ImpactJS vs Polycode

ImpactJS has an active user community that busily produces tremendous resources including videos, books, tutorials, walkthroughs and more. There are also comprehensive class documentation available.

Impact provides 2 types of collision detection; static and dynamic collisions. Both of which are easily integrated into game development.

Many plugins are available, including one called Impact++ which adds features like pathfinding and dynamic lighting.

Built-in map editor with support for tiling, collision layers, and actors.

Works with Box2d physics library, comes with all worthwhile elements for actors built in.

Extending the reach of a game developed with ImpactJS is easy due to the cross-platform nature the framework. There are Considerations around performance, resolution and audio, however all can be appropriately addressed when in development. Works in the browser via Canvas, even on mobile. Easily translatable into a packaged app.

Polycode uses Lua and C++ to create native applications for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Mobile platforms are planned for the future.

Polycode is free and open source (released under the MIT license). The source code is freely available on GitHub.

Recently, the editor and its integrated tools have been released in compiled form. Features coding and scene editing in one application.

Polycode is distributed in a C++ form as well as with IDE. And there's an additional LUA-based scripting system.