| People sometimes ask how Sludge compares with AGS. I just spent a few weeks porting my game across to AGS so thought I'd give my two cents. To cut to the chase, I recommend Sludge for normal sized games. AGS is better for tiny games for complete beginners (it's more user friendly at the very start) and for very large games (because of the Sludge memory leak). For intermediate games (i.e. most games that a serious user would make) I think Sludge has the edge. Maybe this is because I got used to the Sludge way of thinking, but here are the reasons. 1. Sludge is faster. Try making a high res game in both, and see the difference. 2. Global changes are easier in Sludge. Let's say you need to change something every time it happens in Sludge. You just load all the SLU files into a text editor and do a single global search and replace. Simple. But in AGS you often have to click on about five buttons on every screen. Very tedious. Experienced users can sometimes find indirect workarounds, but not always. 3. Antialiasing is usually better in Sludge. If you choose to smooth sprites in AGS (this refers to the software scaling in 2.72) they get an unwanted dark outline. This doesn't matter if you have outlines sprites on a mid-range background, but for white on white (like my game) it means antialiasing is unusable. This is fixed in the new beta version, but at the cost that it relies on DirectX so it strongly tied to Windows. See next point... 4. Sludge light maps are better. To get the same effect in AGS you need to run it in slow 32 bit color and make complicated alpha channels. In Sludge they just work. 5. Sludge files are usually smaller, due to using compressed sprites, sprite mirroring, 8 bit sprites, and compressed TGA format. 6. Sludge is easier to learn, for medium sized games: Simply because AGS is a far more complicated program, so it takes longer to become comfortable with all the parts. But AGS is much easier to learn for very simple games. Those are the major issues that hit me over the last few weeks. But in the interests of balance, AGS beats Sludge in the following ways: 1. AGS has more features. 2. AGS is easier for complete beginners. 3. AGS has more support - you can often get an answer to a question within a few minutes, and almost all problems can be solved eventually (though often at the cost of speed or being highly Windows-specific.) 4. AGS has been tested for longer. The memory issue with Sludge came right out of left field, but that kind of surprise is less likely with AGS since it has a hundred times more users. But please note that the memory leak is NOT a problem for normal sized games. The testing issue only matters if you plan to make a very unusual game, doing things that most people never do. Finally, I should mention cross-platform suport. At first it seems like AGS is the clear winner, but things are not as they seem. If you use AGS 2.7 and you avoid "plug-ins" then yes, AGS will run on Linux via a Linux runtime engine. In that one regard, AGS has better cross-platform support. And because of its bigger user base it may get additional support in the future. But in other regards Sludge is as good or better. Sludge is leaner and simpler so will always work well in emulation. But the latest version of AGS (3.0) will not run in Linux, and because it is more complex than Sludge I doubt if it would emulate well. Meanwhile, on the Mac there is an AGS runtime, but it has not been developed for a long time and should not be relied upon. So once again Sludge has the edge simply because it's leaner and simpler. In conclusion, Sludge is better for medium sized games if you want the features listed (speed, light maps, smooth scaling, etc.), and AGS is better if you want something very simple or very complex. However... if Tim released the source code and it got adopted by the ScummVM community, then the balance would change heavily in favor of Sludge: far more cross platform support and more stability, coupled with a larger user base resulting in more help for beginners and experts alike. Come on Tim, set Sludge free, you know it makes sense. :) |