#CDROM Development
26 messages in this thread
I was wondering if there are any thoughts out there regarding CD rom
development.
I've just been approached by a wannabe CD developer to assist on a CD-ROM
project that would target the home or office computer user. It is
potentially a great opportunity to work on some advanced applications.
The only problem I'm facing is that he doesn't want to develop for the
Amiga market because it is way too small and not recognized enough.
Although I pointed out the Amiga is a cost effective development platform
(even if the result is ported to another system) he is quite steadfast.
My problem is that my product loyalty is interfering with my professional
judgement. Facts is facts: there are Billions & Billions of clones out
there and only 3-4 M Amigas & 200K or so CDTVs. Also, the majority of my
experience is on Amigas so I would have to encounter a new learning curve
to switch to a Clone. Of coarse, I originally bought the Amiga for the
potential to develop multimedia, it's a cruel irony…
So, why am I writing this??? Well, is there anyone who has cross-platform
developed either CD products or multimedia applications? How realistic is
it that the Amiga CD ROM market will be able to support CDTV development.
Is it practical to use the Amiga as a spring board for CD-I, 3DO, PeeCee,
Mac or other products. Any thoughts on the future developments of CD-ROM
Publishing and CD Infotainment?
This developer is not technically inclined so he is looking at me as his
technical advisor. It's a scary case of the blind leading the blind.
Thanks for any input.
Andrew
Andrew,
I've always felt that such arguments (CD-ROM on the Amiga being a waste of
time vs IBM CD-ROM) are moot in certain situations.
If your project is heavy on Graphics and Music, etc., you're obviously
going to want to use your Amiga as the development machine. Porting over
to PC pict and sound formats are not a problem anymore (within reason).
Since this means you'll already have most of your data on the Amiga side,
finishing it off for the Amiga will be very small, time and expense-wise,
in comparison to the whole project.
This all, of course, hinges on how complex a project we're talking about.
Interactive slideshows are perfect, which are 70% of what's out there in
CD-ROM land, IMO, area breeze in CanDo or Amigavision. If you're doing
specialized stuff involving data formats that are particular to PC's, then
you have a problem.
I've been pitching some CD-ROM projects to a few investors and they never
have a problem with my assertion of Mac/IBM/Amiga CD-ROMs when I show them
how cheap (relatively) it would cost to do the Amiga portion. As long as
it's available for the IBM, they nod their greedy little heads. 8)
Miguel ——– AP, AP, and away!
Miguel, thanks for letting me milk your brain 😎
TTTT, at this point we have only had one introductory meeting from which I
haven't gotten a clear indication of what exactly he is aiming at. He may
be intending simply a CD-ROM phonebook or perhaps something more
interesting. Of coarse, my ideas regarding this have nothing to do with
simply using a new form of data storage. I see grand, entertaining,
informing and provocative applications and he appears to be setting his
sights on the commercial sector. That's a bridge we will have to cross.
Now, if it is more a phonebook than a *killer multimedia app* then
obviously the lions share of work will be in IBM format, as you pointed
out. Otherwise, how easy/difficult is the conversion of a/v files to
other platforms? Are we looking at Amiga apps such as ADPro or do would
there be support on the other side. Pics & 8SVX files I expect would be
easy but what about SMUS or Mods, Animations & other forms. Also, I guess
all scripting on one side is lost to the other except for the design
elements.
What I was picturing was using the Amiga to develop a nearly complete app
because of the special benefits provided by the system. The problem with
this plan is the actual programming would need to be duplicated and
modified for the target platform. I guess the crux of my question is does
the time that is saved by using a development friendly platform such as
the Amiga compensate for the efforts to port to a new system. Naturally,
I'll have to get more info from him before any decisions are made.
What do you think of the potential for consumer apps such CDTV or CDI,
etc.
Miguel, are you actually doing development? What's your slant? This is
potentially my first real project so I feel a bit overwhelmed. This
investor has a white heat to get going right away and although, it is a
great opportunity I wonder if perhaps it might be best to wait awhile.
But, then, I'd hate to miss the boat….
