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How practical would it be to use Cython as the primary programming language for a game?

I am a experienced Python programmer and I absolutely love it, but I'm admittedly a novice when it comes to game programming specifically. I know that typically Python is considered too slow to do any serious game programming, which is why Cython is interesting to me. With Cython I can use a Python-like language with the speed of C.

I understand that I'll probably need to learn a bit of C/C++ anyway, but it seems like Cython would speed up development time quite a bit in comparison.

So, is it practical? And would I still be able to use C/C++ libraries like OpenGL, OpenAL, and Bullet Physics?

Liam
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6 Answers6

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If you're working with a combination like that and your goal is to write a 3D game, you'd probably get better mileage out of a ready-made 3D engine with mature physics and audio bindings and a Python API like OGRE 3D or Panda3D. Even if you don't, this post about using Cython with Panda3D may be helpful.

I'm not sure about now, but back in 2007, the trade-off between the two was basically that:

  • Panda3D was better-documented and designed from the ground-up to be a C++ accelerated Python engine (apparently they made some API design decisions that don't occur to C++ engine projects) and, predictably, had a more mature Python API.
  • PyOgre was built on top of a much more advanced engine and had a larger and more vibrant community.

...however it's quite possible that may have changed, given that, passage of time aside, in 2007, Panda3D was still under a GPL-incompatible license and that drove off a lot of people. (Myself included)

ssokolow
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  • +1 for managing to give a potentially-useful answer to this question. I thought it was hopeless. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Nov 15 '10 at 02:10
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    As a note, Python-Ogre is now pretty much dead, especially since the website is completely gone :-( – Zauberin Stardreamer Apr 05 '14 at 00:30
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    Judging by the [Working with NumPy](https://ogrecave.github.io/ogre/api/latest/working-with-numpy.html) tutorial, Python-OGRE's website is dead because the Python bindings are now officially part of the OGRE 3D project itself. – ssokolow Jan 19 '22 at 16:39
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I'm the developer for the Ignifuga Game Engine, it's 2D oriented and Python/Cython/SDL based. What I generally do is develop the code in Python, and then profile the engine to see if there are some obvious bottlenecks (the main loop, the rendering code are good candidates), and convert those modules to Cython. I then run all the code (Python and Cython based) through Cython, and compile it statically against SDL. Another of Cython's big "pluses" is that binding to SDL, or any C based library, is almost trivial. Regarding threads, the engine is currently single threaded with cooperative multitasking via Greenlets, though this comes from a design decision to mitigate potential multi threaded pitfalls that unexperienced developers might fall into, rather than a limitation on Cython's part.

gabomdq
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  • hey, the link to the source code on the site is broken and the blog hasn't been updated for 10 months. I like to look of the poject as it would be great to pull in all the machine learning stuff in python into game dev. Greenlets sounds horrible but there is newer solutions to threading these days. Also with the possibility of the GIL being removed this could take off! – CpILL Dec 03 '21 at 01:25
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at this date (12th of April 2011) unixmab83 is wrong.

Cython doesn't forbid the use of threads, you just needs to use the no_gil special statements.

Beside the bindins of c++ is now functional in cython.

We do use it for something which is close to gamedev. So while I cannot be final on this, cython is a valid candidate.

LBarret
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I've found that a lot of the time, especially for larger libraries, you wind up spending a tremendous amount of time just configuring the Cython project to build, knowing which structures to import, bridging the C code into Python in either direction etc. While Cython is a nice stopgap (and significantly more pleasant than pure C/C++ development), the amount of C++ you'd have to learn to effectively use it basically means you're going to have to bite the bullet and learn C++ anyway.

How about PyGame?

Jason Scheirer
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I know Cython and you do not have to know C/C++. You will use static typing but very easy. The hardest part is to get the compiling working, I think on Windows this is done over visual studio thing. There is something like a standard library including math for example. The speed gain is not too big but this depends on your scope. ctypes was much faster (pure C) but the connection to Python was very slow so that i decided to look for Cython which can still be dynamic.

For speed gain in a game Cython will be the right choice but i would name this performance also limited.

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Threads!!! A good modern game must use threads. Cython practically forbids their use, holding to GIL (global interpreter lock) the entire time, making your code run in sequence.

If you are not writing a huge game, than Python/Cython is okay. But Cython is no good as a modern language without good thread support.

unixman83
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    If your code does not touch Python objects, you can release the GIL in nogil blocks. Functions can also be annotated as being "nogil". These days, Cython has native arrays, so you can do quite a lot without touching Python objects. – Wynand Winterbach Feb 11 '13 at 14:31