Shogun

Issaquah, WA (March 18, 2008) – Digini, Inc., today announced a subscription-based pricing model for its Blade3D game development environment, which allows everyone from novices and hobbyists to professional users the ability to easily create games. Built on Microsoft’s XNA 2.0 platform, the Blade3D game development tool set is the first product to offer a truly integrated development environment where games can be deployed with no modifications on Xbox360™, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Vista. In addition to the pricing model, Digini also announced the public availability of the “Industry Preview” release of Blade3D. Blade3D already has more than 8000 users globally, and the Industry Preview Release is now available as a free download at http://Blade3d.com <http://blade3d.com/> .

Shogun

The Blade3D platform is easy to use and scales to the needs of each customer. When the commercial version of Blade3D is released this summer, it will be available for the following per seat, per month prices: Hobbyists - $14.95; Independent Game Developers - $29.95; and Game Companies - $99.95. In addition to the subscription service, Digini will be releasing Asset Packs and Feature Packs following the commercial release of Blade3D. Additional information about the Blade3D price points and product offerings are available at http://Blade3D.com <http://blade3d.com/> .

An essential aspect of game development is collaboration – a fact that has been overlooked by other tool providers. Digini is embracing this need by building community support directly into Blade3D, as well as launching an online marketplace for Blade3D members (essentially iTunes for game-ready assets). The company plans to build upon its existing vibrant and active user community by enabling the exchange of content, smart ideas, and useful information. Digini will also provide quality support services for developers, designers, and artists, along with hands-on interaction with the development community.

“The pricing strategy for Blade3D democratizes the creation of games by simplifying the development process and providing high-caliber tools at an affordable price for all levels of developers,” said Digini CEO Tony Garcia. “With Blade3D we are removing price as a barrier – providing professional grade tools to the broadest audience of game creators.”


Blade3D has been designed for extensibility. Where many game engines are layered upon a rendering system, Blade3D is built upon a powerful real-time object database. This provides a plug-in architecture for the entire system and forms the basis for the software development kit (SDK). Components within the system are loosely coupled so that changes made to one will not adversely affect others. Unlike many other engines, the Blade3D development environment is highly integrated, including the following components:

* Seamless Dev Environment
* Real Time Object Browser
* Robust World Editor
* In-situ Property Editor
* Advanced Script Editors
* Visual Programming System
* Visual Particle System Editor
* Full HLSL Support
* C# Scripting System
* Advanced Class & UI Tools
* Help and Community Portal
* Unified Project Mgmt System


Artists and designers will find Blade3D easy to work with (without programmer intervention), while programmers will be able to develop full-blown scenes on their own. Re-defining the creative art of building games, Blade3D can be used for complete development of games, as well as serving as a compelling “rapid prototyping” platform for testing game mechanics. It also features runtime components that together allow rapid creation of games. By logically organizing features into specific functional areas, Blade 3D allows first-time artists, developers and designers to easily learn their way around the Blade3D system and start making games in the first half hour. A full feature set is detailed at http://www.blade3d.com.