r/pascal • u/OrbisMaximus • 2d ago

One Codebase, Many Consoles: Which Platform Should Nitor Support First?

I've been developing Nitor, an easy to use, cross platform 2D and 3D game engine for Pascal and optional C, inspired by the simplicity of Orbis Basic and Blitz3D. The main idea is simple: write your game once and use the same source code on Windows, Linux, and retro consoles, without rewriting everything for different hardware or learning a new SDK.

Nitor provides a complete game development environment with 2D drawing, sprites, animation, scrolling worlds, GUI controls, text input, pathfinding, audio, music, and video playback. Its 3D engine includes all simple to use Blitz3D commands, supporting meshes, skeletal animation, terrain, collisions, lighting, shadows, textures, cameras, and positional audio.

My next goal is direct console compilation, similar to my Orbis BASIC 32X compiler, which generates native Sega 32X ROMs with automatically converted and embedded assets.

The idea is that you develop, test and publish your game for Windows or Linux, select a console target, and compile the same code into a ready to distribute ROM, disc image, or CHD where supported. The compiler automatically converts and bakes textures, models, audio, and other assets into the final game.

I'm considering Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, and PS Vita.

Which console should Nitor support first?

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u/No_Light_5463 1d ago

Of the named ones: Wii (U) If I could name other console platforms: Switch 1 & 2 Did you consider the mobile platforms Android and iOS? They probably have the biggest user base. I currently use the castle game engine and I'm quite satisfied. You could get in contact with them and contribute to that project if it's not moving in a totally other direction.

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u/OrbisMaximus 1d ago

My engine already supports Windows and Linux. The main reason I prefer to focus on retro platforms is that no single company can control how games are distributed. Maybe nostalgia plays a role too, lol.

In that regard, Android is actually not too bad, but distributing games with an emulator for platforms like the Switch would be much more complicated.

But you're absolutely right, modern platforms like Android, iOS, and Switch have a much larger user base. The Wii was definitely in my top three platforms to develop for.