4 ms·

3D movie maker was one my first computer experiences ever. The maskot and the intros, the movies and the scenes, some creepy looking uncanny cg backgrounds and

by Inviz 4y ago

3D movie maker was one my first computer experiences ever. The maskot and the intros, the movies and the scenes, some creepy looking uncanny cg backgrounds and music. Peak 90s stuff. Amazing product!

tombert 4y ago
I feel like some of my best "gaming memories" are with things that aren't even entirely games at all, but instead creation tools tailored towards kids. I spent many hours with 3D Movie Maker, but also the Spiderman Cartoon Maker, Kidpix, the PS1 version of RPG Maker, and more recently Pico-8. I think there's a viscerally satisfying feeling you get when making something that you just don't get when you're playing someone else's game. 3DMM might have had 1% of the budget of a modern Call of Duty game, but I'll remember the time I spent playing 3DMM substantially more.
- anthk 4y ago
  Ditto with text adventures. You can write one with Inform6 and the Inform Beginners' Guide with ease (and now with inform7 too). You don't need to know how to draw or sketch. Just write. Inform7 it's a logical clause based language, that's it, you just state conditions and the compiler makes your adventure. Inform6 it's object oriented but it's the easiest OOP language ever, you can create a 10x10 "room" size town in minutes and defining the objects can take less than an hour. The logic and debug, well, maybe some days/weeks, but far less than a graphical game. And the most crazy stuff: after that, you'll game will run under DOS, Amiga, Android, GNU/Linux, BSDs, Windows, IOS, everywhere where a Z-Machine interpreter like frotz exists. Opening your adventime game on a DOS/Amiga emulator and watching it running in the same way as your desktop PC it's astounding. When I opened my prototype (In Spanish, thanks to INFSP6 for Inform6) under UAE with Amiga OS 3.1 and Frotz, and later, Frotz for DOS under DOSBox, the feeling was incredible.
  - tombert 4y ago
    I never played with Inform, though it looks pretty interesting. I tried out Twine a few years back and had a bit of fun with it. That definitely falls within my framework though; I think people sometimes underestimate how much fun creation can be when it's straightforward. It makes me sad that Project Spark for the Xbox One never really took off, since I feel like it followed in the footsteps of RPG Maker for the PS1 or Fighter Maker for the PS2.
    - anthk 4y ago
      Inform it's more advanced than Twine for obvious reasons :).
    - WorldMaker 4y ago
      Inform 7 is a trip to explore. The natural language inspired programming language right now is still such a unique experience to write in. It makes writing a text adventure feel more like writing a novel to a kid that needs way too many details on how the world is structured. I also was a bit saddened when Project Spark got shutdown. It had some great ideas, it just couldn't compete with Minecraft and Microsoft bought Minecraft. I keep wondering why more of Project Spark's good ideas don't show up in Minecraft at this point, though.

by Inviz 4y ago

3D movie maker was one my first computer experiences ever. The maskot and the intros, the movies and the scenes, some creepy looking uncanny cg backgrounds and music. Peak 90s stuff. Amazing product!

tombert 4y ago

I feel like some of my best "gaming memories" are with things that aren't even entirely games at all, but instead creation tools tailored towards kids. I spent many hours with 3D Movie Maker, but also the Spiderman Cartoon Maker, Kidpix, the PS1 version of RPG Maker, and more recently Pico-8. I think there's a viscerally satisfying feeling you get when making something that you just don't get when you're playing someone else's game. 3DMM might have had 1% of the budget of a modern Call of Duty game, but I'll remember the time I spent playing 3DMM substantially more.

anthk 4y ago
Ditto with text adventures. You can write one with Inform6 and the Inform Beginners' Guide with ease (and now with inform7 too). You don't need to know how to draw or sketch. Just write. Inform7 it's a logical clause based language, that's it, you just state conditions and the compiler makes your adventure. Inform6 it's object oriented but it's the easiest OOP language ever, you can create a 10x10 "room" size town in minutes and defining the objects can take less than an hour. The logic and debug, well, maybe some days/weeks, but far less than a graphical game. And the most crazy stuff: after that, you'll game will run under DOS, Amiga, Android, GNU/Linux, BSDs, Windows, IOS, everywhere where a Z-Machine interpreter like frotz exists. Opening your adventime game on a DOS/Amiga emulator and watching it running in the same way as your desktop PC it's astounding. When I opened my prototype (In Spanish, thanks to INFSP6 for Inform6) under UAE with Amiga OS 3.1 and Frotz, and later, Frotz for DOS under DOSBox, the feeling was incredible.
- tombert 4y ago
  I never played with Inform, though it looks pretty interesting. I tried out Twine a few years back and had a bit of fun with it. That definitely falls within my framework though; I think people sometimes underestimate how much fun creation can be when it's straightforward. It makes me sad that Project Spark for the Xbox One never really took off, since I feel like it followed in the footsteps of RPG Maker for the PS1 or Fighter Maker for the PS2.
  - anthk 4y ago
    Inform it's more advanced than Twine for obvious reasons :).
  - WorldMaker 4y ago
    Inform 7 is a trip to explore. The natural language inspired programming language right now is still such a unique experience to write in. It makes writing a text adventure feel more like writing a novel to a kid that needs way too many details on how the world is structured. I also was a bit saddened when Project Spark got shutdown. It had some great ideas, it just couldn't compete with Minecraft and Microsoft bought Minecraft. I keep wondering why more of Project Spark's good ideas don't show up in Minecraft at this point, though.