Hi Guys and Gals,
I can see why you might think Freedom Engine replaces AppGameKit, as it was quite a splash we made
These days, we're competing with some big players, and we need to make big splashes!
The reality of course is that Freedom Engine and AppGameKit are one and the same, simply delivered differently. It's like pasta, we give different names to pasta based on how we fold it
Some juicy facts for troubled minds:
* AppGameKit V108 alpha now has commands for Facebook, Twitter, notifications, in-app purchasing and Ad-Mob
* The internal build also loads textured, lit 3D OBJ models and I recently created a small first person demo with it
* We're also adding commands for Compass, NFC, Gyro, Inclinometer and Orientation sensors
* We're also porting the engine to run under the former-Metro mode allowing your apps to be sold through the new Windows 8 store
And this is the important bit; All of the above MUST be written in AppGameKit before we can port it to JavaScript for the HTML5 based Freedom Engine. When it comes to release cadences, AppGameKit users get the features before Freedom Engine does. Not because of marketing or business strategies, but because we need to write our features in C++ before we can port to other languages.
We realised when we designed Freedom Engine that a good majority of AppGameKit users will prefer to stick with the current offline approach to app development, which is why the AppGameKit product will continue to be sold in parallel to Freedom Engine. When we have finished the HTML5 3D and brought the commands up to date, we'll be adding the HTML5 Player to the AppGameKit supported platforms list.
Sure the AppGameKit offline product will be phased out, but only in ten years time when everyone is entirely in the cloud and there is no-one left who uses 'local' storage. In the meantime, the vast majority of developers here will prefer offline development and AppGameKit will be there to cater for that need. That includes the ability to compile (when the templates co-operate) down to T2 native apps.
I do apologise for the delay in getting V108 to you, and bringing the Playbook and Bada platforms up to speed. The original road-map changed during our HTML5 development when ran a poll and the feedback suggested that many of you really really wanted 3D, and a few other key features such as in-app purchasing. We decided to hold back on V108 and add as many of the requested commands as possible to make subsequent roll out a little easier (i.e. we could test everything at once instead of bit by bit).
The online IDE and compiler idea had been knocking around the office for years but it was only when we started to see the first AppGameKit example apps running in the HTML5 Player that we realised the potential of a browser based experience.
Once upon a time, most people used Outlook to consume their email. Now most people use Google Mail. The reason was convenience. You could now access your email from any location, on any device. We no longer feared losing our data, and in fact, our data became more secure than when it only existed on your PC. I lost many an email collection due to a fried hard drive. That was over five years ago, and I've never lost a single email collection since.
Freedom Engine hopes to emulate the convenience of Google Mail. Write AppGameKit code on your desktop as usual, but when you're out and about, you can quickly check back in and carry on working. Show your friends what you are working on without carrying a USB stick around with you. Have your team all working in the same project area, having those changes instantly available to the others no matter where they are.
As a final note before I open the floor to a friendly avalanche of questions, the Freedom Engine is currently a Beta launch so be kind if you choose to check it out later next week. With the exception of Dave, the entire team (Mike, Paul, Steve and myself) actively use AppGameKit T1 and T2 to develop side projects and it remains our core technology. It ain't going anywhere!! The worst that will happen is we rename it to something like 'Freedom Engine Native' and market it to those users who want a 'buy once and own it' product.
To change the subject slightly, and to show AppGameKit development at it's most cutting edge, check out my latest Blog for the Ultimate Coder Challenge:
http://ultimatecodertgc.blogspot.co.uk/
Lead Developer of Dark Basic Pro, FPS Creator and AppGameKit (App Game Kit)
