SDL 2.0 Release Improves 2D/3D Rendering, Better Audio & New Features

An anonymous reader writes "Simple DirectMedia Layer 2.0 has finally been released. The cross-platform multimedia layer used by hundreds of cross-platform games has seen its first major release in years. The SDL 2.0 release has many new features including GL3 and OpenGL ES rendering support, a new 2D rendering API, better full-screen / multi-window support, multiple input support, Android and iOS support, power management, and other new functionality. SDL 2.0 can be downloaded from libsdl.org."

Comments

Staticlinkable to closed software not a good thing

[rvalles]

With SDL 1.2, if there was a bug on SDL... or if in need to run the game on the new directfb/wayland/whatever frontend, updating SDL was enough.

With SDL 2 linked statically against some closed game... not so much.

Actually some pretty nice improvements

[gman003]

I've been reading through the improvements, and this actually seems like a big step forward for SDL. It's dropping antique crap like CD audio playing, moving towards a more modern GPU-focused system. They're not keeping old API bits around just for compatibility, but none of these changes seem like change-for-the-sake-of-change. I'm particularly interested in the OpenGL 3.0 stuff - getting a "modern" OpenGL context set up is a pain in twenty asses, and if they can simplify that, all the better.

Re:Installation Information

[Unknown Lamer]

Then.... write your own damn game library if you don't want to play nice.

The anti-copyleft trend in the "open source" world has been awful. Possibly because the kids these days don't remember how awful it was before there was Free Software for basically any task you needed. But they'll know soon enough...