Slashdot Mirror

WildTangent did this with their own plug-in that allowed DirectX content to be run from an object embedded in IE.

It used any COM-based language, but for in-browser 3D, you needed (of course) Java or JavaScript.

I think they've gone to an online content publishing model now (away from in-browser gaming), but the API they provided allowed for some pretty good DirectX 7-level stuff.

Are they still bundling WildTangent GameChannel? Because yeah, that's bundled spyware right there.

- A former HP tech support agent (who worked for one of the companies they outsourced it to)

Obviously he's planning to take on Wild Tangent.

So was this Kevin Bachus' "first move" after joining up with Infinium Labs?

No. He set up Capital Entertainment Group in I think 2001. He was also with Wild Tangent but seems to have left.

So not much of a success record for him then.

Where are the small games? the puzzle games and simple shooters? Here they are.

Popcap

Wild Tangent

The browser has become the defacto platform for 'small' games. Wild Tangent's web driver in particular is available for license as well. It's helping bring accessibility for designers back to where a couple guys in a garage could churn out something fun in less than 3 years.

not a plug, just informational cuz everyone's asking.

Where are the small games? the puzzle games and simple shooters? Here they are.

Popcap

Wild Tangent

The browser has become the defacto platform for 'small' games. Wild Tangent's web driver in particular is available for license as well. It's helping bring accessibility for designers back to where a couple guys in a garage could churn out something fun in less than 3 years.

not a plug, just informational cuz everyone's asking.

From their Marketers/Advertisers page:

"# Robust tracking and reporting from your custom published game campaign."

Wow, such a wonderful feature, I can't wait to play their games.

Now, as I work in advertising, I can see the value of this to companies, and would certainly be interested from a professional standpoint, but as an end-user, I am disgusted by Wildtangent and their practices and trust them about as far as I can throw them.

The Irony of Indy Games

Outside of the handheld ( PalmOS, PocketPC ) markets, or cell phones... many indy games are either crap... or sales pitches to publishers! Im not saying all... there are probrably dozens of exceptions, but on the whole this remains true. Its funny though, when you look at "past" indy games...

HomeWorld
Doom
FlashPoint

Really... by definition, an indy game is self financed, without a publisher in site. Its funny that that moment you have success in the indy market, you tend to get picked up by a publisher... then your no longer indy! ;) Than again, there are a few companies that are going from commerical projects to more of an indy style. Once you see the amount that publishers take... you start to see the value in online distro's!

For anyone really interested in learning more, check out:
Garage Games Misc resources, plus a licensable engine
FlipCode Great gaming related site
Gamedev.net Like flipcode, but less mature ( you'll see! )
Gamasutra The site for game developers! Must see
CrystalSpace LGPL 3d Engine. Very impressive
WildTangent Cheap game engine (web based), plus online publishing
Auran Jet Affordable 3d engine, flexible licensing
OpenGl The site for OpenGL info. Lots of useful links

From the above list, you should easily be able to find anything else your looking for! ;) Enjoy the world of game development for zero cash!

Sounds [from an outsiders point of view] like its similar to wildtangent. Wildtangent has a pretty nice engine, very well documented. Of course, I don't think its GPLd, but just to point out that there are other 'internet engines' out there.

On an aside, try some of the games if you can. They're good-looking, and some of them are real fun.

Plans to use it involve that "real world" sites are aware that something like this exists.


They are, and they are using Wild Tangent. I don't know if that's a fair comparison, but it seems like WT already has a lot of momentum behind id.

yes, twice but this is the first time in a while anyone's tried it for linux, which does *not* necessarily mean that it won't work :)

frankly, i'm excited. i'm a big fan of blender.

Wild Tangent is already doing what Adobe and Macromedia are just now planning. The only difference is authoring it.

Whereas Wild Tangent must be programmed, Adobe and Macromedia's will probably be a cross between Lightwave and Flash.

People should checkout Wild Tangent. It let's you create retail quality games using javascript! How crazy is that?!

