Shockwaves

One focus of the next release is Director is on updating 3D, so how hot is Shockwave 3D already? I was struck by a visit to Shockwave.com online last night. I went to the site, and noted that there was a new Motocross game from Silent Bay Studios.

I was gripped because I have always wanted to do or see a decent motocross solution - (I'm yawning from all those silly side scrolls of motocross) and figured it was totally 'doable' in Shockwave 3D. Silent Bay proves it can be done and it can be cool in this online offering. But as I was trolling the Shockwave.com site, another realization struck me - when I sorted the games by popularity.

14 of the top 20 Games on Shockwave.com right now, use Shockwave / Director for the delivery platform. 13 of those 14 are Shockwave 3D.

Continue reading "How Hot is Shockwave 3D?" »

Posted by Allen Partridge at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to Martin Shaeffer's DirectorForum I ran across some cool new Shockwave games. I've always loved games that break traditional molds, and this one is no exception. Hoverster (http://www.hoverster.net/) Was created by Chio Maisriml, Austrian designer and developer who by his own admission doesn't fit into the mold of a conventional 'gamer'. He agressively moved to make the game - easy to access and really, really fast. I'd advise starting with the multiplayer raceways - the farming alternative can be a little frustrating until you get used to the handling of the hovercrafts.

Continue reading "Hover Racing with Shockwave 3D" »

Posted by Allen Partridge at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Xtra Development Kit (XDK) for Director 11.5 was posted today on the Adobe Director Support site and includes download links for the latest version of the kit for both Windows and Macintosh. Using the XDK, and the companion Xtra Packaging Kit (XPK) -- also available on the Adobe Director Support site, developers may extend the reach of Adobe Director and Shockwave by creating Xtras.

Continue reading "Director Shockwave 11.5 XDK, XPK & 3D SDK's Available" »

Posted by Allen Partridge at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adobe tonight announced immediate availability of Director 11.5, and Shockwave 11.5. The upgrade comes less than a year after the release of Director 11, and is the second major release of Director from Adobe. Shockwave is sounding cooler than ever with brand new 5.1 surround sound in Director / Shockwave 11.5. The multimedia update introduced at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) today, brings streaming 5.1 audio, an all new sound engine capable of lightening fast playback of hundreds of simultaneous sounds over 16 amazing channels each capable of playing, filtering and mixing down 5.1 surround sound. Also added, three new video formats, all NATIVELY rendered, making video faster and smoother than ever - and adding great features like full screen, streaming, alpha, and dynamically grabbing video images to use with everything from filters to video-as-texture displays in 3D.

Continue reading "Director 11.5 Released" »

Posted by Allen Partridge at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Shockwave version 11.0.3.472, releases today. It is a simple update that includes no changes in features or functionality. Some small elements of the plugin, which in no way affect the multimedia engine, installations, or other performance aspects, have been updated. We anticipate no change whatsoever in plugin performance. This version of the plugin was extensively tested to ensure reliability by the Adobe Director / Shockwave Quality Engineering team.

The next release of the plugin will include new features, and changes and is currently being thoroughly tested by an experienced group of more than 150 independent and third party developers along with the Adobe Director Quality Engineering team. Third party developers with business critical dependencies on Shockwave should contact Adobe Director Shockwave Technology Evangelist Allen Partridge, allenp at adobe dot com, in order to apply for enrollment in Shockwave pre-release testing.

Posted by Allen Partridge at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)