What is the best version of C or C11 to use to program my turn-based strategy game for the most portability and reliability?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

The game is not going to have amazing graphics. It is just a turn-based game about like "Civilization 2" except a bit more advanced than that. It's like half-way between Civilization 2 and Age of Empires 3.

[DryGermanGuy]

You only ever use the latest version of C, unless you specifically have to support a legacy program. I‘m not sure you want to start at zero though. Why not use one of the many game engines?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I don't know whether the game engines can do what I want to do as efficiently as possible. The game will have grid spaces to control structures and party sizes, but you can still move in "coordinate planes" with individual units or parties of units. This will (hopefully) work like Lords of Magic from 1998, but with a more advanced economy and more advanced strategies.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

IN other words, is the free version of Visual Studio good enough, or do I need to buy the professional version?

[DryGermanGuy]

I'm not a compiler expert and also not sure if game companies use VS, but I doubt you need a professional version for a game. If you want to go the compiler route, check out SDL:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer
But you should also check out and compare the various game engines, as they would give far quicker results.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

You might be correct, but I want to own the full rights to my own game AND the rights to make at least some trickle income from Search Ads to keep the website afloat. If I use an existing game engine, that could produce a conflict of legal rights and goals there.

I'll be designing a match maker system, ranking system, Discussion/Chat boards and channels, and everything else which goes with an online game too.