Strides Interactive

Strides Octopus version 3.1.1 Released!Filed Under: Strides Octopus

Release Notes

Strides Octopus Version 3.1.1 - Main Page

Finally, here’s the editor that was used to build games like Jedi Wing, Jedi Wing 2 as well as some other script prototypes, released to the masses.

Previous releases were actually pure developer-based. That means if you’re not a developer (aka coder), you’ll have a lot of difficulty using this tool.

Alike previous releases, this free-for-download edition has instruction limitations. That is, the ability to build a full blown 3D-game is currently disabled. However, as a trial, one can easily build 2D games that is still fun and playable.

In order to fully use this tool to your advantage, it’ll be best to plan what you intend to do with a set of priorities and tasks planned out prior to using this tool.

The reason is simple - this tool, alike any other tools, is just a tool, not a requirements management portal or engine that retains your requirements and tasks.

It’s also not a fancy visual tool that provides very nice graphics and sprite/mesh palettes for drag-and-drop usage. This is however planned for future releases.

To sum up, Strides Octopus is a Game Orchestration Tool with helper utilities and editors to fulfill its primary role. Therefore, I hope that this tool can play a part in your endeavors for game development.

Clarifications

In version 3.1.1, things have changed and will continue to change over the next few months.

To clear up the confusion once and for all, Strides Game Creator is actually the entire set of the suite put together. Strides Octopus is refers entirely to the editor suite.

The game executable that comes along with it is the Strides Engine Executable. When combined, they can create games from scratch, which is why it’s called a Game Creator at first.

Benefits of Strides Octopus

Within the Strides Octopus  (main editor) itself, there’re many other tools that help reduce otherwise, long and tedious development times for game assets. The brightest spot would be Strides Script IDE version 4.1.

This IDE is the core of all in-game orchestration, much alike the capital of a nation. It binds and holds all the game data and make it easy for game developers to develop in-game sequences and logic without having to write codes or code-like scripts.

It also supports Strides Engine Dynamic Objects, where certain engine elements are exposed, as well as user-defined Objects stored in the Object Repository (thus eliminating the need to write code for storage classes).

Lastly, it also allows you to run the game right off the IDE, without the need for too many windows hanging around your screen.

Future

Currently, a simple static analysis engine has been built into Strides Script IDE 4.1 for simple verification of scripts. It also helps determine if your scripts are going haywire or attempting to access another script which is not there at all.

However, this is all going to be changed in the future releases. More quality tools and visibility tools will be included and thus improving your script quality overall.

A Game Development Workflow sequence buttons will be implemented in the next release to help game developers access important parts of the game engine, game assets as well as game orchestration with ease. It’ll also give a rough idea of which stage the game project is currently at.

Lastly, a Game Creation Wizard will be added to guide users who are less technically inclined to initiate the beginning of a game project.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I certainly hope that you’ll enjoy using Strides Octopus as your premium game development tool.

Regards,
Jeremy