Thanks again,
Andrew
Well, in regards to file conversion, like you said, PCX/IFF and 8SVX/??
files shouldn't present too much of a problem. MODS… I thought these
can now be played on both IBM/Amigas? Maybe I'm mistaken.
The trick is to find a killer multimedia tool (CanDo, AV, Scala, Director,
etc.) on both platforms that offer compiled/runtime capabilities (I could
be wrong about Scala, tho). I've already mentioned a few Amiga programs
that fit this bill. Get something in the IBM world that's similar and
you've eliminated your engine problem. Xfer over the data and you're all
set.
If you're talking actually programming an engine, then yes, you'll have to
decide whether porting over and debugging code from one platform to
another is really worth it. My opinion is nope.
A phonebook directory with limited multimedia whiz-banging would be
simple, I think. Of course, the person you're speaking with might shoot
for the stars and that might mean narrowing it down to only 1 platform and
even focusing tighter on who/what can run this CD-ROM.
That's why I always shoot for material that could be presented,
theoretically, in a kiosk. You're shooting for general purpose and
there's still plenty of room for innovation there. The specialized stuff,
while maybe more interesting, kind of defeats the idea of CD-ROM as
Provider Of Gobs of Goodies for the masses, IMO. Maybe I'm just
rationalizing since to be honest, I haven't been able to come up with any
special apps for the CD-ROM market without having to invest a TON of
money.
Of course, the easiest way is to put all the data on the CD-ROM and have
the actual program on floppy disk(s). Makes updating the software a heck
of alot easier as well as encryption of the data.
To answer your question regarding CDTV/CDI. No, I'm ignoring those
platforms.
3DO, now that's a different story?! 8)
My slant is that of a former MultiMedia nut whose sole claim to (in my
head) fame has been producing an educational Laserdisc multimedia product
with Commodore and Scholastic Inc. It's a great product (Ask Cathy
Godfrey, over at CBM!), won a few awards, but of course with CBM's
marketing and Scholastic's hatred of the Amiga (can you blame an
educational publisher cringing at investing in a machine that has probably
.1% presence in most elementary/high schools?), it's gone nowhere really.
We sold around a thousand units or more but not enough to warrant our
group getting rehired. If you saw it, you'd be blown away. It was such a
departure (2 years ago) from your standard Hypercard stack, lame slide
show stuff. Just using a genlock made all the difference in the world.
Even the stuff Warner and Paramount are putting out now is not as cool.
Informative, yes, but not dazzling, the way this stuff should be done.
Now I'm the Technical Manager of another part of Scholastic, the
Instructional Publishing Group (IPG) where I am King of the Macs. Soon to
be promoted to Director of Tech/Art & Design where maybe all these
kazillion ideas I have for CD-ROM/MM can bloom. I hope to sneak a 486 and
a 4000T down the line.
I've proposed a few things every now and then for the past 3 years, but
either the investors weren't willing or my time is so full at work that I
couldn't get it off the ground.
My dream is have a gob of money thrown at me and let me manage a real neat
CD-ROM project. Let me hire all the animators, programmers, testers, etc.
I can do it, I know I can.
Any takers? 8)
Miguel ——– AP, AP, and away!
Yes, I believe MODS can be played on PCs. Of course, there aren't many
(or any?) commercial Amiga authoring packages that support MODS directly
so I guess that's a mute point anyway.
Authoring packages definitely can cut down on develoment time. However, I
wish there was a common development language that would facilitate
porting. Of course, authoring S/W developers don't want a open
architechture because they would have no way of trapping. I suppose
something like Director is closest because of its basic language source.
Do you know anything about Grasp or other PC applications?
It's unlikely I'll ever do advanced programming. ARexx pretty well is my
limit. I have wondered if that's a problem. I see my self more as a
designer (don't we all???) but my technical "prowess" is not as advanced
as I would like. Are the majority of CD engines out there in a lower
level language or an authoring system? Will I have to "C" to see?
As I mentioned, I have no real idea as to what he is aiming at. We meet
on Monday and I'm susposed to present a spec cost analysis for H/W & S/W.
