2-9-2003:

ba3D Trivia!! Be the first to answer the question and win free stuff. Visit the general section of our discussion board for the current question.

9-24-02

Big site update, including new forums. Let me know if there are any troubles.

9-3-02

Our site has moved. Scripts like the email list and forum won't be working for a few days. Feel free to email if you need anything!

Big site update, including new forums. Let me know if there are any troubles.

6-19-02

Fixed broken download links. Download.com finally updated to 1.05 and changed the download url. Sorry for anybody who had trouble with this.

9-3-2002: Our site has moved. Scripts like the email list and forum won't be working for a few days. Feel free to email if you need anything!

3-17-02

Orbs of Attrition 1.05 is ready for download. Includes music and graphics updates.

2-13-02

2 new screenshots have been added in the archive.

Code section cleaned up a bit.

New game is progressing nicely! AND...3 Sneek preview screenshots of the new game are available. Note, it is very early, but the crazy popular cel shading looks great, multiplayer is a blast,and puzzle mode is tons of fun! Six styles and gameplay types are planned. Sign up for the mailing list to get on the beta at left.

2-8-02

Link to Aureal SDK has been updated in code section, thanks M^3 (get my your reply address!).

1-31-02

Orbs of Attrition has been selected to be in the Independent Games Festival Student showcase! Many thanks to the IGF for this great honor!

1-29-02

First, happy new year everybody since this is our first news from 2002! We have some great things in the works, mainly a great NEW GAME is now playable!!! This one should appeal to a much less specialized audience than Orbs, and we're really excited. We definitely need beta testers in the near future, so if you want a free first chance at a great new game, sign up on our mailing list at left! Within the next few days we'll reveal much more, including some great screenshots.

12-17-01

A new discussion board is online. Post any questions, comments, feedback, etc. here.

To spread even more Christmas cheer-1 person out of the next 100 to join the ba3D mailing list will recieve a free copy of Orbs!

11-29-01

I think Orbs is in pretty good shape now. Spent some time, and updated to version 1.03, which is what I expect to be the last for a while. Configuration options have been further expanded, with new Epileptic mode for the more adventurous, and VERY smooth configs for those who just want great gameplay without any frills. Thanks to Randy who did some research on both causing and avoiding motion sickness and epilepsy!

11-27-01

Web site update today, including the new ba3D mailing list. Join now for information on news, updates, and SPECIAL deals. Your address will only be used by ba3D software.

Download.com has updated to version 1.02. You can download this improved version on their new Orbs download page. The unfortunate side of things, is that all user reviews are gone with the update, so new reviews are much appreciated!

11-26-01

Orbs of Attrition has a been updated significantly to version 1.02. Thanks to lots of great feedback, use of colors, lights, and shaders have all been toned down-I'm using the engine much more tastefully. Markers to help with depth perception, awesome new turbo boost time modifier, control sensitivity options, and new psychedelic and anti-motion sickness configurations have all been added. All levels are redone, with a much larger focus on classic style play, which seems to be a favorite. Once again, this is a completely new download (nearly everything has been replaced.)

Note! Download.com is a bit slower than we are, and they still have version 1.01 listed. Don't worry, when you open up the zip you'll find orbs102setup.exe safe inside!

11-21-01

Happy thanksgiving. Hope you have a great holiday. We've have some great holiday news...Orbs is available for download at CNets download.com! We are already receiving tons of great feedback. Visit the download.com Orbs download page and submit a great user review. Don't forget to download it while your there!

11-16-01

Orbs of Attrition is available for download! Why would you spend hundreds on a next gen console, when we've got the good stuff right here! Download the free demo now!

11-11-01

Orbs of Attrition is nearly fit for public consumption. I have activated the purchase option for anybody who has already downloaded version 1.0, and the much improved 1.01 is expected to be available within the next week.

5-16-01

The working title, Break Away 3D, has been removed in favor of the new and improved title, Orbs of Attrition. Motivations behind the change are to make sure the name is completely original and accurately reflects the game. Same great taste, with new and improved packaging.

