Comments on: Windows Vista Doesn’t Affect Indie Game Production

By: Juuso - Game Producer

Juuso - Game Producer — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:30:37 +0000

And yes – I might be totally wrong – so please use your own brain people.

By: Juuso - Game Producer

Juuso - Game Producer — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:30:08 +0000

> “I hate to be frank, but thatâ€™s a rather obtuse assessment.”
No problem… that’s why I wrote in the beginning:
“I want to remind that I might be totally wrong – so please donâ€™t just blindly accept everything I say in this article. This is only my personal opinion and thinking. Use your own brain, and feel free to argue back and tell your own comments.” :)

> “Who do you think develops the game engines?”
I said:
“I must point out that the one-man studios, casual game makers and many smaller indies wonâ€™t need to care about Vista. ”
One man indies don’t have time to make the core system (like rendering engines), one man studios usually pick some existing engine (like Torque, Blitz, Ogre, TrueVision etc.) and focus on developing game rather than engine.

> “Finally, supporting 3 year old computers is the bare minimum – that doesnâ€™t mean we should ignore new computer users.”
Yes, but
1) engines might probably work with Vista? I doubt that Microsoft 100% forgets support for any other application.

Here’s some threads/revies about this issues
http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=64511
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_beta2_04.asp

Here’s the thread you started! :)
http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?p=113418&posted=1#post113418

2) if engines don’t work – then it’s engine maker’s task to make them work (of course this requires indie game developers to think what engines to use…)

“Games or programs which are built on Vista’s version of DirectX, 10, will not work on prior versions of Windows, as DirectX 10 is not backwards-compatible with DirectX 9″
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/article.asp?CIID=24636

AND

“There’s also backward-support for DirectX 6, 7 and DirectDraw, and Vista will feature and extended version of Direct3D 9, known as D3D9Ex, that developers can play around with now.”
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/article.asp?CIID=24636

So DX7 games/apps do fine (check here for examples)
Quote:
“Vista is somewhere around RC2 at the moment. They’re plannin’ on shipping it to software developers to get their applications ready for its mainstream release. I’ve run Blitz3D apps under Vista, works fine.”
Quote:
BLITZ3D works in Vista RC1. I don’t have a newer one, but it does work fine.
http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/…hp?topic=64511 – Blitz3D discussion

—

Bottom line: Best thing would be to test your application with the beta version and see if it works. If there’s major problems, then you know to take some action.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:54:10 +0000

Actually, I believe Flash or cross-platform engines like Unity should be axiomatic for small production units, leave big engine desing to companies that focus on that. Discover Media is a company tied in with Microsoft, they’re offering a downloadable portal built right into the Vista utility bar. In order to compete with that kind of mostly-vertical integration, you need to focus on agile and innovative designs. The ready-to-order stuff you’ll be able to get in the Vista bar will be like the McDonalds of casual gaming, but the hip will know to go online to the aggregator sites and play the freshest organice produce.

Then there’s Wii to consider.

By: Games Trend Diary - What is the gaming community into? Get the latest here! » Windows Vista Doesnâ€™t Affect Indie Game Production

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:45:12 +0000

[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave aReply [...]

By: soniCron

soniCron — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 15:48:48 +0000

I hate to be frank, but that’s a rather obtuse assessment. Who do you think develops the game engines? And for game developers using pre-spun engines, it’s a very serious issue. An upgrade may never be developed, leaving the game developer with a dead framework and no way to support his customers that use Vista. Finally, supporting 3 year old computers is the bare minimum – that doesn’t mean we should ignore new computer users. Every computer sold after the New Year will sport Vista, making for an ever-growing array of users who can’t play your game because “Windows Vista doesn’t affect indie game production.”

Sorry to be so harsh, but I think this is some dangerously wrong advice you’re peddling, here.