He speaks much of marketting and great expectations but not much on
substance. It'll be interesting…
I'm currently working on one of those specialized applications which may
or may not have a commercial market. Seeing as it isn't a paid passtime I
am torn as to if I should persevere or drop it and help create an
electronic phone book. The phone book would be a great learning
experience but I feel there isn't much I can bring to it. On the other
hand, not have any real experience is a definite drawback and so I should
jump at any opportunity to advance my skills.
When you did the Laserdisc what skills did you bring with you? The funny
thing about the concept of multimedia is that it attracts all sorts of
people. That, if anything, indicates that eventually it will be
successful. Is IPG electronic publishing or hardware (Books and things)?
BTW,congradulations on your promotion!!
I didn't know that Warner & Paramount are in the Biz, although it makes
sense. What sort of stuff are the producing and who uses it?
Anyway, it's 2 AM so I should probably be on my way. Thanks for your
input.
Andrew
I'm pretty sure there are now libraries out there (CanDo?), both
commercial and PD/Shareware, that can let you incorporate MODS into your
scripts.
Director is good, but AV is the best for straight ahead flow-chart
scripting. Struggles, my project, was done completely in AV except for 6
modules that were C programs. It did a great job. It's no Hypercard,
though, but I think there are others now that can claim that distinction.
I don't know alot about the current PC MM authoring applications.
I was just at the IRA convention at San Antonio, TX. No, not THAT IRA;
the International Reading Association. Everyone who has an invested
interest in Educational Publishing sets up a booth and showcases their
latest stuff. This is traditional publishing (books, magazines, etc.) but
of course computers are making an impact slowly but surely. This is the
3rd year, I believe, that Scholastic has had something electronic to show.
There's also, as I mentioned, Warner Bros, Paramount, Harcourt Brace, and
a few others that had something electronic to show.
If you've seen any of the Discis CD-ROM books then you know 90% of the
market: Take a simple children's book and animate it (to whatever extent)
with music and speech thrown in. Whatever variations you come up with are
what will sell your product.
Unfortunately, noone is trying a more video arcade approach to educational
material. That's my driving line when I come up with ideas. How to tap
into the Nintendo/Sega mentality that most 5-10 year olds have and use
that to educate them. Since most educational publishing houses are full
of former teachers, professors of education, and all the rest of that
academic bullsh*t, it's understandable that they're not catching on.
I'm also less a programmer type and more a "do-er" type. (Technical
Designer, to borrow your terms!) Gimme an idea and I'll (somehow) get it
from idea to finished design. Think of Jobs and Wozniak. (The old Apple
team!) I'm like Jobs (in only the most superficial sense!!!). I might
not know alot of C, but I am familiar enough with what has been
accomplished in computer software that when someone says "I need X" I can,
with 99% accuracy, say "Yes, it can be done" or "No, unless you wanna
throw more money at it!"
For the Struggles project, I was given a rough outline of an nifty social
studies program. We tried IBM & Mac and neither offered hardware that
would be cheap enough for a school. CBM was still trying to make a dent
in the educational market and of course I mentioned to my superiors that
my favorite machine, the Amiga, would be perfect! The rest is history.
8)
It was my first REAL job in that field and I had the same misgivings you
have now. I took it and am glad to say I've never regretted it. The
skills I brought with me were 2 in number: 1) I am what you could call a
power user. Love computers, never get enough of them. Read up on current
stuff, etc. and 2) I am sufficiently anal-retentive that I'm a decent
manager… can keep things in order and running smoothly.
IPG is into traditional paper publishing, closely tied to the school
curriculum.
Thanks for the pat on the back! I hope I get the promotion, although
they're discussing my raise at the moment. If we agree on it, it's a done
deal. If not, such is life.
Miguel ——– AP, AP, and away!
Miguel,
For MODS, if there aren't libraries one can at least multitask an ARexx
compatible program such as EDPlayer and use it to play the music. One of
the key benefits of a m/ting OS.
I like the Director but there are certain things that are more complicated
and it's graphic rendering support seems slow. I wish it had more builtin
features to assist in development, as well. With AV, I suspect it's
strongest feature is the dBIII support. Apparently version 2 is is also
better to use. I still prefer a text script, even if I'm not a
programmer.