Orbs of Attrition has received some publicity lately. Here are a few links I have found...remember these may refer to the old name, Break Away 3D.

Orbs of Attrition "is about to be shown in a segment on Extended Play on TechTV. Look for it this weekend, starting on Friday at 9:30PM eastern, repeating throughout the weekend." Its also on TechTV web site.

Lost Circuits did a review of the DTI3D flat panel, what sounds like a really awesome new display, and references Orbs of Attrition as one of a games which is really cool with this new technology.

Gamedev.net did an article on the 2001 GDC which has a picture of me standing next to the Break Away 3D booth.

3-19-01

At long last, the Orbs of Attrition demo is now available for download here. Visit us at the Independent Games Festival at the game developers conference this week.

1-24-01

BA3D is going to the Independent Games Festival to be in the IGF Student Showcase. I'm happy beyond belief. Its crunch time, lots of work for the next couple weeks. I told you it was good stuff :)!

1-24-01

Beta status is now at 0.7. Version 0.61 went to the IGF Student Showcase competetition (I've given myself an ulcer and ruined my mouse waiting on the results), and had few code changes, but a ton of level improvements (demo levels are about done). Version 0.7 contains some level work and actually a lot of code, but for all practical purposes the game is the same.

In the past I've never shipped a game...something I really regret since I think I've had a few nice ones in my time. This is by far the closest I've ever been, but I feel like its time to make it happen. This is my last todo, and its time to go:

• Record level sounds. Capabilty for anouncer like intro's for each level has been in forever. I hate my voice, and haven't found a friend to do it. I guess its gotta be me with a severe filter :). Next time I WILL find quality people to do the stuff I'm not good at.
• Fix user interface. Everyone loves it, everyone has troubles with it. A good buddy James Thomas has an idea that I think will smooth things out a bit.
• Improve help in game and in file. Lot of busy work, I want to add screenshots of all ball object and ammo types.
• Finish Levels.
• Axe multiplayer. This really hurts, after a lot of work on it, but unavoidable. 8 months ago I bought a new computer. Still not here, and it seems that even a lawsuite isn't going to fix it. Be careful ordering on the web! I quickly tired of debugging two simultaneous windows on one screen, and still don't have the resources to do it right. Honestly I didn't design multiplayer in in the first place, and its a hack. If BA3D is well accepted, there is always room for Part II. I'll do it right then.

12-01-00

Web hosting company lost the entire site. Sorry for any inconvenience. Lets uploading it again as I anxiously away the results from the IGF :).

11-10-00

Important!!!! There is a crippling bug with beta 0.6, which has slipped through the cracks and made it to the IGF judges. The setup program adjusts the starting level according to the difficulty level you specify (experts don't need the intro). However the setup program was not modified to reflect the modified engine's level naming scheme. If you use the setup program, BA3D will end up in an endless loop looking for levels which don't exist. A patch will be uploaded soon. Until then, reinstalling will reset ba3d.cfg. You can modify ba3d.cfg by hand using a text editor to change

CURRENT_LEVEL levels/0.lev
to
CURRENT_LEVEL levels/000.lev

Finally, you can use the console command available in the beta to set the correct level in game

CURRENT_LEVEL 000

For more advanced levels, just replace 000 with the level name, 009, 023, geo. Sorry very much for the troubles. BA3D has moved to the 3D interface for end user setup. The setup program remained only for debugging setting for beta testers, and was not properly updated.

8-20-00

I've been awake for 48 hours straight getting BA3D ready to submit to the IGF. I'm really excited about this first public distribution of the game. The engine has gotten a complete overhaul, with much cleaner code and many new features including some beautiful physics enhancements, non-boxshaped levels, and network support. Multiplayer support is disabled in the current beta0.6 until I have it a bit more stable. It may be completely postponed until the immenent release of DX8, which is rumored to have much better network code.

2-19-00

BA3D Software Website Opened today!!! We have several great games in the works that will be available soon, and have a code section which will serve as an archive of useful Directx code developed for our projects.