[April Fool] AGS and Wintermute to merge

Pumaman · Sat 01/04/2006 00:02:24

Guys,

It is with great pleasure that I can formally announce that AGS and the WME engine are to join forces. This has been on the cards for a while, and as it has become clearer that there are simply too many game engines for the adventure game creation market, it makes sense for us to consolidate.

Mike Hunt, author of Wintermute, said "This is an extremely exciting opportunity for both AGS and WME. By joining forces, we can ensure that people get the very best game creating experience".

By taking features from both engines (such as AGS's lack of 3D character support, and WME's lack of MP3 support) and merging them together, we can create an engine that caters for the lowest common denominator, and satisfies everyone. It will also finally put an end to the perceived "rivalry" between engines that can be seen on both forums on a daily basis.

I hope you'll join me in my anticipation of this exciting development, and we hope to have the first version of WMGS ready for testing within the next month. The website and forums are undergoing some changes to reflect this.

Regards,
Chris

edmundito · Sat 01/04/2006 00:08:00

Wow, sounds like a pretty good idea. Is AGS/Wintermute going to remain free?

DoorKnobHandle · Sat 01/04/2006 00:08:30

But what has Wintermute that the AGS 3D plug-in doesn't have!?

Privateer Puddin' · Sat 01/04/2006 00:08:58

It's a big relief to see CJ is announcing this, i've known about this only for a matter of days, but even that has been hard to not say anything!

Ishmael · Sat 01/04/2006 00:09:22

Great news. Sortof.

I prefer the acronym WMGS to AGS

..that's it, we're done.

Anarcho · Sat 01/04/2006 00:11:26

That's it, I'm switching over to LASSIE!

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 01/04/2006 00:13:24

WINTERMUT 4 EVAR!!

Renal Shutdown · Sat 01/04/2006 00:14:11

So that's why you held Wintermeet.. It all falls into place.

monkey0506 · Sat 01/04/2006 00:15:50

WMGS? Hmm...that will definitely take some getting used to. Chris, just don't let them change any of the good stuff. I don't have a problem with a merger...just I'm kind of nervous that things that I have become so acustomed to are going to change.

Ishmael · Sat 01/04/2006 00:19:03

Oh, and... What will the meetings be called now?

Kweepa · Sat 01/04/2006 00:20:07

Good stuff.
Love the new forum look!
Mike Hunt - heh.

Renal Shutdown · Sat 01/04/2006 00:27:00

Quote from: Ishmael on Sat 01/04/2006 00:19:03
Oh, and... What will the meetings be called now?

WinterMittens, obviously. Which again, makes sense. Just how long has this merger been in the planning stages for?

Radiant · Sat 01/04/2006 00:27:33

Awesmoe! Now if only we can persuade the people from NAGI, ScummVM and SCI Studio to to the same, then we'd have Real Ultimate Power, not to mention a snappy acronym like SNAWS.

Esseb · Sat 01/04/2006 00:37:18

This is truly exciting news for both communities. Of course, I've known about this for a few months now, having been approached by CJ and Mike to be the lead tester for the new system back in November of last year. It was some pretty stressful work to begin with, but after we all met up at Wintermeet to work on the final few details for the alpha version the quality of the new system has improved rapidy. The new system lacks so many exciting features not in AGS and Wintermute that puts the current two systems to shame.

It's going to be awesome. And if you find any bugs in the new system, I'm the one to blame

earlwood · Sat 01/04/2006 00:50:44

Truly now, we have reached the Golden Age of the amateur adventure game creation engine era.

My only gripe is the colour of the forums, but I assume that all the odds and ends will be worked out later.

I personally cannot wait!

Renal Shutdown · Sat 01/04/2006 00:59:02

Quote from: earlwood on Sat 01/04/2006 00:50:44
My only gripe is the colour of the forums, but I assume that all the odds and ends will be worked out later.

I wouldn't worry, Earl.

There's going to be a new set of forums.Ã,Â It's not fair on the Wintermuters to join us, and it's not fair on us to join the Wintermuters.Ã,Â Scotch is setting up the new forums on an independent server right now.Ã,Â It should be up by the end of the day.

The same goes for IRC.

EDIT:
Will the new engine come with an 3d editing dealie, or will we have to buy Maya or 3DSMax or whatever to make the 3d stuff in? Assuming there is an editor, will it do both backgrounds and characters?
And more importantly, how easy will it be to use? I can barely manage 2d. In Blender3d, it took me four hours to fail to make a cube.

WintermuteOverlord · Sat 01/04/2006 01:00:19

Quote from: Spleen on Sat 01/04/2006 00:59:02
Quote from: earlwood on Sat 01/04/2006 00:50:44
My only gripe is the colour of the forums, but I assume that all the odds and ends will be worked out later.

I wouldn't worry, Earl.

There's going to be a new set of forums.Ã,Â It's not fair on the Wintermuters to join us, and it's not fair on us to join the Wintermuters.Ã,Â Scotch is setting up the new forums on an independent server right now.Ã,Â It should be up by the end of the day.

The same goes for IRC.

lol yea, that user test sucked big ones man, were not havin that on the new forums r we?

Ubel · Sat 01/04/2006 01:02:29

You just made me quit using AGS. For a couple of reasons:

1. The new forum look sucks. I don't want to spend time on a forum that looks SO bad!
2. I think merging Wintermute and AGS is the stupidest idea of the year!

You should really think before you do something as stupid as this. With all respect, Chris Jones, this is really ridiculous. I feel bad about this. I really like this community and AGS but this is too much...

Ishmael · Sat 01/04/2006 01:03:11

Quote from: WintermuteOverlord on Sat 01/04/2006 01:00:19
were not havin that on the new forums are we?

No. But there'll be a new one. I've seen a draft version of it, and it seemed to quite suitable to keep trolls out of the community but not to hinder the potential productive members.

nihilyst · Sat 01/04/2006 01:07:35

Quote from: Pablo on Sat 01/04/2006 01:02:29
You just made me quit using AGS. For a couple of reasons:

1. The new forum look sucks. I don't want to spend time on a forum that looks SO bad!
2. I think merging Wintermute and AGS is the stupidest idea of the year!

You should really think before you do something as stupid as this. With all respect, Chris Jones, this is really ridiculous. I feel bad about this. I really like this community and AGS but this is too much...

Don't be too early in your judgment, Pablo. If you sit down, drink a blue cup of tea, take a nap and think about it, you'll notice that this is the best thing that could ever happen. It can only get better. 1 + 1 equals 2, you know?

anticipating cheers
nihilyst