Multimedia Fusion

: "For the latest version of this product, see Multimedia Fusion 2."

Multimedia Fusion, often referred to as MMF, is a software authoring tool mostly used for game development or prototyping. The program is created by Clickteam who bought the rights to the name "Multimedia Fusion" from IMSI. This program was the latest in the Klik series of development software (until early 2007 when Clickteam introduced Multimedia Fusion 2 and The Games Factory 2), and included an extensive list of features as well as bug fixes. The program uses a "point and click" programming language much like a table (the Event Editor) to program an application. Recently four bonus packs were released, introducing some new objects with new features, such as alpha blending per pixel, named variables and isometric grid.

tructure

MMF is not based on any form of programming language. It differs from its competitor Game Maker 7, by not having a programming language as an optional feature.

Conditions, actions and expressions

Instead of written code, MMF uses a grid where rows represent "Conditions" and columns represent "Actions"; When condition(s) are met the action(s) will execute. This can be viewed as a list of "if-then" conditions that is continually checked during runtime. For example, a basic condition might be 'Object 1 Collides with Object 2', which if fulfilled will perform the actions specified in the columns representing each object. The applications are faster to build since there is no compiling. The objects are powerful precompiled "libraries" and ActiveX controls. Expressions are dynamic and handled through the syntax-colored and self-generating expression evaluator. Since the inner working is not seen by the user, some very advanced algorithms and calculations are not impossible but hard to implement through the UI. APIs are only supported through objects. Some objects are standard libraries that has been ported into MMF objects which requires Visual Studio and good knowledge in C++. Cross-platform applications and obfuscation of the code cannot be made. Code can only be protected in the project. When MMF builds the .exe files with embedded libraries and resources, the user has a many options but no raw code. Most application made by other SDKs can be made in MMF but the very high level of abstraction makes many huge loops cause lag. Also, code optimizing is not an option.

Newer versions

A new version of Multimedia Fusion, Multimedia Fusion 2, was released on June 30, 2006. It is available in three different varieties: The Games Factory 2, Multimedia Fusion 2 and Multimedia Fusion 2 Developer, with more features being in the latter versions than the former. A full feature list can be found [http://mmf2.ovine.net/ here] .

External links

* [http://www.clickteam.com/eng/index.php Clickteam]