I only know a bit about PC apps but one of the key features is that they
are expensive. Even the low end versions are twice the price of Amiga
versions and don't have the benefit of m/ting, as I pointed out. For the
HIGH end, such as AuthorWare, (which don't have any real comparable Amiga
titles) are more expensive than a complete Amiga system. AW, for example
has a "special" Canadian price of $6495 (about US $6k) and doesn't even
include an unlimited license. Other products generally seem to be over
$1000.
I recently went to IMEC (Interactive Multimedia Ex & Conf, or sumthin')
and saw a number of ed programs but none that you mentioned. (It was
poorly attended). When I say to lay people that I'm interested in CBT
they still look at me strangely and say there's no money in education…
Would you say that the majority of applications are directed at children
or adults? I guess the development goals are largely different for each
group. I guess the resistance to arcade type stuff is the fear that the
children will have fun and not learn anything. After all, education can't
be fun :-).
I think I mentioned that I'm in the process of learning C but I wasn't
sure if it was worth while. Of coarse, to manage or advise for something
one needs to at least be able to understand the process. Would a more
accurate term for you be Project Manager?
The telephone CD project that I'm potentially getting into right now will
essentually put me in the position of project manager/techy advisor. I'm
quite torn because it isn't in an area of interest (corporate services)
and there is the potential that I won't make any money for my time. But
then, with my lack of experience, doing this would be a nice feather in my
cap and any professional experience would be good experience. Oh,
decisions, decisions. I waver from hour to hour. At least I don't expect
to LOSE any money…
I share skill number one: techy junky. Number two, manager, is my weak
area. Hopefully I will be able to build up that part.
So your promotion isn't confirmed. Well, best of luck.
Andrew
Those folks at that conference are right… there is no money in
educational software UNLESS you hook up with a successful publisher. Ala
Scholastic, Warner, Broderbund, etc….
I wouldn't try anything small-company-wise in education. It's doomed to
fail… the educational market is no-money because, in case you haven't
noticed, schools have no money! Subsequently, they are very conservative
on what they'll spend their annual budgets on and will normally stick to
the major hitters (see above list!).
I keep hoping Director 3 will come out RSN. With full AGA support and
everything.
If the software is that expensive, then author it yourself on one machine,
spec the whole thing out and farm it to some eager programmer for coding
in C (or whatever). It's freelance so you keep the rights to the program
and it'll be cheaper. Incentive to the programmer is money for continuing
support. (updates, bug-squashing, etc.) You'll also eliminate tons of
overhead code-wise which will improve speed, efficiency, etc.
Yeah, all the stuff I've been talking about is children's education, not
adult. There's potential in the adult field as well…
Learning C will surely help! Knowledge is power!
Project Manager is definitely accurate, but my leanings are still more
tech, so maybe Project/Tech Manager is more accurate. A Project Manager
would have to deal with the writers, editors, copy-editors, etc., which I
don't care for.
Miguel ——– AP, AP, and away!
Miguel,
Ya, the conservative route is the way decisions are made, in industry and
the public sector.
I would think, though, that if one product is strong & cost effective
enough it might be a viable option. The cost of products like CDTV seem
to be low enough that one could convince the buyers that it's just like a
VCR they might be convinced to go for it. I can see why they wouldn't
want to go for a Video disk system because you are looking at the player,
a computer, monitor and someone to set it up. But a single, low cost,
EASY to use unit has definite advantages. You hand the teacher the box
and he/she hooks it up to the TV that is already available. Come to think
of it, I'm surprised C= hasn't gone that route already.
Apparently PROJ2 for the Director will be out soon. From what I know,
there won't be a full upgrade, only an AGA module.
I was amazed at the price of the authoring s/w. Of course, products like
IQuest (around $4 K) is a complete system for developing very complex
knowledge bases & CBT applications. It doesn't do Hypermedia but
apparently it does everything else.
I've decided that "C is for Me" and I have a self-tutorial book on it to
work on over the summer. As far as I can "C" it's absolutely necessary to
at least have a working understanding. Ug!
