1. A Teleological View (a.k.a. how to cover modern casual game technologies and offend everyone in 75 slides) David Fox VP Technology, iWin.com dfox@iwin.com

2. Why Lil’ Ol’ Me?  iWin As Web Developer Java Applets Flash / Flex Social World (Hotel iWin) Flash “Upsell” Games  iWin As Downloadable Developer Two (!!) Homegrown Frameworks: SDL/DirectX Flash Multiplayer Games  iWin As Publisher Popcap Playground BlitzBasic Torque 3D Orbital PC/Mac/XBLA/Mobile/iPhone

3. The Perfect Framework ® PCXBLA Deciding What To Use? WebDS Mac Mobile iPhone FacebookWii Time? Budget? Quality? Genres? Multiplayer? 2D? 3D? Talent Pool?

4. What is a Platform? Hardware constraints. Software constraints. A person.

5. What is a Programming Language? The code for communicating with the Platform and controlling its functions.  Religion …

6. What is a Server? That which connects platforms. That which you beseech. That which grants prayers. A god.

7. What is a Framework?  An abstraction of the Platform, via a Language.  A culture.

8. Framework As Culture? Both Give Structure to Common Tasks:  Load Resources  Deal with Mouse/Key Input  Draw Animated Sprites  Render 3D  Write Text With Fonts  Play Music and Sound FX  Communicate with a Server  What to/not to Eat…  Who to/not to Sleep With…  Relationship Dos and Don’ts  Worthy Vs. Wasteful Tasks  What Art Is and Ain’t  Relationship with the Divine

9. What is a Middleware?  Sits atop Frameworks  Highly specialized system to achieve complex tasks.  (Especially in regards to the server or specific needs of the platform)  A cult.

10. Parade of Platforms

11. Web Browser  Interconnected  Simple  Limited by LCD

12. Social Networks  Links People Directly  In Context of Friends  Knows About You

13. Windows  Everyman

14. Mac  Hipman who thinks he’s specialman and will one day grow up to be everyman.

15. Nintendo DS  Short and sweet.  Must pass many tribulations to get there.

16. XBLA  Fast and connected.  Exclusive access.  (Other than XNA Community Games)

17. Sony Network  As if.

18. Wii  Oh so fun and cute.  Knows how to move.  Again, limited access.

19. Mobile  Everywhere you look.  Always in your pocket.  Pay heavy to get on it.  Seriously limited ability.

20. iPhone  Relatively easy access.  Always with you.  Knows where you are.  Likes being poked, pinched, and shaken.

21. Parade of Languages

22. Assembly  The Basics…  Registers  Loops  Decisions  Jumps Org 0 mov dptr,#msg mov R0,#30h loop: clr a movc a,@a+dptr jz end mov @R0,a inc R0 inc dptr sjmp loop end: jmp $ msg: db 'Hello World",0

23. C  First major “high level” language #include main() { printf("Hello World"); }

24. C++  Object oriented C  Many seasoned programmers out there  Need to be a “serious” coder  Fast, flexible, robust  Best IDE: Visual Studio 2008  Many cheap/free frameworks  Won’t work in browser (except ActiveX) #include main() { cout << "Hello World!" << endl; return 0; }

25. Java  Highly portable (Any browser, PC, Mac, Linux, Mobile)  < 90% browser penetration  Version headaches  Desktop use requires large JRE download.  Poor 2D library  Java3D API  Can work w/ C++ using JNI class HelloWorld { static public void main( String args[] ) { System.out.println( "Hello World!" ); }

26. Vest Majority of “Hits” Today? Downloadable PC C++

27. C#  C++-like Language w/Java Features  Microsoft’s Visual Studio  Huge.NET Runtime Download (19MB)  Vista/XP Focus C#: Install huge.NET Runtime Soon? Static.NET Linker/ using System; class HelloWorld { public static int Main(String[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!"); return 0; }

28. Objective C  Reflective  Object-oriented  Smalltalk-style messaging  Mac OS X or iPhone OS #include int main(int argc,char **argv) { id set = [Set new]; argv++;while (--argc) [set add:[String str:*argv++]]; [set do:{ :each | printf("hello, %s!\n",[each str]); }]; return 0; }

29. ActionScript MX  From JavaScript to “real” language  Flash / Flex _root.createTextField("mytext",1,100,100,300,100); mytext.multiline = true; mytext.wordWrap = true; mytext.border = false; myformat = new TextFormat(); myformat.color = 0xff0000; myformat.bullet = false; myformat.underline = true; mytext.text = "Hello World!"; mytext.setTextFormat(myformat);

30. Other  PHP  VirTools  BASIC / DarkBASIC  Delphi  Python / PyGame

31. Parade of Frameworks

32. Home Grown DirectX  Versions 5.0 to 11.0 Features Vs. Penetration Win98/Me = DX7.0 XP = DX8.0 My Advice? Stick to 7.0 or 8.0  Easy Port to XBLA  Well-Tested  Code Your Way

