Sunday, March 29, 2009

Pushbutton Flash Game Maker

This looks promising, a Flash game engine that supports isometric views, tile maps, and more.

Check it out here-

http://pushbuttonengine.com/

Update: Looks like IE doesn't like blogger, as the past in link doesn't work anymore. Oh well. Also, the pushbuttonengine is by the same guys who made torque.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Distributed Open Source SVN: Git

Web Designer Depot has a nice into to a version control system called GIT that looks like it might be worth checking out.


http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/intro-to-git-for-web-designers/

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Unity 3D AI Package

Check out this Unity 3D AI Pack

http://drawlogic.com/2009/03/24/unity3d-path-and-behave-projects-from-angryant-waypoints-ai-paths-library-behavioral-trees-and-more/

Torque to Offer Unity3D Alternative

Torque looks to offer a web plugin with similar capacities as Unity 3D. The browser wars are heating up. Web 3.0, the game web, or the 3D web, is on the Horizon.


http://drawlogic.com/2009/03/24/torque3d-to-offer-web-based-export-similar-to-unity3d-improved-pipeline/

Future: Javascript 3D Capabilities On the Horizon

Looks like the Mozilla foundation is looking to bring Open GL capabilities to Javascript.

http://dusanwriter.com/index.php/2009/03/25/3d-in-a-browser-mozilla-and-open-gl-to-build-plug-in-free-virtual-world-access/

About time! Why mess with all these 3rd party plugins (Flash/Unity/Silverlight) when we can do things directly from the web browser? Especially when 3D will become more and more common.

VRML is dead...but its successor could finally be on the horizon.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Disappointment with Silverlight 3 Beta's 3D

OK, it is just a Beta, but I was hoping for a full on programmable 3D engine in Silverlight 3. I might have been naive, but I had high hopes. We do now have Unity 3D, but for business aps Unity 3D lacks many features, as it is targeted solely for Game Development. I was hoping I could have one app to do it all. There are some nice 3D features in Silverlight, don't get me wrong, but nothing that can't be duplicated with Flash/Flex/Papervision etc...

I guess I will have to wait...but beggers can't be choosers.

Friday, March 20, 2009

IE 8, Didn't Break As Many Things As I Worried About

Yes, IE8 is out. I've downloaded it at home and at work (at home it took two tries). So far I've only noticed some minor text overlay issues (a line being a few pixels up or down). Other than that most of the sites (including our work site...I was worried about that) appear to operate normally.

www.microsoft.com/ie

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Great SQL Server Maintenance Article

I know a lot of people are using SQL Server 2005/2008 Express for production (though they shouldn't). I also know folks are using the cheaper SQL Server 2008 Web version for web databases. Both of these databases lack some maintenance and backup features that their more expensive cousins have. If you find yourself needing those features but unable to afford them, this article might help.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/SQLExamples/Wiki/View.aspx?title=ExpressMaintenance&referringTitle=Home

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kick @ss, Unity 3D for Windows Released!

Finally, the true progeny of Director, Unity 3D, is available for Windows! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. Download the 30 day trial here-

http://unity3d.com/unity/download

Thanks Developmag.com for breaking the story-

http://www.developmag.com/news/31482/Unity-now-avaiable-for-Windows

Also announced today is the release of Silverlight 3 Beta...yawn.