When comparing BlitzMax vs Flixel, the Slant community recommends Flixel for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D game engines?” Flixel is ranked 20th while BlitzMax is ranked 52nd. The most important reason people chose Flixel is:
Ports are available for Objective C, C# (XNA), HaXe and [Monkey X](https://github.com/devolonter/flixel-monkey).
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Multi target
You can compile on Windows, Mac and Linux. Nothing to change. There are solutions to compile on the same machine for 2 targets.
Pro Modular
There are many modules to extend the features of the language: you can create PDF (via a Cairo module), or just download/upload files (via LibCurl), playing streaming sound (via BASS) and so on (databases, xml, xls...) User can create their own module (they could be written in plain BlitzMax)
Pro Easy syntax
Based on BASIC syntax. Supports OOP, collections (array, list and map)
Pro Stable language and source code
After many years the language it self is very stable. The packages contains the source code of ALL modules (excluding the source of the compiler).
Pro Easy to start, high productivity
BlitzMax is just ready after the installation. Open the IDE, write your code and just press F5 to see the results. You don't need to install other things to use the language. Of course if you want to change the language itself - or modules - you need to install MinGW or other libs, but guidelines are provided and easy to follow.
Pro Fast compiler
With comparison to the some of the other languages Blitzmax compiles source files fast enough.
Pro Compiles to native code
Good performance thanks to native code on each of the target platforms.
Pro Garbage collected language
The language is garbage collected in two modes: reference counting or using the Boehm-Demers-Weiser conservative garbage collector.
Pro GUI for apps
BlitzMax provides the MaxGUI modules that allow to build GUI desktop applications for Windows, Mac and Linux (FLTK or GTK via a module). You also could create your own 'gadgets'.
Pro Great community support
the forum is plenty of examples and solutions! Community is strong and still working, available for getting an hand
Pro BLIde
BLIde is an integrated development environment for Blitz Max, designed to work very close to the project file management performed by BlitzMax engine.
It’s inspired by the .NET IDE and some other great tools, It’s been designed for hobbyist and professional coders.
Pro Many ports available
Ports are available for Objective C, C# (XNA), HaXe and Monkey X.
Pro Built-in pathfinding and following
Pathfinding just means figuring out how to (or if you can) get from A to B. FlxTilemap has a function FlxTilemap.findPath() which returns a FlxPath object, which is just a collection of "nodes", or FlxPoint objects.
Pro Camera system for split screen
Create effects like "split screen" views, or "picture in picture" style displays, or even mini-maps with FlxCamera. Each camera is an independent display object, with its own zoom, color tint, rotation, and scaling values.
Pro Record and play back replays
Replays are essentially a list of what keyboard keys were pressed, and what mouse inputs were given, during a specific time frame. Because Flixel is largely deterministic, you can use that information to recreate a gameplay session that someone else recorded, as long as you have the same SWF.
Pro Basic features provide a solid foundation
- Display thousands of moving objects
- Basic collisions between objects
- Group objects together for simplicity
- Easily generate and emit particles
- Create game levels using tilemaps
- Text display, save games, scrolling
- Mouse & keyboard input
- Math & color utilities
Pro Flixel Power Tools extend the functionality
Flixel Power Tools provide a set of classes and APIs that provide more functionality.
Pro Used to create Canabalt, game that started endless runner genre
Cons
Con Outdated and abandoned
The author neglected BlitzMax and works on Monkey2.
Con No mobile targets
Only desktop targets available: Windows, MacOS, Linux.
Con It is now obsolete
With Adobe Flash dead, Flixel is now unworkable.
Con Development has stopped
Seems like development for Flixel has stopped. The last commit on all of the branches of it's Github repository are from 2011.