Fusion 2.5 is out pretty soon, and if it is backwards compatible with MMF2 I'll probably get it, but I can't seem to find a list of any sort about what is new from MMF2 - Fusion 2.5. Does anyone know? From what I can see there are Steam Achievements and Leaderboards which is awesome and a physics engine of sorts. I assume it will be more powerful too (I went from TGF to MMF2 and that was a considerable jump in performance).
Also how much will it cost to upgrade do you think? I was too dumb to realise I could get a discounted upgrade price back in the day.
Things that I'm pleased with:
- integrated Box2D extensions
- clearer bug-squashing in the Expression editor
- hotkey capability to set the hotspot at the "center mass" of a sprite
- apparently has more efficient loops
- more efficient zooming
- native HTML5 support, which seems very interesting (although I'm perfectly fine with Flash at the moment)
Unpleasant surprises:
- Not compatible with anything older than WinXP-SP3 (though this is nit-picky)
- ...That's pretty much it.
I'm not going to piss and moan about the upgrade price because frankly I'll eventually upgrade regardless of the price. I have a feeling I'll finally be able to put more-realistic physics into the games I make with this tool.
Jeff Vance also released a video about a month ago, I think:
My guess is that the upgrade price will be about $60 or so. Which is worth it I think.
I also heard read that they're revamping the built-in movements. I guess they realized that no one was using the current buggy built-in movements.
HTML 5 support will be really nice if it has decent performance on mobile devices. It'll be cool to build web applications with it too I'm sure. Of course it'll be limited by the browser the user is using. Hopefully it'll support the get object out of the box.
Liking the new features added. I'm doing my first HD game so better alpha channel compression is a welcome improvement. I'm also keen to try out the layer zooming.
Not impressed so far. Seems like a very minor upgrade, and will presumably mean Clickteam (and extension developers) will be abandoning MMF2 - if not immediately, then soon.
I'm most likely switching to Javascript anyway.
Kinda disappointing, though it'll be fun to see all the new movements. Does anyone else think the "new" interface still looks like a Windows 95 application? -.-
Sounds pretty good, although I don't think the improved/new features are important to me.
The biggest thing for Fusion 2.5 is the integrated and easier-to-use physics and a free version that's HTML5 only (if they go ahead with the idea.)
Originally Posted by -UrbanMonk- Javascript? Don't be silly.
That's not something to "switch" to. They're two totally different things.
I'm switching from cars to cats.
What are you talking about? MMF2 is used to make games; Javascript is used to make games. Call it HTML5 if you prefer, but it's the same thing really - you're still coding entirely in Javascript.
@ Liam: It could be worse - they could have gone with a ribbon interface (then I *definitely* wouldn't be buying it).
Javascript games run terrible, and have a ton of overhead. You need a decent machine to run simple games. Google has made a lot of headway with Chrome, but still it's no comparison to native code, or even the MMF runtime.
Anyway do what you wish.
I personally like the new interface. It looks like it fits with the new interface trends we've seen from Microsoft and Apple.
@ Urban Monk - Obviously it wouldn't be a good choice for fast-paced action games with loads of fancy effects - but then nor would MMF2 if used with the Flash exporter (Flash is actually even slower these days, and not even supported on many devices). Fusion 2.5 will export to HTML5, but at this point I know Javascript inside-out, and would find it quicker writing code directly (using an alternative framework if necessary).
I'm actually working on my own rather unusual HTML5 game development tool at the moment...
Originally Posted by Sketchy @ Urban Monk - Obviously it wouldn't be a good choice for fast-paced action games with loads of fancy effects
True.
Originally Posted by Sketchy but then nor would MMF2 if used with the Flash exporter (Flash is actually even slower these days, and not even supported on many devices).
False, MMF2's flash runtime is much faster at these things, and even more so with native flash.
See I get all the hate for flash.
I know flash itself is terribly optimized, but javascript is even worse. And yes Flash is still faster than javascript and has less overhead even being as bad as it is.
I don't think flash is going anywhere anytime soon. At least not for games. No one plays javascript games on their phones because they want to. They do it to show it off, but after the novelty is gone they're back to playing candy crush.
Another strike against javascript and HTML 5 is lack of browser support, and differences between them. Game developers don't want to test their code base on a ton of browsers. Not only that, but HTML 5 isn't even fully implemented on any of the browsers yet. At least with flash you know your application will run the same regardless of browser support.
I'm happy that MMF 2.5 will support HTML 5 though! It'll be great for web applications, and games of course!
I would take the flash version over an HTML 5 version of game though.
Sadly that demo uses significantly more resources than the native engine.
It's not viable for mobile devices or slower machines.
So one of the big benefits of javascript, mobile support, isn't even relevant since as I said it has a ton of overhead. Overhead that mobile devices can't afford. And even if it could your battery would last half the time it would if it were native code.
Anyway do what you want. I doubt you'll be writing a 3D engine in javascript yourself anyhow. Although if you are/have I'd love to see it.
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Edited by UrbanMonk
