Considering to upgrade to 4.0 - is it worth it?

cocos2d-x C++
#1

Hi there,
I am currently planning to upgrade from 3.17 to 4.0 for my iOS/Android game currently in development. The main reason behind it is metal support offered by 4.0.

However I am unsure because:

  • Does 4.0 support SDK box already? I am currently using this and like it a lot.
  • Is 4.0 stable?
  • How long will Apple accept games using openGL?

Could somebody help me with my decision?

All the best,
Rambazamba

#2

Yes, SDKBOX 2.6.0.1 has support for v4.

I’m currently writing a game using v4 and I seem to be doing well. My play testing isn’t crashing thus far.

Only Apple knows this. Currently OpenGL is deprecated. Apple seems to have a longer track record of “deprecating but not immediately removing”.

I have two older apps that someday I need to update, but for now they work great still. They are using API calls that Apple deprecated in 2012 and in some cases 2006.

v4 is a bit slower than v3 in rendering. Can your game handle it? I don’t think you will even notice from the games I have moved from v3 to v4. They feel exactly the same.
Make sure you play test a lot.

#3

How come v4 is rendering slower than v3 given a supposed to be more powerful Metal APIs? That should not happen in a major version.

#4

Thanks for you answers @slackmoehrle - was really helpfull.
I will try to update in the next weeks. I do a lot of custom drawing in my current Game - lets see if performance is an issuer there