33. Home Grown SDL  Simple DirectMedia Layer  Free cross-platform multi-media development API  Graphics / Video Control  Input / Events  Audio / CD-ROM audio  Threads  Timers  Win32/Linux/BeOS/~MacOS

34. Flash CS4

35.  Artist- Friendly  Great For Prototyping  Vector-Based  Movie clips and timelines (Visual OOP)

36. Flash CS4  $700  MP3 support, embedded markers, etc.  ActionScript (like JavaScript)  Flash 8 improved math/rendering speed  Window, Mac, Linux, Mobile Phones, PDAs  In Browsers, It’s The Bee’s Knees

37. Flash Programming Gotchas  “Real” Programmers Rare/Expensive  Horrible GUI for Coding  Painful Debugging  But Now…

38. Flash Tricks  Embed flash in C++ using f-in-box  Must write C++ wrapper for EXE Fullscreen Support Right click handling Logs Support for other graphic/audio formats Writing to disk  Or… use AIR

39. Adobe Flex 3  Rich Internet applications  Based on Flash  ActionScript for interaction  HTML/MXML/CSS for layout  Adobe Flex Builder 3  $249  IDE built on Eclipse  Fast runtime

40. AIR  Cross-platform runtime environment  For Rich Internet Applications (RIAs)  Using Adobe Flash / Flex, HTML, or Ajax  Deploy as desktop application.  Mac, Windows, Linux  FREE

41. Director/Shockwave 11  $999  Lingo or JavaScript/ ECMAScript  Good for Downloadable (Windows/Mac)  OK for Web Games – Poor Penetration  Good 2D sprite manipulation  Strong audio support (streaming, panning, embedded markers,etc.)  Real time 3D (Shockwave3D)  Havok physics engine  Flash support  Can expand with C++ XTras

42. Director/Shockwave 11

43. Director/Shockwave

44. Silverlight 3  Web-focused  Runs atop Visual Studio 2008  XAML – UI markup language  AJAX, VB, C#, Python, Ruby  Cross-browser/platform (but Windows focused)  Poor penetration  Still unproven for games

45. Torque Game Builder 1.74  $250 to $1250  Hardware Accel SceneGraph Driven  Windows, Linux, or Mac OSX, XB 360, Wii, iPhone, or Web  Script in TorqueScript (TGE) C++-like

46. Torque Game Builder 1.74  Parallax Scrolling / Layers / Camera  Advanced Physics/Collision System  Tools Up the Wazoo Tile Editor LinkPoint Editor / Collision Polygon Editor Particle Editor GUI Editor Level Editor  Genre Kits ($40-$100) (isometric adventure, platform, strategy, side-scrolling shooter...)  Multiplayer with TorqueNet

47. Unity 2.5  Fully Integrated Graphical Editor  Play as you Develop  Runs on MacOS X only  Fast 3D (DirectX and OpenGL)  Terrains, Shaders, Particle Systems

48. Unity 2.5  Pumps out games for Mac, Windows, Wii, iPhone  Or Unity Web Player  Supports major 3D file formats  Networking  Physics  JavaScript, C#, or Boo (Python dialect)  Indie $199  Pro $1,499  iPhone $1,499

49. Sexy Framework 1.3  Free! (Just credit Popcap)  Used In: Bejewelled, Zuma, etc.  DirectX 5.0  Windows Only (98 to Vista)  FMOD and BASS sound engines.  Hardware Acceleration Option  Easy Image Manipulation  “Widget” Metaphor  Memory Leak / Smart Pointers  Performance Profiling Routines  Sample Apps

50. Playground SDK 4.0  Free!  ____ Dash (& Other PlayFirst Games)  Easy-to-use, Developer Friendly API  Hardware Acceleration / 3D / Flash  Particle System  Lua Script Support  Cross-Platform (Mac, Web)  Powerful Localization  Compact Runtime  Documentation / Community Support

51. XNA Game Studio 3.0  Express is Free  For students, hobbyists, indies.  Based on Visual C# Express 2005  Windows (XP SP2 only), Zune, and Xbox 360 XBLA Community Games = $99/year

52.  $80  Basic/C Hybrid (Arrays, Pointers, OOP)  Windows/Mac/Linux  Modular Design  Own IDE/Debugger  OpenGL Support  Lots of Source Code  Also Blitz3D  Good for Beginners BlitzMax

53. 3D Frameworks  Ogre  Irrlicht  Blender  Panda3D  Unreal  JMonkey  VirTools  Etc.

