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[Mnemonic]

Hello muties,

since some of you are asking about the future of WME, here's what's going on.

WME 1.x is currently in maintenance-only mode. That means, it will only receive bugfixes and possibly some minor feature changes, but no large new features are planned.

I'm now (finally) fully concentrating on WME 2.0, which is going to be a major rewrite of the engine and tools. It was a tough decision (I will not go into details here), but I strongly believe it is necessary to ensure future growth and expansibility of WME.
I'll post more information on the project when I have actually something to show, but for now it's very early in development.


A mini-FAQ...

Q: When is WME 2 released?
A: When it's done. Seriously, I can't answer that. I'm only working on WME in my spare time, therefore it's pretty much impossible to make any solid plans. It will surely take at least months to have something presentable.

Q: Should I wait for WME 2 to start production of my game?
A: Definitely not. If WME 1.x provides the features you need now, by all means use it.

Q: Will WME 2 be backward compatible with WME 1.x projects?
A: No, it's not a design goal. There may be some conversion tools for easier transition, but nothing is sure at the moment.

Q: Will WME 2 support (insert your favourite feature here)?
A: It's too early to discuss specific features. Let's just say I intend to use features that worked well in WME 1.x and expand on them, creating a state-of-the-art game engine. Again, I will release more info when I'm ready.


More questions? Post them in this thread.

[Birdline]

Good to hear this,
Q1. Will WME 2 be a more 3D engine, or more a better WME 1?
Q2. Will WME 2 still be free (donate)?
Spyros

[Catacomber]

What does "state of the art" mean?  :  )

Fully 3d?

Portable to pda or smartphone or something else?

I think everyone should be curious about this.  :  )

I know what it means to work on something in the time you have available (you don't get much sleep) so I think everyone should be very grateful to you for this. 

[Darky]

Glad to hear you will develop the engine further!

I hope it will have some more 3D Possibilitys like Dynamic Shadows and Shaders. Maybe even just as an optional feature so that the ones who don't need those can disable the enhanced 3D stuff and reduce the system requirements for their game to lower end machines instantly

It would be fine with me if the new WME Engine (in case it is stable and feature-rich enough) would charge a bit money for the usage in commercial games OR for support on extra features in form of modules. I love the free aspect on WME 1 but there always are a few things I am missing like different OS compatibility (Linux and especially Mac has great customer bases) and maybe more 3D Formats (.X and the Panda Exporter for 3Dsmax can make me sometimes very angry when nothing really works out as it should. Exporting could be much easier like with non-adventure related game engines)

So if money could help you to bring those things and make WME even more powerful than it already is - I would pay for it and be happy about it. Maybe think about modules for some unique extra features and charge for them. I don't know what would work out the best way for you to get a bit of reward and investment money to develop the engine further.

Sad thing just is Indies don't have much money and they pay hardly, so at least something needs left to be free to try out, the prices shouldn't be too high and there should be somehow more incentive to pay for something.

[metamorphium]

great stuff. I'd hope for some better sound support (eg. open AL) with 5.1 capabilities and such.

[Spellbreaker]

I would simply use two license models. First : Free Game / Free Engine, second, commercial game, pay for engine once.

Of course then Mnemonic has to pay taxes and all, and it's always a question if it's worth it. ( At least here in Germany it's a quite big bureaucratic act, so it consumes too much time for small money...)

[Derrek3D]

Will the new engine still be able to produce 2.5D games with pre-rendered backgrounds like the current version of the engine does, or will it be 3D only?

Thanks.

[Jihar]

Hello muties,
since some of you are asking about the future of WME, here's what's going on.
...

Thats a great news!

It will be superious to see features that cant be added by users. For example - i can add midi support, some extended sound features (like 5.1 support or DS3D\OpenAL\EAX), multiplayer support and many many more - i can add such features by myself. But i cant expand engine render. Multitexturing\Shaders\Post-effects etc - its almost impossible to add such features to wme 1.x. Its the only feature i really need in wme

[atm_deev]

But i cant expand engine render. Multitexturing\Shaders\Post-effects etc - its almost impossible to add such features to wme 1.x. Its the only feature i really need in wme

Yes. Otherwise, it may not be sold.

[Mnemonic]

Q1. Will WME 2 be a more 3D engine, or more a better WME 1?

Yes, the plan is for it to be a bit "more 3D" However...

Will the new engine still be able to produce 2.5D games with pre-rendered backgrounds like the current version of the engine does, or will it be 3D only?

I believe the demand for 2.5D is still quite large. But unlike WME1, which started 2D and 3D features have been added later (for apparent reasons), I think it's better to treat 2.5D as a simplified case of full-3D.

Q2. Will WME 2 still be free (donate)?

I can't tell at the moment. It depends on many factors.

Portable to pda or smartphone or something else?

While portability is much more important nowadays than it was when WME 1 started, I'm only considering "fully-fledged" platforms for now.

But i cant expand engine render. Multitexturing\Shaders\Post-effects etc - its almost impossible to add such features to wme 1.x. Its the only feature i really need in wme

Yes. Otherwise, it may not be sold.

It doesn't seem that the lack of shaders prevented you from selling several wme-based games, did it?

[Jyujinkai]

my 2 cents.

I would like to see, if possible, more controle of video backdrops and stuff... pause, play frame range, loops etc etc all controlable from scripting... also in addition animated 3D cameras and lighting, so you can have pre-rendered camera moves and 3D actors... ... if that all make sense

[Jerrot]

Yes. Otherwise, it may not be sold.

It doesn't seem that the lack of shaders prevented you from selling several wme-based games, did it?

And - speaking of commercial titles - you guys hopefully donated Mnemonic a fair win percentage for the engine.

I mean... just to be fair. Mnemonic did all this over the years and gives it away for free. For free! Yay! (Can't decide between  and  ...)
(I got no money from Mnemonic to write this! )

EDIT: I forgot the actual message: HOORAY for WME2!  HOORAY for Mnemonic!

[atm_deev]

It doesn't seem that the lack of shaders prevented you from selling several wme-based games, did it?

Yes. The lack of shaders, we do not prevented a number of games on WME. But you are wrong, if you think that I have benefited from this. Consider me a good patron.

p.s.
I assure you that if WME maintain shaders, the price it would be multiplied.

[Jihar]

But unlike WME1, which started 2D and 3D features have been added later (for apparent reasons), I think it's better to treat 2.5D as a simplified case of full-3D.

I was happy to hear this! There remains only one thing to do - wait

[sychron]

To support atm-deev, just think about So Blonde, which left WME because of the graphics, while it seems to still use the core idea.