Max Online

So would anyone else be interested in having a version of BlitzMax that can compile for the web? Think of it like Flash, but being able to develop using a real programming language and is more faster for online games development. From a business perspective, it would open new opportunities because you can:

* Have your game spread through and integrated with social networking websites like Facebook - gaining a lot of exposure.

* People are more likely to play a demo of a game that they don't have to download and install.

* New opportunities for online gaming and social networking in your games.

* New business models available to make money from your games.

If this was released, I think it would attract a lot of web developer professionals to the Blitz community - which would be great for BRL to expand and fund further development.

I would...but I've got to buy and learn Blitzmax yet :(
Something like this would certainly push me to purchase though.

a lot of web developer professionals are using flex

Hmmm... I've just looked at Flex and it looks ok, can only see how it has XML to define the Flash application - maybe I'm wrong. Is it good for writing games? The thing with the Flash player is that it's slow and not great for doing scrolling either.

I was very impressed by what Unity can do, but again, I'm not a big fan of drag and drop stuff - maybe I'm wrong, but what I could see of it, it uses a lot of this.

The advantage of having Max Online is that a lot of existing Blitz code could be used - we already have a lot of frameworks like Grey Alien framework ready to use.

sounds like a nice idea, I'd certainly be interested in using something like that. I'm really waiting for a good 3D solution. One that doesn't require you to install and use Java.

I'd like to be able to do that without any or little extra coding needed on the developer's part - and supporting full OpenGL graphics contexts at full speed.

Been there (www.igloader.com) and done that - I've approached BRL on numerous occasions about releasing a cross platform plugin that would compile a game upon loading. Seems they are not interested as they have not returned one email in over 3 years.

I would love to see something like this. That is indeed a shame, Indiepath.

With WinRAR you can make self-extracting, self-starting .exe files, and it doesn't need Java, Flash or other crap. The user just clicks on a link and the game starts. The download times (=delay between link click and game start) are also minimal, as WinRAR packs much better than WinZIP. And the best is that it works with any browser, doesn't need installation, and doesn't even need a browser, as you can also send the link or .exe file via mail.

Indiepath - Maybe we should petition BRL? I would be prepared to pay good money for something like this. If anything, BRL could at least speak to someone about outsourcing this new product and work with them to ensure it's compatible with BlitzMax.

Lumooja - The WinRAR feature sounds quite good, but the only problem I see is that the large download size of .exe files could push up bandwidth costs. What do you think?

If BRL aren't interested in releasing an online Blitz player, they are missing out on what could be a huge thing for them.

Unity's been doing this for quite some time now, and yet still the percentage of people who have the plugin installed is tiny. For a company like BRL who are never seen to be doing much marketing at the best of times, it would be a collosal waste of time, and for the developers who developed for it, it would be a collosal waste of time and money. Ultimately, unless you're really going to put time and money into getting the plugin widely installed, people aren't going to be able to play anything you write which uses it.

If they had the remotest interest in doing it, they would surely have bitten Tim's hand off when he got in touch, because he was already putting time and money into promoting the plugin, so their lack of marketing wouldn't have been such a dealbreaker.

As for getting people to install the plugin, this wouldn't be a problem for me as I would be intending to provide it with with a version of Mozilla Prism that I would be distributing as part my project.

I don't think there would be much acceptance for yet another web browser plugin. You will find a Flash plugin almost everywhere, but most folks don't have Silverlight or even Java installed - and those plugins have huge companies and large marketing budgets behind them. And now you want to distribute a BlitzMax plugin? One should never give up hope, but this just does not look realistic too me.

But you could create some version of a BlitzMax compiler that targets the Flash player; that would be quite interesting and useful.

Well I would settle for the BlitzMax to Flash compiler - providing that the speed was good, however this isn't something that Flash is known for.

Well sure, and given your line of work, I kind of anticipated that this might be the case for you, but most people wouldn't be in that fortunate situation.

I tend to agree with Winni that a BlitzMax to Flash compiler does sound like the most likely bet, if any bet could be considered likely. I can see there being a moderate market for that, given Flash's huge market penetration, and BlitzMax does have a nice syntax.

The question then becomes whether BRL would need to sanction it or not. They wouldn't have to write it, but if it was going to borrow heavily from their syntax, I expect most developers would at least want their permission.

For what it's worth, if there was a BlitzMax -> Flash compiler, I'd buy it. Be nice to be able to code an interactive website in BlitzMax if I could anticipate most people being able to use it.

I do not remember who it was anymore but there was
a member of the community who made a Java-compiler
for Blitz3D loooooog time ago.
The examples he posted worked pretty neat too.

It was a UK guy, because he had an URL called
"My Glass House.co.uk" or something like that....

Does anyone have experience in writing flash games? How would you say it is for scrolling tile based 2d games? I have read that it isnt so good for this, but maybe things have changed.

Latest version of flash player does have JIT compilation and hardware accelerated graphics, so it is a lot faster than previous versions. Obviously jit compilation only is applied to AS 3.0, so older components/websites etc are still interpreted and damn slow.

Ahh... That would explain why Flash 8 wasn't too good for doing tile scrolling games. It would be good to check out what Flash 9 with AS 3 can do...

Flash overall isn't the fastest thing around, but it is fast enough for scrolling games. You just need to understand the way it works and optimize accordingly. I've created scrolling games for slooow PDAs using Flash 6/7 and they seem plenty fast enough.

I really don't see much point having a Bmax to Flash compiler. You could write a code converter fairly easily, but again I don't see the point. Actionscript is a good enough language as it is.

Anyone seen this 2D Half-Life 2 game that came as a bonus? It's written in Flash and is quite nice.