BUILD | GUIDE
PROTOTYPINGROUNDUP
Out of the mind’s eye Vision is the easy thing – shaping it into a form that’s worth investing your time and money is the difficult thing, reckons Jon Jordan. Time to brush up on prototyping and pre-viz tools…
W
ith ‘risk’ an increasingly dangerous word when it comes to game development, anything that can reduce its hold over creativity should be thoroughly investigated. Of course, the process of prototyping games has been around as long as the industry, but it’s becoming much more sophisticated as different aspects of a game – from the basic logic and mechanics to character, location and colour palette – need to be quickly combined and iterated. The question of whether such activity should be carried out within game engines remains unanswered, however. For all the bells and whistles
they provide, there is a strong feeling that a more iterative and pared down environment will bring core ideas to the surface more quickly. This is particularly the case for smaller studios who are less restricted by console features and those hothousing in a collaborative manner with participants in various geographical locations. Yet, while there is a vast range of helpful products available, what seems much harder is for the developers of these tools to build a sustainable business. Most recently, UK outfit Antics Technologies shut up shop in November 2008 after failing to make its Antics 3D real-time pre-viz package profitable.
GAMEBLENDER TECHNOLOGY GameBlender v2.42 PLATFORMS Various, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TECHNOLOGIES Bullet physics, Python scripting language COST Free CONTACT www.blender.org An extension to the open source 3D graphics package Blender, GameBlender has been specifically developed as a fast prototyping tool. It uses a graphical ‘logic brick’ approach, which defines gameplay elements such as sensors, controllers
DARKBASIC
VIRTOOLS
TECHNOLOGY DarkBASIC v1.21/Pro v7.1/GDK v7.1 PLATFORMS Windows INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TECHNOLOGIES PhysX, Dark AI, Dark Shader COST £20.99/£44.99/Free CONTACT newbusiness@thegamecreators.com
darkbasic.thegamecreators.com
TECHNOLOGY Virtools v4.1 PLATFORMS Windows INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TECHNOLOGIES 3ds Max, Maya, XSI, Collada, PhysX COST Available on request CONTACT +33 1 61 62 61 62
Developed by The Game Creators, the various forms of DarkBASIC – which range from the entry level version to the more fully-featured Pro version, with low level access via C++ available using the Dark GDK – are designed to enable users to
create complex interactivity using the BASIC programming language. All versions take DirectX as a foundation; DX7 for DarkBASIC and DX9.0c for Pro. The GDK is available as a free download together with Visual Studio Express.
52 | FEBRUARY 2009
DarkBASIC lets you build DirectX game using BASIC commands
Built around a flexible approach that separates data and behaviours within a visual drag and drop authoring environment, Virtools has become popular in the industrial design sector thanks to the company’s buy-out by Dassault
GameBlender brings interactivity to the open source Blender package
www.blender.org and actuators, enabling you to build up overall behaviour. You can also use it to create standalone products or embedded web apps should you wish to take it further. Handily, it comes bundled with the standard Blender release.
Virtools is one of the best known game prototyping tools
www.virtools.com Systèmes. It is still used by game companies however, both for prototyping and occasionally for full production. It comes with its own scripting language (VSL), and there is the option of an SDK for those so inclined.