[isointeractive]

I tried to add to the news section but there is no link. Sooo I guess this is just for moderators.

A new demo version of ISO STUDIO had been released. It is a reusable stand alone Collision Map Editor with external components such as an isometric engine and even behaviors to work with Macromedia Director.

The authoring demo is free.

http://www.isointeractive.com/products/isointeractiveStudio/




Feed back is welcome.

Thank you.

[Adam]

USD 295... Woah.
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[isointeractive]

This is for the full version.

The Authoring Demo is free.

And if you build it with the Demo you just need to use the correct engine and sr#.

Do you think you client would pay more 295?

-T

[Bjorn]

Nobody here is probably going to pay anything for this, as this is part of what we like to make as a hobby. Most of us are into creating RPGs and we create our own editors to edit the collision layer of the maps the way we like it.

Together with biggeruniverse and the help of some others, I am building towards a more general map editor (http://tiled.rpgdx.net/), but it'll still only appeal to a small subset of independent developers. It is free though, both as in free beer and as in freedom.

[isointeractive]

What you have sounds good.
I will take a look at it.

As far as out product have you downloaded it and played with it?

We have spent many hours developing it and designed it so the files are reusable. That saves lots of time for many users. However I understand the real coders like to do all the code them self.

However we are not trying to make a profit, just justify the cost of development and make a good tool others can use.

After all our clients pay us to make interactive content, so it makes sence to create a tool we would use our self.

Thank you for you input.

PS next full version we are adding MUS (multi user server) functions.

[tcaudilllg]

$295 is not "recouping for investment." :P For the same price, I could own either WindowsXP Professional or any three professional Linux distros.

LOL. I understand your point in trying to develop a webready solution for professional game development, but this isn't the place to advertise. You aren't going to get John Romero's attention here. >_<

Look at it this way: we'd need Macromedia Director, itself a $500 dollar app, to even profit from your program as you advertise it. Unless you are gonna lower the price to like $30 (in all honesty, heh) then you should probably remove the announcement from the RPGDX news page. If you do lower the price you may be successful. If you don't, the only people who will pay attention are those who already have far more established and reputable solutions.

[Mandrake]

It looks very nice, but in the end it's just an isometric engine. Using a professional 3d engine is cheaper than this. But, I do wish you luck in your venture.
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"Well, last time I flicked on a lighter, I'm pretty sure I didn't create a black hole."-
Xmark

http://pauljessup.com

[Nephilim]

First off, I'd have to agree that the visitors to this forum tend to enjoy rolling their own solutions (many of us - including me - have written their own isometric engines in the past), so you're at a disadvantage already. And there's the issue of working under a license, too.

But the thing that will make it really difficult to sell to this group is the cost. We talked a bit earlier about your product. From the demo, it looks pretty nice - the pathfinding and display appear to be pretty solid - but your price tag puts it well beyond the reach of most hobbyists, including me...and I already have access to Director.

But then again, maybe hobbyists are not your target clientele. There appears to be a growing niche of Shockwave-based online game development, after all. Perhaps your pricing is more appropriate for that group. If you don't mind sharing, how many licenses have you sold? Can you point us to some example online games that use your technology? I'd be interested in seeing some of the things other people have made with your product.

If you're seeing sales from the online game development houses, but not from hobbyists, you might consider an alternate pricing scheme for hobbyists and shareware developers. You still won't sway the people who enjoy writing their own engines, or working free of license restrictions, but you might pick up some people that would otherwise be put off.

[Bjorn]

[exploreRPG]

You guys really need to be a little more mature to business sharing their work.

[Rainer Deyke]

As a commercial developer, I don't think the criticism toward isodeveloper is out of place. If I were advertising a commercial product here, that's exactly the sort of criticism I would want.

Software pricing is a funny business because there is essentially no per-unit cost. You make the same amount of money if you sell one copy for a million dollars as you do if you sell a million copies for one dollar each. A niche market product like ISO STUDIO selling won't ever sell a million copies. However, there's a good chance that its optimal pricing point is much lower. Then again, it's also possible that its optimal pricing point is much higher. There's no way to tell for certain without experimenting.

[isointeractive]

Thank you every one for the comments.

Although we can agree to not agree on all points, all feed back is welcome.

We will never get back in sales what we put in hours of development. And we are OK with that.

The main point is to help promote that type of interactive development and to promote ISOinteractive. We have a large portfolio that helps us pay the bills. The sISO STUDIO oftware (although we love it) is not designed for profit but a point of expertise that allow us to get interactive work.

You see if can can create a product that:
1. Unique (some what any way)
2. Interesting
3. Can be used for communication
4. Saves time
5. Resuable

Then people trust us to develop there interactive content (via CD, web or what ever).

We try to look at it from the customers point of view.
Hmmmm, if I were a customer and wanted a cool interactive MUS chat room at a reasonable cost should i go to Jow Blows' brother or maybe some one that has a 10 year history of interactive content for small, medium and fourtune 500 compaines? Hell, they even create the (commerical) software that creates the apps.

In other words it helps us stay in buisness regardless of the number sales.

Don't get me wrong, we not a big company (so we really do not care if you buy the software or not) just a couple of guys that really love what we are doing. In that we just ask the comunity for feed back. Sooo we can make it better for the next version.

Any way we welcome every one to take a look at a pervious chat we did that is a pre cursor to the ISO STUDIO concept.
Take a peek if you have shockwave: http://www.isointeractive.com/portfolio/astrochat.asp

A. Also to supply answers to some of statements the result work on both MAC and PC. Not to sure if shockwave works for unix or not. The CME part is for PC but again the files it exports works on both.

There is an mobile engine with it and a number of behaviors to automatically set walk cycles for avatars and even z-depth ordering.

We are creating a simple tutorial now (due in 2 weeks)

You can create online, as well as CD, or downloadble stuff with Macromedia Director sooo there are many possibilities.

And do not foget about MUS (multi-user server). There are about half a dozen seperat MUS type of formats for that alone.

B. Now as far as the price, Wellllllll the price will probably be reduced after we have finished the version 2. Version 2 will have build in MUS capiblities for online and offline content. http://www.shockwaveserver.com supplies many of the connections for these type of thing. So it is real easy to get it going.

c. The Authoring version IS FREE (I think I mentioned this before?). It only prevents you to publish it on the web or create and .exe out it. At that point the client should pay you for your work.

Again all comments or even quesitons are welcome.

Thank you very much
-T

[biggerUniverse]

exploeRPG, we ARE a bunch of condescending, immature, and silly people. But many of us believe that competitive, quality products can be made for free.

Many of us also believe that if you can't handle the cross-platform stuff on your own, what business do you have asking people to buy it. Our merit system is based on raw skill. To some that is condescending, and to a noob, it's probably very crushing. But that doesn't mean that if they keep trying and get more experience that they will always be regarded as sub-par.

[janus]

[Bjorn]