I’ve finally had the time to write about the Punisher project I worked on.
The Punisher: No Mercy
GameDev
Game developer magazine
Back in July the production editor of Game Developer magazine offered me a gig: reviewing modo as a game development tool. Of course I was more than happy to give it a try.
Modo 401 was just released at that point and I jumped into a quick project to see how the new features and the bugfixes are working out in real life. I created a few objects, from concept art to the final in-game version. I took notes, swore a lot, and when the project ended, I started writing.
It was an interesting challenge to cover all the important features while not exceeding the word count limit. It took me a few rewrites but with the kind help of the editor the article eventually made it to the November issue. If you can get your hands on either a printed or a digital copy, it’s on page 34. :)
Unreal Development Kit
“Good news everyone!”
The latest build of the Unreal engine is publicly available, free for educational and non-commercial projects: Unreal Development Kit.
OnLive doubts
This article at Eurogamer does a great job at pointing out weaknesses in the concept of OnLive. I like the smell of the scientific method in the morning (well, midnight…).
The guy’s strongest argument I think is that if they indeed managed the necessary technological breakthroughs, why do they bother with video games? That video compression thingy alone would be worth a stellar amount of money for the military or any telecom company.
EDIT: Another article on the topic.
OnLive buzz
OnLive looks quite interesting. If it works as advertised, then it makes gaming very convenient (and steps on quite a few toes in the process). Just click and play without downloading and installing sh.t or keeping your PC hardware up to date…
So this announcement probably caused some raised eyebrows at console and HW manufacturers, I’m looking forward to their reaction.
From a game developer perspective, it is also a nice idea: developing for only one platform while reaching a quite broad audience. I generally encourage competition but making a game parallel for 3 totally different SKUs is a pain in the ass.
I really hope this concept works and the net lag won’t be an issue. Then I hope that it will be available outside the US soon. Or rather that I find a job in North America…
