Torque Shockwave Xtra
by Prairie Games · in General Discussion · 06/21/2003 (8:06 pm) · 6 replies
I have spent the last few days drilling into DirectorMX. The tool and the Xtra SDK are of great interest for our 2D puzzle game development. Canopy Games has also expressed interest in creating Director based titles.
Liking what I saw, I started thinking about my other development efforts. I was looking into rendering into a projector/shockwave OpenGL context, when I thought about Torque(well, it wasn't my first thought).
I could write a Director Xtra that played Torque powered games/demos directly in browsers(no installs, no uninstalls, less time commitment, easier/better). I could also write a Lingo<->TorqueScript interface to steer the games/director... mixing Torque functionality with Director's.
In it's basic form, there would be virtually no work in getting a given Torque game running in a browser(really just a different packaging). This would also support publishing to a projector. DirectorMX (which can import FlashMX assets) brings a pile of it's own toys to the party.
If I was sure to make some thousands of dollars on such an undertaking, I would begin it immediately. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
-J
PS: Does anyone have experience with the Shockwave3D 3dsmax/Maya Exporters?
Liking what I saw, I started thinking about my other development efforts. I was looking into rendering into a projector/shockwave OpenGL context, when I thought about Torque(well, it wasn't my first thought).
I could write a Director Xtra that played Torque powered games/demos directly in browsers(no installs, no uninstalls, less time commitment, easier/better). I could also write a Lingo<->TorqueScript interface to steer the games/director... mixing Torque functionality with Director's.
In it's basic form, there would be virtually no work in getting a given Torque game running in a browser(really just a different packaging). This would also support publishing to a projector. DirectorMX (which can import FlashMX assets) brings a pile of it's own toys to the party.
If I was sure to make some thousands of dollars on such an undertaking, I would begin it immediately. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
-J
PS: Does anyone have experience with the Shockwave3D 3dsmax/Maya Exporters?
#2
Some interesting bits:
Also, there is this:
Regardless, if a game doesn't do anything crazy, I would say it's "Safe for Shockwave". At least it's as safe as downloading and installing the game. In fact, it's safer, as uninstall scripts nuking your box are all too common.
-J
06/22/2003 (1:09 am)
Hrm. Shockwave enabled Xtras must be "Safe for Shockwave". Some interesting bits:
Quote:In general, you can allow unsafe operations so long as the Xtra first confirms with the user that the operation is OK. For example, the e-mail Xtra above might present a dialog telling the user it is about to send mail, and allowing the user to cancel. So long as there was no way to bypass this dialog from Lingo, such an Xtra could be marked safe.
Also, there is this:
Quote:If the Xtra permits functionality which might sometimes be a security risk, it first explicitly warns the end user and requires confirmation before proceeding. The Xtra must not permit Shockwave movies to disable this warning however it may permit the end user to disable the warning.
Regardless, if a game doesn't do anything crazy, I would say it's "Safe for Shockwave". At least it's as safe as downloading and installing the game. In fact, it's safer, as uninstall scripts nuking your box are all too common.
-J
#3
Having a little Torque module that would interpret and play Shockwave/Director created content in a browser or stand alone would be awesome. There are cheaper alternatives to Shockwave and having the ability to play into a Torque player would really lower the barrier for many types of games. This is similar to the Wild Tangent web driver, but they require Java as a scripting language and their licensing is suspect (at least, last time I checked).
This is the most interesting idea I seen posted in a while.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
06/22/2003 (10:38 am)
Josh,Having a little Torque module that would interpret and play Shockwave/Director created content in a browser or stand alone would be awesome. There are cheaper alternatives to Shockwave and having the ability to play into a Torque player would really lower the barrier for many types of games. This is similar to the Wild Tangent web driver, but they require Java as a scripting language and their licensing is suspect (at least, last time I checked).
This is the most interesting idea I seen posted in a while.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
#4
06/22/2003 (4:26 pm)
... duplicate post...
#5
I want to make sure we are talking apples and apples.
I believe it would be possible to play Torque games, in browsers, via shockwave. So, for instance, you could try Marble Blast without downloading, installing, running it from the start menu, uninstalling.
1. Click
2. A shockwave window opens with a progress bar
3. When it hits 100%, you are playing :)
It would also be possible to mix Torque, Director, and Flash functionality: in web browsers, or in fullscreen standalone apps.
-J
06/22/2003 (4:33 pm)
Jeff,I want to make sure we are talking apples and apples.
I believe it would be possible to play Torque games, in browsers, via shockwave. So, for instance, you could try Marble Blast without downloading, installing, running it from the start menu, uninstalling.
1. Click
2. A shockwave window opens with a progress bar
3. When it hits 100%, you are playing :)
It would also be possible to mix Torque, Director, and Flash functionality: in web browsers, or in fullscreen standalone apps.
-J
#6
We are both talking about the same kind of fruit:) It is a good idea.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
06/22/2003 (7:10 pm)
Josh,We are both talking about the same kind of fruit:) It is a good idea.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
Torque Owner Joe Maruschak
A friend of mine was the artist that worked at Intel when they developed the Shockwave3d Stuff. He is the guy that did the Simwork piece and is kind of a guru at the shockwave3d stuff.
I can get you in touch with him if you'd like. Stop by the BraveTree irc channel if you want to chat about it.
Joe