Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news From: "Marc Lambert" Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Re: What platform Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 13:30:17 -0000 Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE) Lines: 50 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: user-1854.l4.c2.dsl.pol.co.uk X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 A6 is the gamestudio engine. As far as I know, it's always had a scripting/programming side. Unfortunately, they focus far too heavily on the point-click stuff - it's a nice feature for non programmers, but nowhere near good enough to make anything other than standard freeware title. The engine itself is powerful and fast, with lots of features that do compare favourably with the other engines available (even some of the more expensive options) and the updates/support are first class. The C-scripting side is a little wierd, because it is basically C (some other scripts I've seen/used are far more basic - which is the whole point), so it comes across more as their own C compiler than anything. The tools are nice too, the modeller/world builder and compiler are all top notch, plus there are tons of plugins and freebies with a huge userbase. The only downside, really, is that like I say they focus far too much on the 'studio' aspect. The manuals and such don't really cover the engine indepth, but more the overall view of running things (mainly their own templates, which may be good, but are virtually useless to anyone with more than a couple years programming because they have to cover all aspects rather than focus on specifics, obviously) and some of the underlying logic and naming conventions are fustrating - again to cover those who don't program I expect. I was hesitant at first, and still think various aspects could be improved greatly, but overall it's a very nice package and allows me the time to create the game and focus on the aspects I enjoy. I'm currently coding in the C-scripts, but have got the C++ side up and running and probably will use a combination at some point (when I get to the stage of feature adding). I'm still going to look at pure DirectX work, but I doubt I'd beable to get anywhere near the high quality I am with this engine, this quickly with it - so the A6 engine is working brilliantly for me at the moment. Marc. "Matt Verran" wrote in message news:c33urd$6bu12@www.netyaroze-europe.com... > I've stuck up a bit of info about SDL on the hermitgames forum ( > http://www.hermitgames.com ). Might be usefully added to this report > > > PC/A6 engine > > Marc: is that a variant of 3d Game Studio or is it the same thing? Is 3d > Game Studio becoming A6 now that it's adding scripting functions, I always > though it was a point-click type affair. > >