processing VS maxis-mesh-stuff

Would processing[0] be a good fit? It's designed to be easy to use and learn but powerful enough for professional use. Very quick to get cool stuff moving on a screen and the syntax is Java with a streamlined editing environment.

[0] https://processing.org/

Processing (P5) had this: you can select any string of text in its IDE anl search for it in the docs, and if it's one of the built-in functions or constants it will open the associated static html page that came installed with the software, so no internet nor server required. And despite being offline you can still navigate the docs too. This feels a lost basic skill in static site generation these days.

It was the only creative coding framework that had complete, offline documentation like that at the time I might add. OpenFrameworks is still mostly autogenerated stubs for example.

IMO it was one of the things that gave Processing an edge in educational contexts over all alternatives. I was pretty sad to see p5.js not fully continue that tradition and require that you go online to read the docs, and that it's not a static website but that text is rendered with javascript when you open it (still complete and with examples though).

https://processing.org/

https://p5js.org/

If you just want to learn some basics of game development and don't need fabulous performance, you can use the Processing (https://processing.org/) libraries with plain old Java.

> how do I get him learning programming in a fun way?

Processing / P5.js can be pretty fun to learn. You use a real programming language to create art and animations. With little code you can get a circle on the screen, then making it move, then following your mouse, then adding other shapes, then changing colour depending on some event… It’s conductive to experimentation and a way to gradually introduce concepts.

https://processing.org/

https://p5js.org/

https://thecodingtrain.com/

Also consider: C+SDL!, Raylib(C), Processing(Java), a bunch of game frameworks in python...

I started working on this a few years ago after figuring out how to run SimCopter and Streets of SimCity on modern versions of Windows using DxWnd (I was a big fan of SimCopter as a kid and played Streets as well). At the time, I found some existing documentation that covered the basics of the Maxis mesh format (see the Reference section of my docs on the Maxis mesh format) but was missing a number of details (e.g., texture mapping and the meaning of various values) that I had to figure out on my own.

It's available here: https://github.com/CahootsMalone/maxis-mesh-stuff/tree/master/Processing/maxis_mesh_viewer