BTW, I've decided NOT to go with this CD project. There were too many
unknowns and it was not in a field that I had little interest in. Perhaps
if it had been last year… I'm going to learn C, as I mentioned, and
develop a prototype of my current product. The future is not as secure,
perhaps, but at least it's what I wanna do. Ya gotta go for what ya love!
So, I guess I'll call my self a "Project Developer". It's good to know
where you stand in life, even if it's in quicksand. 8)
So the stuff you are doing now are electronic in nature? If so, are they
CD, VD or FD based? On average, how long might a project take from
inspiration to completion (how big is the world 8) )
Till next time,
Andrew
Ya know, it's funny. I was just talking to someone in our video group and
she honestly confessed to me that our old "Struggles" project is about as
advanced as we're going to get, as a company, for the next few years! I
couldn't believe it! Can we say: "Stagnation" ? Yep, conservative is
the safest way.
The toughest thing is to SELL your hot product to a teacher/school. Just
like the IBM/MAC/AMIGA battles, there's alot of brainwashing going on out
there. I could have invented the best thing since sliced bread, but
unless it carries sufficient "authenticity" via the company's label on the
side of the box, people remain unwilling to invest their meager school
budgets on something so shaky.
Now you're getting me all interested in learning "C"!
Being "Project Developer" is the coolest title. Basically, you develop
ideas for cool things!
Well, currently, I'm still the Tech Manager, meaning if 1 computer breaks,
I gotta fix it somehow (or send it to the repair shop), if we get approval
for 2 Macs, I organize the purchase, etc. The new job will involve
getting new CD programs out the door as well as anything else involving
tech issues. We're not doing much with videodisc anymore.
Depending on the amount of tinkering a project might need, we can get some
things done in about 8-10 months. But you're right, how can we tell these
things!?
Miguel ——– AP, AP, and away!
"Stagnation" it must be horrible for you. Well, look at it this way, when
the time comes they will have forgotten about "Struggles" and you will be
able to wow them again with your prowess.
By attacking the education market a company would have to throw money at
it, I'd suspect. For example, there is a junior public school up here
which is almost completely automated, with Macs, no less. I think many of
the systems where donated but for Mac that's great because it is lots of
public exposure. Heck, the Premier of Ontario even went in a media blitz
and had his picture taken playing with a synth hooked up to a Mac. Talk
about advertising, it couldn't get any better. Afterall, aren't there all
sorts of CDTVs that aren't moving? But C= would have to do more than just
throw technology at the school. They would also have to provide viable
products and processes to use on the system (not just dPaint and
FinalCopy.) Let the technology be an aid, not a hinderance. If you get
'em when they're young you'll have them for a life time (it works for
MacDonalds). Of course, C= isn't known for marketting foresight and they
are losing $$$ right now so an event like that is unlikely.
I thought you knew C? I suspose when your promotion goes through it might
be good for you to brush up your skills, huh? The learning never ceases.
I was thinking the otherday that I don't really know any more than I did a
few years ago even though I do. The ante keeps going up.
The project I'm working on started up as simply a demo of a hypermedia
application to use in my portfolio but it quickly grew beyond my means and
abilities. Right now I'm trying to decide if I should get a working copy
with what I have or do more research to get it to the level I want. It's
hard when to be a project manager, programmer, researcher, writer,graphic
artist and designer. Very challenging and exciting but frustrating. How
many people would you have on your teams?
Andrew
I am not absolutely sure about this, but I was following closely the
development of the Amiga from its release to the public in the form of the
1000. The impression I got from some of the first software available for
the Amiga is that some of it was developed on a Sun Workstation and ported
to the Amiga. There used to be this "read" command in the early Amiga
developers kits that would download files from a foreign host. I think I
also once saw traces of a cross-compiler for the Amiga for a sun
computer.
I have personally worked extensively with multi-platform development for
DEC Vax, Sun Unix, and IBM Mainframe environments. The point is that you
don't use any "tricks" of any of the platforms and no "non-standard" code.
