Catch me up?

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/Catch me up?

Sean Doherty(Posted 2008) [#1]
Its been over a year since I have even thought about game development and trying to figure out what has happened on the Max front?

- Is Max growing or shrinking?
- Are there more or less Max uses?
- Were there any notable things released for max?
- What great new features were added to max?

Thanks


Volker(Posted 2008) [#2]
- What great new features where added to max?

- Hyperthreading WIP
- WxMax, a monster of GUI
- CEGUI, WIP. A GUI for OpengL. Looks very interesting.
- BRL.Reflection. Very nice for saving and loading objects.
- MiniB3D is working fine.


GfK(Posted 2008) [#3]
DX9.
Max3D (check Mark's worklog).


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#4]
- Is Max growing or shrinking?

About the same. There seemed to be a few people who have had enough and gone to find another language but the ins and outs seem equal.

Or there more or less uses?


Well, tricky to read that question. It's either the same as the first e.g. more Users or your asking if Bmax has more uses. It has the same uses as always : Games and apps.
- Where there any notable things released for max?
- What great new features where added to max?


These might be the same question as well.
If you're asking what has been released USING Max then GA's Fairway Solitaire is probably the biggy. There's a list on the front page.

Additons to the other responses on features...
Move from syncmods to SVN?
New Maxgui
New audio drivers


Sean Doherty(Posted 2008) [#5]
Sorry, fixed some of the questions...lol SVN?


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#6]
Sorry, fixed some of the questions...lol

... not really!

- Is Max growing or shrinking?
Code size or user base?
User base is about the same. Code size is about the same.
- Are there more or less Max uses?
Game and apps. Not quite sure what else there is.

- Were there any notable things released for max?
- What great new features were added to max?



as before.

SVN?
Yep, SVN.


Grey Alien(Posted 2008) [#7]
DX9.
This hasn't been added officially but there is a 3rd party mod that seems to work.


GfK(Posted 2008) [#8]
This hasn't been added officially but there is a 3rd party mod that seems to work.
Well he didn't ask what was official and what wasn't.


Sean Doherty(Posted 2008) [#9]
SVN is just sub-version integration?
WxMax; is this a MaxGui extension (or does it run without MaxGui)?
Grey, does you framework support DX9?
What is the IDE of choose? Blide?


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#10]
SVN is just sub-version integration?

Bmax SVN
What is the IDE of choose? Blide?

Some use the default maxide, some use CE Maxide, some use BLIDE, some use Project Studio and, probably, others use others. It depends what you're looking for.


GfK(Posted 2008) [#11]
Some use the default maxide, some use CE Maxide, some use BLIDE, some use Project Studio and, probably, others use others. It depends what you're looking for.
If you're looking for an IDE that has intellisense, is easy to use and isn't crawling with bugs and spelling mistakes that should've been fixed 18 months ago, get Project Studio.


Volker(Posted 2008) [#12]
WxMax; is this a MaxGui extension (or does it run without MaxGui)?
It runs without MaxGUI. It's a portation of WxWidgets.


Grey Alien(Posted 2008) [#13]
Well he didn't ask what was official and what wasn't.
Good point.

Grey, does you framework support DX9?
I made it work with 2 lines of code after I installed the DX9 module we are talking about. I haven't officially added it to my framework but can tell you how to get it working if you like.


xlsior(Posted 2008) [#14]
SVN is just sub-version integration?


Not really integration at this point, but BRL has been running an SVN repository where you can sync up and get the latest and greatest work-in-progress updates, a bit like SyncMods used to do. (Syncmods itself has been discontinued)
You'll need to get a 3rd party SVN client to be able to download them, but there's a number of freebies available.
(I myself use Tortoise-SVN for the GUI integration, as well as SlikSVN for a command-line utulities, so I can just double-click a batch file that updates everything)

Since they just spread the source over SVN and not the precompiled binaries for all platforms, you'll also need to have MinGW installed to be able to use it.

There are also some nice other SVN repositories out there, such as Brucey's wxMax and his other millions of mods.

- Is Max growing or shrinking?


The prouct itself is getting more and more capable as time goes on thanks to the ongoing development of new features such as the all-important threading module, plus the ever increasing number of 3rd party modules.
Posting-wise the forums definitely appear to be leaning towards BlitzMax instead of the old B3D.


dmaz(Posted 2008) [#15]
if you're looking for a Windows IDE with basically all the features and is still in active development and support, I recommend BLIde. It works awesome for me.


plash(Posted 2008) [#16]
WxMax; is this a MaxGui extension (or does it run without MaxGui)?
wxMax is completely separate from BRL. It is a third party wrapper for wxWidgets by Brucey, which works exactly the same, with tons of features, on all three platforms.


DavidSimon(Posted 2008) [#17]
The important thing to remember is, <transmission ends>


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#18]
The important thing to remember is, <transmission ends>
Hmmmm... unlike you not to finish something you've started Ant :-) .


SillyPutty(Posted 2008) [#19]
I am looking at starting up development again.

Just need to decide on an IDE.

BLide or Project Studio.


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#20]
I am looking at starting up development again.

Just need to decide on an IDE.

BLide or Project Studio.


What functionality do you need?


SillyPutty(Posted 2008) [#21]
I want an IDE that can handle projects, working intellisense at a minimum, extra features are sure welcome.


tonyg(Posted 2008) [#22]
They can both do that. My impression is that Project Studio IDE is cleaner and less cluttered while BLIDE has more features. BLIDE is very actively developed and supported while Project Studio IDE seems to have lost some focus. I could be wrong.


GfK(Posted 2008) [#23]
Well, Matt (PS author) is busy with family/real life stuff but development is still ongoing. I've been using PS Pro (beta) for over a year now and wouldn't use anything else.

I looked at BLIde again recently and was back with PS within days. I found a handful of bugs in BLIde straight away, I loathed its project management system - nothing about it made a jot of sense, and there were spelling mistakes everywhere that bothered me probably a lot more than they should've done. I know Ziggy is Spanish but after being in development for so long, problems like that should be well behind it.


SillyPutty(Posted 2008) [#24]
How did you get hold of the beta?


ziggy(Posted 2008) [#25]
I looked at BLIde again recently and was back with PS within days [...] I loathed its project management system - nothing about it made a jot of sense, and there were spelling mistakes everywhere that bothered me probably a lot more than they should've done

I don't know what is the user-base of Project Studio, but BLIde is used by more than 700 BLIde Free Edition users a day (judgind from the updates check the website is getting) and about 250 BLIde Plus users. So it is very used, incluing this project management with nothing that makes a jot of sense. If you're used to Visual Studio, the project management of BLIde is just a direct port of the Visual Basic project management.

As long as there is a free version of BLIde, and the current available express version of PS is also free, give both a try and decide for yourself!


GfK(Posted 2008) [#26]
He just asked me to test it out cos I was getting into Blitzmax at the time.

There's a free 'Express' version, though. I'm not sure what the differences are since I've only used the Pro version.