Of course, the sensible thing would be to use an existing game engine, but after a certain point, there is some curiosity if learning and fighting yet another game engine is really quicker that just writing something from scratch.
Simmersion Holdings Pty Limited, Canberra, Australia, has recently launched Mycosm, a real-time 3D visualisation and simulation platform.
Mycosm provides a great real-time 3D add-on for 3ds Max users and those that want to build interactive environments. The workflow is smooth, especially for 3ds Max users who can import fully animated models through fbx. Mycosm provides the ability to connect to SQL data bases, via Python script.
A free 33 day evaluation download of Mycosm Studio is availableā¦
Freeplay finished up yesterday, sounding off another successful independent games festival with over 1800 people making it along for the week long event this year for an excellent showcase of local indie games, talks, panels, workshop sessions, and much more.
The finalists and winners for the 2011 Freeplay Awards have also been announced. Director of Freeplay, Paul Callaghan, has had this to say about the Freeplay awards this year...
(Paul Callaghan) The awards reflect both the values of theā¦
The Game Developersā Association of Australia today announced the call for abstracts for Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) 2011.
With itās theme of āThe Journeyā, GCAP 2011 aims to establish the foundations on which the Australian industry will grow to become a major international game development territory in the future. The event will explore the lessons learned in the past 30 years of Australian development, how they have led to the current development landscape, and how those lessons canā¦
Truna has sent the word that registrations are now open for indie league of The 48 Hour Game Making Challenge!
If you're a team of indie developers looking to take part in the challenge and you have some free time between the 30th of September (Friday) to October, the 2nd (Sunday), then come and sign up!
Make sure you check the entry rules and conditions, and also be aware that registering your team's interest doesn't mean you are confirmed to take part just yet! The organisers will be lettingā¦
Freeplay is on this weekend!! It's a big one and there's a whole lot happening. For those of you not subscribed to the Freeplay newsletter or haven't been following the Freeplay updates, then please read below for the latest news and update from Freeplay! Just a reminder, if you haven't ordered your tickets online yet, please do it soon! Last year's event was completely sold out, so do hurry!
Itās here! Festival week. Weāve been updating our blog on all things Freeplay including speakerā¦
We were very sad to hear the news of the closure of the two local THQ studios. We have a great deal of respect for the talent that worked at these studios and we think they created some great games.
Firemint would like to reach out to those that have recently lost their jobs, we need great developers to join our teams. We're specifically after programmers and quality assurance testers. If you're passionate and talented, we want to hear from you.
If interested, please fill out our applicationā¦
Blue Tongue Entertainment, the Melbourne-based games development studio that celebrated their 15th anniversary only last year, and THQ Studio Australia in Brisbane are finishing up today. The outpouring of sympathy and well wishes for these local developers have been pretty overwhelming. Some of the poignant farewells were written in our comments areas by notable industry personnel..
From Andrew Heath, co-founder of Blue Tongue Entertainment..
To all at Blue Tongue I pass on my very best forā¦
āWhen itās cold outside, am I hear in vain?ā The first of IGDA Sydneyās new events coined: āBits & Piecesā took place on a chilly 9th of August 2011 at The Arthouse Hotelās attic bar to the crowd of approximately 100 local game developers, if the numbers for a floating petition (aimed at keeping the NSW Governmentās Digital Media Initiative in place with the change of government) are a good indicator. Despite a chill and the sound of Town Hall jackhammers beyond the door, inside was cozyā¦
In a "strategic realignment" to steer development away from "licensed kids titles and movie-based entertainment properties" and push "focus to high-quality owned IP with broad appeal", publisher THQ has decided to close its games development operations in Australia.
The two studios owned by THQ in Australia, THQ Studio Australia (formed in 2003 and based in Brisbane) and Blue Tongue Entertainment (the Melbourne based studio founded in 1995 and acquired by THQ in 2004, most well known for theirā¦
Citing an anonymous source, Develop has reported that Team Bondi's remaining assets are to be sold off to another local games studio, Kennedy Miller Mitchell (KMM) Games.
An insider who claims to engage with both Sydney-based game companies has informed Develop that all the game IP and remaining assets belonging to the L.A Noire developer is being transferred to KMM. Team Bondi's game IP, however, does not include the critically acclaimed L.A Noire property which belongs to Rockstar Games.ā¦