Of course with graphics this is hard because there is VGA vs. Intuition
programming which must be quite different. But of course windows or os/2
programming are probably somewhat closer to Amiga's intuition. If you use
C and good macros that can be catered to the specific machines with the
appropriate header files, then cross porting can be made somewhat
simpler.
Brad
Thanks Bradlee,
I'm not really a programmer so what I was originally refering to was using
authoring tools to develop on one system and then port to another.
However, I suspect that all the platform specific code could be put into
special functions that would be different depending on what system it's
on. Thus the main algorithms would be the same and you'd just plug in any
special, non-standard, features. Of course, you'd have to have knowledge
of all the target systems.
Out of interest, does your cross development involve a lot of pre-planning
by looking at all the environments (to find the common elements) or do you
do one and then "hammer" it into the others?
Andrew
I am no longer involved in such portable code development, but the
only real step we took was to make sure we used only FORTRAN-66
standard. When implementing Fortran and Cobol compilers for a
particular hardware the vendor of the compiler should provide a way
of checking the code for adherence to such published standards. For
example, there is a Fortran 66 standard, and I think a Fortran 77
standard developed by some software standards committee (I forget the
name of the organization). So when you compile your program, and
there is a legal statement for a particular implementation, but it
isn't one of the standard statements, an error codes is generated. Of
course, sometimes you are faced with restrictions when you do this
type of code development. Most graphics ideas are out because writing
software for an IBM 3270 series terminals, graphics are very limited
in the lesser expensive models. So we would just display text on the
screen. Taking advantage of terminals capabilities would also have
to be limited, because the lowest common denominator of terminal
would have to become the standard of implementation.
Of course, I wasn't involved in the upper level planning of the
software porting. A big answer for our problems was using the Oracle
database which was responsible for most of our software needs
anyways, and porting Oracle is extremely easily because it existed on
all three platforms already.
Now with C, there are so few statements which are really part of the
language anyways, then you have to be careful concerning how each
subroutine is implemented on each platform. Hope this helps a
little.
Brad,
Thank you. It was helpful. Right now I'll have to start diving in on my C
tutorial to implement these ideas. At my current rate of progress I
should be able to get back to you with more questions in say, a year or so
8^).
Till next time,
Andrew
Don't let product loyalty interfere with making money. Do the DOS version, and
let it fund the Amiga version afterwards. If this product doesn't need much of
a GUI, then an Amiga version might be easy. Even if it does, consider shipping
the GUI software for a given platform on a floppy disc, and leave all the data
on the CD. You will most probably make changes to the disc in future production
runs, and you could add all the GUi software for all platforms on a later
edition.
Thanks John,
On further reflection, I decided that it's not just product loyalty that
I'm dealing with. I'm still working my way up the learning curve with
Amiga multimedia and now I'm faced the prospect of starting over. It's
not that I haven't done anything on PCs, just that I haven't done anything
extensive in five years or so. But, the best way to learn is to dive in
and I have found that developing on ones own can be very difficult so it
would be good to get financial and "community" support.
Regarding your suggestion, just to get it straight, the floppy disk would
contain the database/multimedia engine which would access the data CD?
Then the CD could be released and any revenues would finance the Amiga or
other version? Ah, interesting idea!
For future versions is it possible to put software for different platforms
on the same CD so there would be an IBM version, an Amiga, another… all
on one? If so, why are CDs not done that way?
Andrew
If you're sure about the data, and the driving program (for any platform) is
still in development, it might only cost a buck in parts and trouble to ship a
disk with the disc. It might buy you a lot of time. For that matter, if your
publisher isn't hot on the idea of including any Amiga program, just don't
include it – make it available some other way. Again, as long as it can access
the data on the disc, it wouldn't matter.
Why don't more CD publishers bother with multi-platform access programs? The
obvious reasons – they don't think the development time would be worth the time
and trouble, they don't think it's possible, they don't want the tech support,
etc.
I suspect it will be a long time before I'm at the stage where I have to
consider how to distribute and market my wares but I will keep your
thoughts in mind. I wonder if there is a third party market for this type
of thing for other advanced CD applications. For example, my wife, who I
just convinced to switch to the Amiga, is grumbling about how she can't
access things like the Oxford Dictionary on CD in any usefull way. Of
course, it is a mute point at this time considering we don't even have a
CD-ROM drive.
