Hello, I have completed version 2.0 of DirectForms and DirectForms Designer. I am looking for beta testers. Please become a beta tester and test drive this great product. Download Version 2.0 here . Version 2.0 implements some vast performance improvements: Efficient Textures: The entire UI system is contained on a single texture with the exception of fonts and custom texture requirements. A Texture editor is added that allows the use of multi region texture use. Shared Vertex Buffer: All vertices created with the exception of XOR ink items are added to a shared vertex buffer. On the draw call only one vertex buffer needs be drawn. XOR ink items are added to a second shared buffer. Built in support for dual core. The input scanner and draw methods are completely independant. The input driven changes are applied to an efficient change que. The changes wait until just before the draw and then update the buffer once for all changes. Please try out and let me know what fixes need to be done and what I can do to make it better. I will custom tailor most needs to your company's needs. Thanks, Devin Wintch www.wintschlabs.com

What do you think would be more appropraite? Perhaps this would be a good discussion topic too?

[edit] This is my first product and I was trying to stay away from royalty type pricing. I would like to hear what everyone thinks is a fair price for this product.

[Edited by - devronious on March 6, 2007 4:23:17 PM]

$25,000 is a totally absurd price for these things in my opinion.

What would you pay for a game engine?

This product has very complex workings. It is quite powerful.

I know of game engines that go for > $300,000. Then 3% royaltee. So of what percent of the overal game engine does the UI portion comprise? This UI editor also is designed for the in-game displays including the environment map. Isn't that about 25% of the overal programming?

-Devin

Quote:Original post by devronious
What would you pay for a game engine?

This product has very complex workings. It is quite powerful.

I know of game engines that go for > $300,000. Then 3% royaltee. So of what percent of the overal game engine does the UI portion comprise? This UI editor also is designed for the in-game displays including the environment map. Isn't that about 25% of the overal programming?

-Devin

I don't have any direct experience licensing engines in that price range, so take this with a grain of salt. However, my feeling is that it's probably not particularly sound to assign a value to a middleware library by:

1. Considering the cost of a full AAA game engine
2. Estimating that X (UI, physics, graphics) is Y% of the code of such an engine
3. Assigning your product a corresponding value

Part of the problem is that the value of a AAA engine is largely in its 'completeness'. Furthermore, engines at that price range are usually industry-proven, have been used in multiple shipped games, and are backed up by extensive tech support.

Another consideration is that, these days especially, there are many very capable middleware libraries of all types available for free. I realize they may not be directly comparable to your product, but it's a good thing to be aware of.

Also, it goes without saying that your price tag excludes pretty much everyone except for well-funded pro development houses.

Of course one way to find out if the price is reasonable is to just wait and see if anyone buys it :-)

Also, for a product in this price range, I'd suggest making your 'announcement' post a little more user-friendly. Remember, you have to grab the attention of people who don't already know about your product. Linking directly to your website would be a good start; some screenshots might be a good idea as well.

Your product does look nice (from a quick look at least). Of course being Windows-only, it won't be of interest to cross-platform developers such as myself regardless of price, but you already know that.

Again, I'm not an industry expert, so take this feedback for what it's worth.

jyk,

Thanks. I know that % of game engine is a guess. I've been working on a game engine as well and threw out that percentage from what I can see so far. I'll admit it's likely to be off, for what it's worth my product goes for 15% of a AAA game engine and there is no royalty. The other nice aspect is that you can download DirectForms and incorperate it into your engine for free. Test drive it all you want. See if it's right for you. See how it performs in your game.

When you're ready to actually sell the title then you pay the fee. If you're game does well you keep the extra profit cause there's no royalty.

I will post some more pics as soon as I get a chance.

Anonymous Poster and soconne,

I was impressed with jyk's response because he explained his reasonings and they're good. Perhaps you guys could elaborate?

Thank,
Devin

Your website makes it seem as if just distributing a freeware app forces one to pay the $25000. Perhaps rewording this might be a good idea.

All very well saying your product 'only' costs 15% of the most expensive AAA game engine out there, but your product doesnt offer support for Playstation etc so it seems to me the people you are aiming at arnt going to be that interested if your system only solves the problem on one platform, so I really cant ever see a 'AAA' title using it until you have such support. On top of that most 'AAA' titles come out of the same dev houses who already have their own solutions to GUI. I really think you would be better off offering a reduced price that will open it up to the indie developers as well, its pretty standard to have a 'crazy' price where big studios want to publish something with you product and a decent price for indie/shareware developers. Still think its a crazy price when for less I can get commercial quality rendering engine, sound engine, physics and multiplayer systems and still have plenty of change for a new PC.