54. Parade of Servers

55. Unity 2 MDK  Multiuser applications for Flash (via Uclient)  But clients can be Java, C++, any other socket-based platform…  Code in Java  Comes with SimpleChat, MultiRoom Chat, and Tic Tac Toe.  Database connection (mySQL support)  Up to 500-1500 concurrent connections per box.  Clients cannot communite across machines.  Simple administration tools (kick or ban).  $140 express  $739 pro

56. SmartFox 1.6.5  Multiuser applications for Flash (Flash 6 through 10)  Support for Java,.Net, Unity 3D, etc.  Comes with many examples  P owerful remote administration tool  High performing and scalable (1000s on a single CPU).  SmartFoxBits -- drag and drop UI components to create game logic without code  Built on Java, but can extend server code with Actionscript, JavaScript, Python, or Java  Clusterable  But must use db to share data across servers  Can use Terracotta to scale more efficiently  BlueBox: Deals with firewalls and proxies  RedBox: Integrates full audio/video streaming  200 € to 2000 €  Max users  Add-ons

57. ElectroServer 4  Multiuser applications for Flash (AS2 or AS3)  Scalable  Distributed workload  Claim 200,000 concurrent players  Players can interact with each other  Good for MMO  Streaming Audio/Video  Java  Can use ActionScript extensions  Rapid Message Aggregator™  Good for Flash idiosyncrasies  Optional Secure Messaging  Buddly List Support  Web-based Administration  $700 for Pro  $4,400 for Enterprise (Distributed, more Connections)

58. Flash Media Interactive Server 3.5  Multiuser applications for Flash (AS2 or AS3)  Audio/Video focus  Pause and seek  Hugely scalable  CDN support  Live video / webcam recording  Encrypted streaming  Simple interface for streaming audio/video, shared objects, and remote procedure calls  Most functions via XML files  Modified Actionscript 2  Starts at $4,500 per 100 users

59. Red5 v0.8  Open Source version of FMS  Not prime time yet  With SmartFox?

60. Project Darkstar 0.9.8  Massively scalable games server in Java  Client agnostic…  Open source!  Highly scalable  Zoneless and Shardless  All users can communicate real-time  Uses servers efficiently  Plus Fail-over  Transactional data storage system  Game state persistent  Deals with failures  Free (GPL)  Few proven projects…

61. Parade of Middleware

62. Somatone’s CADI  Interactive music  Beat Sync  Orchestral mixing  PC, MAC, iPhone

63. Gamebryo  Serious 3D Tools  Flexible geometry pipeline  Support for 3DS Max, Maya, SoftImage  Output to PC (DirectX 9 10), Xbox 360/XBLA, and PS3/PSN  Animation Tool  Shader System  Asset Viewer  Scene Designer  Specify, place and optimize lights and cameras  Terrain Editor  Terrain System  Dynamic LOD  Path-finding, audio variations, foliage types, and more

64. Large Animal TOGA  Messaging System  Cross Social Networks  Leaderboards  Asynchronous and Synchronous Play  Inventory and Achievements  Affinity Points & Viral Touchpoints

65. Freespin  Import 3D Models into Flash as MovieClip  Extensive and Dynamic  Friendly  $299  Other Open Source Flash 3D Solutions  Sandy  PPV  Away3D

66. Re-Enter The Matrix

67. “Hard” Features Matrix  Price (Upfront + License)  Runtime Performance  Min Sys Reqs  Size  Dev Support and Documentation  Vista Support  Unicode Support  Cross Platform (Mac, XBLA, iPhone, Mobile)  Localization Tools  Other Tools

68. “Medium” Features Matrix  3D Acceleration  Vector Support  Flash Support  3D Model Support  Scalable Fonts  Multiplayer  Scripting Languages  Particle Systems  Encryption or Obfuscation of Assets

69. “Soft” Features Matrix  Learning Curve  Known Bugs  Custom Coding Required  Different Game Genre Support  Proven?

70.  This ain’t rocket science. Polygons? Frames Per Second? Resolutions? Polymorphic 3D surround sound? Gesture based vibrating controller?  Publishers (usually) don’t care  Players won’t know (unless they can’t play)  For 2D puzzle game, easy switching cost Know Your Game

71.  Programmers ain’t bitching.  Artists don’t have to code.  Designers can find fun fast.  Biz team can maximize profits. You Might Be a Good Framework If…

72. Survey Says…

74.  2D Downloadable Game? Don’t roll your own!  Bugs are inevitable: Proven || Strong_Support || Open_Source  Easy to get started.  No special knowledge.  Easy to expand and write tools. My Recommendation

75. Take a Picture Now! Casual Games SIG/Whitepaper/Technology http://www.igda.org/wiki/Casual_Games_SIG/Whitepaper/Technology Development Platforms for Casual Games By Phil Steinmeyer http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050324/steinmeyer_pfv.htm What About Flash? Can We Really Make Games With It? By Scott Bilas http://www.drizzle.com/~scottb/gdc/flash-paper.htm Casual Games Technology Survey By James Smith http://www.igda.org/casual/quarterly/2_1/index.php?id=8 Technology Face-Off Panel from 2007 Summit http://www.casualgamessummit.com/presentations/presentations.html

76. G’luck!  Want the Matrix or Links? http://davidfox.googlepages.com http://www.casualgamessummit.com 2009 Casual Games Whitepaper