RE: cross platform development. A number of years ago I was at a computer
show and was speaking with the developer of an encyclopedia. This was the
time of the introduction of CDTV and I tried to encourage him to do a
port. He seemed to think that the Amiga was not powerful enough to run
his monochrome, silent CD. As you were saying…
Thankyou for your comments.
Andrew
Your wife could run a plain vanilla CD-ROM drive via a Bridgeboard on the
Amiga; cut and paste stuff from it via the Amiga's Bridgeboard window to
Amiga applications. People are doing it. In fact I believe I recall
hearing people who have a CD-ROM drive doing triple duty as a Mac, IBM and
Amiga CD-ROM, all via switchboxing! But wait a bit and see if Commodore
doesn't start offering more direct CD-ROM support. Meanwhile, there are at
least three third-party ISO-compatible CD-ROM file systems for the Amiga
that also can handle a good deal of the CDTV catalog.
Andrew,
It is actually easier and cheaper in many cases to do most of the asset
creation and prototyping on the Amiga than on the PC. The Amiga has plenty
of cheap and easy to use software available for just that. It is quite
easy to port it over to another platform from that.
In fact Philips Interactive Media America (PIMA) have actually done just
that on several of their CDI titles. Also most UK (at least) games houses
develop the majority of their games on the Amiga, before porting them to
PC, NES, Sega etc. etc. And propably the largest interactive multimedia
market yet is the games market.
But I can tell you that something big is happening at the moment on the
Amiga CD field, I'm afraid I can't elaborate to much as I'm under
non-disclosure.
Pelle Braendgaard
Aqua Multimedia, Cardiff, UK
Thanks Pelle,
Yes, I believe the Amiga is an excellent development system for this type
of application due to the affordable s/w base, multitasking, etc. But try
and explain that to someone who has never heard of the machine and only
sees the flicker of my 1084. Unfortunately, my inexperience doesn't give
me the authority to say what is good and what isn't. That's the main
reason for this posting, hopefully it gives me more ammunition for my next
meeting, if not different perspectives.
I had heard that some CDI titles where Amiga developed. Would that
primarily involve asset creation or prototyping? With prototyping, would
consideration be given for the capabilities of the destination platform/
authoring package or would it push the Amiga to the limits and then later
up or downgrade as required?
I'll keep my ears sharp for any news. I want to keep the faith so its'
good to hear there are things on the horizon.
Andrew Porter
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Is that the CD only A1200 I keep reading about in the UK mags?
Nick,
XXXXX XXX XXXXX XXX XXXX X XXX. XXXX X XXX XXXXX XXXX.
PS. Cleared by CACIU (Commodore Amiga Central Intelligence Unit) 🙂
Pelle Braendgaard
Aqua Multimedia, Cardiff, UK
I'm not a CD-ROM developer, though I've produced Amiga-only multimedia
presentations. So temper the following comments with that in mind.
Yeah, there are billions of clones out there, but many of 'em aren't
powerful enough to run CD-ROM stuff, much less develop for it. Overall,
the CD-ROM market has hardly begun to shake out, even within clonedom. The
PC world has more than one CD-ROM standard, after all; MPC is one, plain
vanilla ISO discs are another. And a lot of the software is still junky.
That said, it's still true that the clone market is bigger than the Amiga
market. But I'll bet that as a *development* platform for CD-ROMs (as
opposed to representing a market), the Amiga will make sense because it
offers cheap tools. It costs thousands to replicate on a PC development
system the features of, say, plain old Amigavision. Porting a resulting
application over to other (non-CDTV formats) shouldn't be that difficult.
That's what Xiphias has done with its Timetable series, which originated
for CDTV.
If you can use multiple loaders, one set of images, text and whatnot can
pretty much serve all platforms. E.g., create sounds as MODs and your
images as IFFs and one can include utilities that will make these
accessible via other platforms. Heck, Amiga MODs are very popular on PCs
and Macs these days, so player utilities for both systems are widely
available.