FPS Creator 1.17 – Now you’re talking!

Posted on 15th August 2010 by Wehtam

I remember the weekend I purchased FPS Creator v1 very well. I spent many hours fiddling with the script system and trying to make a convincing urban setting. To me FPS Creator always felt very “open”, giving you the tools to experiment with your own logic scripts and behaviours.

People’s expectations were high, a steady flow of feature requests mounted as users wanted to act upon the inspiration they draw from modern releases.

Fast forward to the present and FPS Creator v1.17 is released. Don’t let the rather meagre version number fool you, this 70.6 MB update offers a huge list of updates. Bloom, particle decals and new “Dark AI” are but a few of the features that are now free to owners of FPS Creator.

FPS Creator 1.17 - Example of bloom and particle effects

FPS Creator 1.17 - Example of bloom and particle effects

Having made the jump to version 1.17 from a very old version, I think the difference is staggering. Of course it’s not just the new features and visuals that have benefited, the general stability and speed of the program seems to have been improved upon as well.

If you pushed FPS Creator aside due to previous frustrations, I urge you to reinstall, download the latest update and give it another whirl. I certainly believe you’ll be surprised at the new tricks this powerful games engine can produce, and who can argue at a £32.99 price tag ?

Download the FPS Creator v1.17 update from The Game Creators website.
It’s game making time!

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Animation with InDesign CS5

Posted on 5th August 2010 by Wehtam

So I’ve recently purchased the upgrade edition of InDesign CS5. A feature I am definitely having fun with is the new Animation and Timing panels, finally it seems that Flash has fallen into the hands of the designer once more.

I loved Flash back in the days of ActionScript 2.  Where button actions were simple to create and a slideshow could be generated with only a few trials and errors.  When ActionScript 3 arrived I was blown away by how strict and formal the language had become, instead of writing a basic onClick() action I had to “register an event listener”.  I’m not complaining though, Flash was making a natural progression to cater more for developers and those wishing to create more than a gimmicky slideshow.

Now it seems that Flash is forming a staple part of InDesign, the animation above was solely created in InDesign.  Interactive elements are also easy to implement (e.g. click on the 8-bit Chris in the above animation).  Many hard core InDesign fans have expressed a dislike for this move into interactive animation, InDesign has always been associated with design for print.  Personally, I’m very excited at the prospect of creating an animated PDF magazine or being able to quickly produce a flashy banner advert.  Cheers Adobe.

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