nothing to do with games. I'd love something with the syntax of GDScript and the…

SQL is deterministic. Julia is deterministic. Gameplay is not deterministic. Constraints are arbitrary and there are no rules.

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#5
post #3

I've been wondering about this for some time, that how there really isn't a language that's made from the ground up just for coding gameplay logic. Like we have SQL for databases, Julia etc for maths etc, but gamedevs still have to plod along in general-purpose languages with archaic conventions established 50 years ago by people who had nothing to do with games. I'd love something with the syntax of GDScript and the…

SQL is deterministic. Julia is deterministic. Gameplay is not deterministic. Constraints are arbitrary and there are no rules.

I think magic the gathering set a pretty good standard.

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#6
post #3

I've been wondering about this for some time, that how there really isn't a language that's made from the ground up just for coding gameplay logic. Like we have SQL for databases, Julia etc for maths etc, but gamedevs still have to plod along in general-purpose languages with archaic conventions established 50 years ago by people who had nothing to do with games. I'd love something with the syntax of GDScript and the…

Well, if you’re interested in text-based games, there have been custom languages for a long time.

https://www.linusakesson.net/dialog/craverly/craverly_side_b...

Also LPC for muds, although that definitely wasn’t built from the ground up.

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#8
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SQL is deterministic. Julia is deterministic. Gameplay is not deterministic. Constraints are arbitrary and there are no rules.

I think magic the gathering set a pretty good standard.

For Magic the gathering, sure. Not for Eve-Online. Not for Counter-Strike. Not for World of Warcraft. Not for Minecraft. Games are too diverse to limit yourself to a DDL.

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#9
post #3

I've been wondering about this for some time, that how there really isn't a language that's made from the ground up just for coding gameplay logic. Like we have SQL for databases, Julia etc for maths etc, but gamedevs still have to plod along in general-purpose languages with archaic conventions established 50 years ago by people who had nothing to do with games. I'd love something with the syntax of GDScript and the…

There is OpenGOAL[1]. A re-implementation of the language that Naughty Dog used to created Jak and Daxter.

[1] https://opengoal.dev/

Re: Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it

#10
I have been doing something minor - not full language - but I am working on a couple DSLs for my game engine. The games themselves are interpreted by my engine console - then transpiled to webgl and JavaScript.

The DSL is for cutscenes and scripting dialogues and movements and transitions.

The idea was to have a screenplay like language that would run in my game engine so I can write the scenes like a script instead of like code.

Then I am using a LUA like subset for the core game logic.

I don’t think I would want to have the entire thing written in a custom language though, as that seems unnecessary

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