Choosing an engine - simulating old SMS/NES games

I believe that this link is quite relevant.

http://scientificnin...mes-not-engines

If you went with XNA, it comes with pretty much everything you would need to make a game like this right off the bat.

Other API's like SFML or SDL would be just as effective

I'm sorry, but I think you're misunderstanding my question. My question isn't what engine has what I want to use. It's the reverse, what engine is so basic you could barely make Mario with it.

I actually only have experience with XNA, and though it's nice and great fun, I don't think I'll ever be able to make a SMS type game out of that.

I was looking into SDL, which seems to be more in the way of what I'm looking for.

The again, perhaps my understanding of game engines is terribly flawed.

Thanks again

I'm sorry, but I think you're misunderstanding my question. My question isn't what engine has what I want to use. It's the reverse, what engine is so basic you could barely make Mario with it.

That's not what you asked. You asked:

Is there anything that would be a good choice still? Or should I create an engine from the grounds up.[/quote]

How could anyone read that and infer that you're looking for an "engine so basic you could barely make Mario with it"?

I know there are some really great people here on gamedev, but I don't think any of them can read minds (at least not yet).

Anyway:

If you have very specific game engine requirements (and it seems like you do), you'll probably have to make your own, specifically for your game.

The SDL library could be used to great effect in this case.

Another very basic 2D engine is the Gadged2D engine(http://roswellgames.com/gadget2d/). It has everything you need to make a 2D old school game like that and you can always add more features if you are up for it.

I actually only have experience with XNA, and though it's nice and great fun, I don't think I'll ever be able to make a SMS type game out of that.

Out of curiousity, why do you feel you could never make a retro game using XNA?

XNA is just a framework, not an engine. In fact, I'm currently working on an entirely "ASCII mode" video game system using XNA, which is about as retro as it gets, so I'm sure something like NES could be done.

[quote name='Chromanin' timestamp='1337552836' post='4941749']
I actually only have experience with XNA, and though it's nice and great fun, I don't think I'll ever be able to make a SMS type game out of that.

Out of curiousity, why do you feel you could never make a retro game using XNA?

XNA is just a framework, not an engine. In fact, I'm currently working on an entirely "ASCII mode" video game system using XNA, which is about as retro as it gets, so I'm sure something like NES could be done.
[/quote]

indeed, for a NES like game you can use any 3D engine/API that supports orthographic projection and no/nearest texture filtering (Which really is most of them)

indeed, for a NES like game you can use any 3D engine/API that supports orthographic projection and no/nearest texture filtering (Which really is most of them)

Agree with you completely. However, if you are JUST interested in the basic functionality then a simple 2D engine might actually be better. That way you will not get lost in the multitude of APIs that a 3D engine typically has especially if you are beginner. Also if you use a fullscale 3D engine then you probably will end up using only a minuscule of the functionality anyways.

On the other hand, if you are already familiar with the 3D engine, then it makes more sense to go along with that because it will actually save time.

Super, great, many thanks guys!!

Sorry for the confusion, my first post was missing a pretty important sentence saying I wasn't interested in an engine with too many options .

Will definitely take a look at Gadget2D. Might be exactly what I was looking for.