Microsoft already tried to compete with STEAM, it was called Games for windows - Live... and it sucked. Again they tried to charge a subscription which failed epicly. I much prefer engines that are written in C++, they are much MUCH more powerful than having to 1) Learn the syntax/structure of the in-house language 2) Hack your way round doing the simplest of things that you could do with open source C libraries.
2009/1/11 Nick <[email protected]> > I am not Valve, I do not work for Valve, but I like Valve, and like a > good friend I like to point out where I think they go wrong. > > There is no such technical design document for source, available to > the modders, but I suspect there is such a design document if you pay > for a license. > > Valve is a good company, and has excellent people. But the top games > released for source have been made exclusively by and for Valve. The > source engine is powerful and highly adaptable, if you work for Valve. > I think other engines are designed to be easier to understand because > the other major game engines are being used by people outside the > original company. Quake/id and Bioshock/ut3 and america's army/ut3 are > some examples I can think of here. > > Source engine is powerful if you know how to use it, Valve people are > the only ones who know how to use it properly. That isn't going to > change unless Valve invests heavily in making it more open or > documenting it more. ( not anytime within the next 3 years). > > UT3 engine is equally powerful, but epic games has gone to great > lengths to make it easier to use, and highly documented. Also actively > encourages scripting instead of forcing everyone to use c++ like valve > does. Bioshock/Americas Army/Gears of War 2. Look at the material > editor that comes with ue3 > http://hourences.com/book/tutorialsue3mated.htm includes shaders also > from almost one and half years ago! > http://www.unrealtechnology.com/features.php?ref=editor > > I hope valve seriously thinks about open sourcing the tools, formats, > and making the engine available on linux. Unless valve thinks it can > exist only by relying on steam sales/distribution. Eventually > microsoft will make steam obsolete(by creating a steamlike replacement > for windows7) or buy valve out entirely, which is probably bad for > most people working for valve, but good for the owners :P > > On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 10:29 PM, Walter Gray <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I want to preface this by saying I know it's probably a kind of silly > > thing to be asking for, but on the other hand I feel it would would be > > stupendously useful. > > I'm looking for something akin to a Technical Design Document for > > the source engine, or at least the parts of it which are distributed > > with the Source SDK. Really, any single document that lays out, in a > > concise fashion, the general structure of the most commonly used > > systems, what base classes they use, and enough about how they are > > supposed to work for someone to start messing with them. It seems to me > > that the general approach for mod developers has been to use the code > > itself as the documentation and ask the community or check the wiki if > > they find something they don't understand. This, unfortunately, means > > that there's no easy way to get new developers on a team familiar with > > the engine, which is what I'm aiming to do. I've looked around, and > > there doesn't seem to be anything like this. Am I missing something, or > > does it not exist, and if it doesn't, why not? It seems like it's the > > kind of thing that would cut down on a lot of confusion for new mod > > programmers and encourage 3rd party Source development in general. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders > > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
