@NathanMerrill don't avoid using new, just make sure you understand what it does and be careful to deallocate the memory later

@NathanMerrill Yeah, I'm really not a fan of the "Don't use new" rule that people like to harp on

On a somewhat related note, I've been wondering. What's the best way to store save data in a game? I was thinking something like encrypted JSON/XML, but I'm not sure if that's the best approach

godot uses json

@NathanMerrill So that users can't edit their own save file

Letting users edit the save sounds like a good thing

Ehhhh

for the same reason I wouldn't ban mods that make the game easier

You can also save as binary, which largely makes things uneditable, but also makes things faster

IMO, those are your only two choices: Binary or json/xml

yeah, looking at the saved games files I can find, they are all saving in binary. I'm pretty confident that that is for speed, and not for preventing editing

@DJMcMayhem Don't use new makes sense from a teaching/learning perspective in C++ as a lot of the more modern features trivialize tasks. But as a principle outside of the classroom I have to agree with you.