Jinushaun

Wild Tangent is already doing what Adobe and Macromedia are just now planning. The only difference is authoring it.

Whereas Wild Tangent must be programmed, Adobe and Macromedia's will probably be a cross between Lightwave and Flash.

People should checkout Wild Tangent. It let's you create retail quality games using javascript! How crazy is that?!

Jinushaun

I love Pong and most of N. Bushnell's games, but I went to see the screenshots of his games and they look like they will suck...

They look like slightly glorified version of the Mastertouch 5000 or whatever that stupid thing is sitting in the corner of some bars.

I'm not impressed. I'd much rather play Space Rocks from WildTangent in WinAmp.

Damn /. and it's SPACES inside of long URLs!


Refrag

I love Pong and most of N. Bushnell's games, but I went to see the screenshots of his games and they look like they will suck...

They look like slightly glorified version of the Mastertouch 5000 or whatever that stupid thing is sitting in the corner of some bars.

I'm not impressed. I'd much rather play Space Rocks from WildTangent in WinAmp.

Damn /. and it's SPACES inside of long URLs!


Refrag

Who is WildTangent?
Former Microsoft Multimedia evangelist and DirectX creator, Alex St. John, and his partner Cambridge mathematician Jeremy Kenyon founded WildTangent Inc. in June 1998. WildTangent pursues the vision of building a richer more communicative Internet experience through the use of 3D graphics, sound, animation, and interactivity.

and

How did the web driver get installed on my system?
Our web driver provides advanced multimedia capabilities to your web browser. It was installed by a product that needed its services, such as one of our music visualizers, screensavers, or games. It could also have been installed when you visited a web page or by a third party product. In all cases, the web driver announces its installation through a series of licensing screens. If you missed this information, you can view our license agreement or our privacy statement.

-------

Read up about Project Chrome, Microsoft's (ditched) followup to DirectX, and see WildTangent's web site for examples in action: it's dependent on IE4 or better and DirectX, so Nutscrape users, Mac users and those individuals running IE on Solaris or HP-UX are out, but it's certainly an interesting idea. There's more on it in Renegades Of Empire (haven't got the ISBN here, I'm sure you'll find it at your bookstore of choice).
--
Cheers

I think starting with the closed team worked well, because it got it off the ground and released in a very organized and clean fashion. Then when the source was opened, a huge number of requested features started getting put in there. There's a BeOS port (it's slow, though), and some people are supposedly working on a Linux port. There's also an OpenGL driver somewhere around there.

The major caveat I found when working with it was that it's (IMO) poorly documented. Some people are working on docs, but I really haven't seen anything but stuff generated from symbols (which I could easily look in the headers for). I got too frustrated trying to figure out initialization order for the components. Like working with DirectX without the help reference. =p

I love their editor, though. Very nice, and a huge improvement over the one they had for Genesis. I'm still figuring out Crystal Space's MazeD.

The license restrictions have some history behind them. First there was only Eclipse (headed by David Stafford) and they made Genesis 1. Genesis 1 was released with a similar license and is still available at www.genesis3d.com. Eclipse started making Genesis 2 with the new features of real time everything (e.g. WYSIWYG map editing) and open terrain capability.

Then Eclipse ran out of money.

WildTangent (Alex St. John (former Direct X guy)) swooped down and bought the rights to Genesis 1 and 2 as well as most of the Eclipse developers. His intent was and is to take Genesis 2 and merge it with his 'real-time-3D-image-transmission-over-http' technology to form what they are calling the "GameDriver". A preview is already available but it is strictly closed source. Nevertheless the license is generous and you might want to check it out.

During the negotiations for the purchase, David Stafford won the right to take the Genesis 2 source, as it stood in its incomplete state, and release it under his particular variant of OpenSource. The catch was that the license had to be amended to prevent people from competeing in the 'presumeably-soon-to-emerge-web-game' arena that WildTangent was targeting. And so Jet3D was born.

Hope this helps. And I hope you all can help too. Jet3D needs work.

Royce