Free multi-platform development?
by Kit

Monday, September 13 2004

GameCocktail sponsors ClanLib Game SDK open source initiative.

While there are many open source initiatives gaining popularity in software industry, game developers have remarkably few free tools to help them. One lucky exception has been ClanLib Game SDK, often called "the Linux of game developers".

ClanLib is a medium level development kit. At its lowest level, it provides a platform independent (as much as that is possible in C++) way of dealing with display, sound, input, networking, files, threadding and such. On top of that, ClanLib builds a generic game development framework, giving game developers the easy handling ways of resources, network object replication, graphical user interfaces (GUI) with theme support, game scripting and more.

To the day, ClanLib has been used in almost fifty games (from arcade shooters to 3D race games) and that number is certain to grow. GameCocktail, a game distributior and publisher, became the official sponsor of ClanLib Game SDK open source initiative, providing much-needed funds to further develop it.

In addition, GameCocktail helps upstart companies to market their products, which includes placing games on promotional CDs, online sales and special publishing deals with larger distributors. Company representatives look at each game proposal, quickly giving straight "Yes" or "No" answer, and providing improvement suggestions, if necessary.

Statistics shows that out of thousands new titles released only 1% break 5000 sales mark. Majority of the games by newbie developers, even innovative and well-designed ones, don't stand a chance on the market unless they are backed up by an experienced publisher. GameCocktail offers a much more fair money sharing scheme then most publishers because the company has a network of websites to sell games through. New products are advertised through newsletter sponsorship, targeted campaigns and banner networks.

--- Kit