[casual_games] future of shockwave

[BRENT SILBY]

The development issues are not really a concern. The game logic needs minimal work. Its the sprite engine that needed to be rewritten, but now that this has been complete it should be relatively straightforward to do the conversions.

The first issue you mention is a concern, but something that we cannot predict. One of the advantages of dhtml is that we do not need to rely on the continued support of 3rd party plugins. As long as browsers continue to support javascript and DOM level 2, our stuff will work.

Cheers,
Brent.
DEF-LOGIC
VIDEOGAMES
www.def-logic.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jordan Lee 
  To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List 
  Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:04 AM
  Subject: Re: [casual_games] future of shockwave


  We were in a similar situation with our products, where we had to make a decision between shockwave and flash.  For us, shockwave turned out to not really be an option at all, as our user base is reluctant to install any new plugins at all.  If you are going to continue with dhtml versions, than you can't really loose by developing alternative shockwave versions.  And since you say it would be very straightforward, development time/costs shouldn't be a problem either.

  The only two problems I can see are:

  1. Macromedia discontinuing shockwave/director altogether
  2. Development issues resulting from two separate product lines

  I can't comment on the first problem, as I don't know if thats likely, and the second problem can be minimized by careful planning and re-using as many of the game assets as possible.

  It would be a much harder decision if you were dropping your current products and switching to shockwave.


  Jordan Lee,
  CTO, 1 Gaming Inc.

  BRENT SILBY wrote: 
    Thanks for your thoughts,
    Our games target casual browser gamers--currently aiming mostly at the male market. Our target audience will grow as we develop a range of puzzle based games in the future.

    We are thinking of continuing with dhtml but offer shockwave ports of the games. I'd like to continue with dhtml because it is perfect for building widgets for macs and gadgets for the Windows Vista sidebar (I think sidebar gadgets will really take off in the next couple of years).

    The reasoning behind offering shockwave ports of the games is to overcome some browser specific issues (for eg Firefox can't display the content at full speed). Shockwave would also give us the opportunity to offer downloadable versions of the games.

    So to answer your question, we are still in an evaluative stage.

    Cheers,
    Brent.
    DEF-LOGIC
    VIDEOGAMES
    www.def-logic.com

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Jordan Lee 
      To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List 
      Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:31 AM
      Subject: Re: [casual_games] future of shockwave


      Which audience are you targeting with your games?  The shockwave installation process tends to agitate some people, so you might have some problems.

      Macromedia isn't really doing anything to push shockwave, or even director in general, so it's future doesn't seem too bright.

      Have you made the decision to switch to shockwave, or are you still evaluating it?


      Jordan Lee
      CTO, 1 Gaming Inc.



      BRENT SILBY wrote: 
        Good morning,
        We are converting some of our dhtml games to shockwave. The reason we chose shockwave is because it can handle javascript, so the conversion is reasonably straightforward--just requiring a reworking of image handling code etc.

        The purpose of the conversion is partly to overcome some browser consistency issues with dhtml and partly to open up new opportunities for licensing.

        My question is this: What is the future of shockwave? I think that it currently has about a 55% penetration (compared to 97% in flash). Is this figure predicted to remain static, or will it rise (or drop) over the coming years.

        I know its difficult to predict future trends, but if anyone can make a good guess, I'd be interested to know.

        Cheers,
        Brent Silby.
        DEF-LOGIC
        VIDEOGAMES
        www.def-logic.com

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