definitely use blender mate, especially since you already have experience with it. if you can find a post by ventilator on this forum (there should be thousands) in his signature is his blender-plugin that allows it to export straight to MDL and be used in A6/A7 without even touching MED (i don't really like MED, but it was more than enough when i was inexperienced).

julz

Thanks much, JulzMighty. Good information, off to find it now.

Does anyone have any more input on the 2D aspect and capabilities of 3DGS? I realize the "3D" in the name kind of implies its primary use, but it does say 3D and 2D apps. Just wondering...

We removed the "3D" from the name some years ago. Still, I guess 80% of all games made with Gamestudio are 3D, 20% are 2D. The high-end engine functions are mostly 3D, but all necessary low-end functions for a 2D game are also there.

Thanks jcl, I hadn't noticed the name change. Guess a lot of people still refer to it the other way. Appreciate the information on the 2D stuff, I'm going to have to get into it to see how it handles 2D rendering, primitives, etc. Go from there...

Quote:

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We removed the "3D" from the name some years ago

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Wow! Completely missed that! Crazy!

That would be a little like what happened to Prince, wouldn't it?

Ichiro, we should hire you as our marketing manager .

I don't think the branding is a problem, it's usually the way a product is presented to potential customers. Companies want to make their product sound as feature complete and user friendly as possible, but they often do it in a way that disappoints people new to game making once they have the product in their hands.

That's where most complaints come from with customers. "Your product page said blah, blah, blah, and it's not like that at all". At GarageGames you'll see a ton of threads that go something like:

"Your product page says Torque comes with documentation, but there aren't any docs"

"Your product page says you can make any kind of game with Torque, but it seems to be meant for FPS type games"

"Your product page says you can make a game using easy to use TorqueScript, but apparently to make a real game you have to modify the engine source"

Any "affordable" game engine is trying to market to two different audiences at the same time, seasoned "Indies", and people completely new to game making. The mistake companies make is trying to address both in the same product page. Instead, you should have a nice intro page describing what GameStudio is, with two options:

"Are you new to game making, then click here"

"Are you experienced in game making techniques and looking for product details and comparisons, then click here"

People are going to click on both, but it shows your consideration of a person's knowledge level and gives you the chance to talk about both aspects. GameStudio is the most complete 3D game system out there for beginners to start out with and actually have a chance of making something, but it's also a very powerful engine in the hands of someone with the ability to make use of it. But, those are two different things.

A brief one page walkthrough of what it would take to put a simple game together would be a great thing to show a beginner right up front, and a more detailed page with descriptions of the engines features would be great for more knowledgeable users. As it is it's a little uncomprehendable for beginners and a little simplistic for experienced game makers. The demo helps a lot, especially with the help file and examples, but people want to know more before they even download. Target both kinds of user and be honest about what they can expect to accomplish, people will respect you for that.

Personally I think that in itself would make a huge difference in perception of the product from a potential customer's point of view...