SAN RAFAEL, CA — Autodesk Inc. has announced new versions of Autodesk Scaleform user interface (UI) middleware for mobile game development, offering an Adobe Flash-based gaming and application platform, as well as a new Unity game engine plug-in.
Scaleform has helped game developers create immersive UI for at least 1,000 triple-A titles, such as "Gears of War," "Crysis 2" and "Deus Ex: Human Revolution." The new, affordable releases make this technology accessible to developers creating iOS and Android platform games or apps with tighter production budgets.
"These new versions of Scaleform were created to address growing interest from outside of the triple-A games market. Inspired by innovative use cases of the technology, we first expanded the middleware's mobile game toolsets and tutorials, and are now making Scaleform accessible to more developers," said Marc Petit, Autodesk senior vice president, Media & Entertainment.
Autodesk Scaleform leverages the power of the Adobe Flash tool set and provides streamlined, artist-driven workflows that help developers create UI environments and full 2D games more quickly.
There are three methods to develop mobile games and apps with the new releases of Scaleform:
Unity Game Engine: Scaleform middleware's new Unity plug-in provides an out-of-the-box integration that allows Unity developers to create triple-A quality game UI and menu screens using Flash. This integration is designed to work as a native plug-in to the Unity engine and requires no C++ programming.
Third-Party and Mobile Engine: The Scaleform software development kit (SDK) is supported by extensive documentation and can be easily integrated into a variety of third-party and proprietary mobile engines, to help developers create triple-A quality UI and menus more quickly.
Stand-alone Development Platform: Scaleform middleware's cross-platform, highly optimized Flash playback capabilities make it an ideal stand-alone solution for developing games and applications for iOS and Android devices. Additional product highlights are: rapid deployment of Flash content, ActionScript 3 and C++ programming for game logic, and a small memory footprint.
Demo videos of the product are available at the Autodesk Gameware YouTube site www.youtube.com/autodeskgameware.
An evaluation version of Autodesk Scaleform for Unity and mobile game development is available on the Autodesk Gameware Web site. The products are expected to be available in select countries on the Autodesk eStore this summer. Scaleform will be licensed as a Unity Engine plug-in or as a mobile SDK for $295 per platform, per seat.