Update/News

[andy55]

I wanted to give an update to all the folks here, to the faithful to the frustrated.

As previously announced, G-Force 4 is close upon us and it primarily features major performance enhancements, removal of various technical restrictions, and 64 bit compatibility. For the last two months the first two have been done, so it's the latter that's been ongoing. To fully understand what limitations are presently in place with regards to 64 bit compatibility, see my post the thread:

http://www.soundspectrum-forums.com/vie ... php?t=6483

So by "64 bit compatibility", what's still holding up the show is transitioning in OS X from Carbon to Cocoa. As many have seen me point out in another thread, 95%+ of software developers don't have to make this transition right now because they're not run under a 64 bit host (they're standalone apps and both Windows and OS X will support 32-bit processes into the distant future).

So, what's the bottom line? The remaining segment of Carbon to Cocoa conversion requires major code alterations, so our intention is to do a SoftSkies and WhiteCap release by the end of next week before I break out the wrecking ball. The reasoning here is that if we wait, it will be that many more weeks/months before the fixes and content additions made to the codebase for SoftSkies and WhiteCap will see the light of day (some of which are critical, such as fixes for WMP and WMC -- see my post in this thread -- http://www.soundspectrum-forums.com/vie ... php?t=6458 ).

So, expect a point release of WC and SS within the next two weeks and once that occurs, I'll be busting out the wrecking ball for the last leg of changes to the core codebase to finish the transition to Cocoa. Rest assured that the instant I have a build available for GF 4 on 64 bit, I'll post the beta (so add yourself to the beta list if you're interested). In fact, over the last couple weeks I've been very tempted to for a (32 bit) GF 4 beta but have decided against it since the low level changes that lie ahead are going to also need the initial wave of that beta testing.

If the remaining Cocoa revisions take longer than I anticipate, then I will do a "quiet" GF 4 beta release so that all the faithful here can start having fun with it.

Beyond that, I'm pleased to announce that SoundSpectrum has a recent new full-time hire that I'm working closely with on a new viz, codenamed "Flux". It uses the principles that G-Force used to become successful, so I'm excited to see how it will be received. It features a basic, mathematical-based content language (like G-Force), has a level of visual permutations equal to exceeding G-Force, will scale very well on different setups, will make full use of multicore systems, and will be perfect for math and physics savvy folks to create hyper-dynamic visual effects by using familiar dynamic relationships (mechanics, electrodynamics, magnetism, gravity, orbital mechanics, etc). The design goal was to return to what makes G-Force so interesting to watch, even after all these years: high performance iteration on dynamic elements using interchangeable, mathematical parts.

The viz product "Aeon" that has been in production for some time has been unfortunately sidelined as a result of the pressures to release G-Force 4 and finish our transition to Cocoa and Win64. Aeon's release schedule was further hampered by an animator hire at SoundSpectrum that unfortunately didn't work out. If you are someone you know are a talented and dedicated animator and also have moderate to advanced programming experience, please contact us regarding employment. Unlike, G-Force and Flux, Aeon is uses a more traditional artistic/animated content development approach.

Since the "TODO" portions of Aeon are strictly content items, I anticipate returning to content creation when the 64-bit version of WhiteCap ships. Because the release of 64 bit WC and SS depends on 64 bit versions of python, I cannot yet say what the timeline for this looks like. Sadly, the CPython dev community is dominated by academics, so we're amidst dealing with a range of fringe Python issues in our products that are of little to no consequence to the people who are charged with making Python not suck. They'll spend all day telling you want (they think) commercial developers want rather than listening to...wait for it...actual commercial developers such as SoundSpectrum. Of course when you remind them that this is why companies like Blizzard chose Lua over Python, they turtle up.

As always many humble thanks to everyone that supports our products, the folks here in the forums that offer helping hands to other users, and the people that have been patient waiting for 64 bit versions.

Best,
Andy

[Rovastar]

Glad to see the progress is strong Andy. Not visited here for a while. True 64 bits can cause more headaches.

Always good to see new visualizations out there.

I am still (slowly) doing new visualizations with Gordon Williams but I don't know (m)any others.

Look forward to seeing your betas.

[Wombat66]

Andy, Thanks for the update!

[JoeHendrix]

I was about ready to let my subscription lapse since I didn't see anything really happening with this product, until I read this thread. With the promise of G-Force 4.0 coming out this year, I figured I'll sign up for another year (I've been a subscriber for over 3 years now).

I could care less about the 64 bit version of the product, but I am looking forward to what else will be happening with G-Force. It's been a great product. I hope that some of the ideas (in another forum thread) about album cover sprites get incorporated into one of the versions of G-Force one of these days. I think that would be awesome.

Keep up the good work. Love the product.

[juxtiphi]

I was about ready to let my subscription lapse since I didn't see anything really happening with this product, until I read this thread. With the promise of G-Force 4.0 coming out this year, I figured I'll sign up for another year (I've been a subscriber for over 3 years now).

I could care less about the 64 bit version of the product, but I am looking forward to what else will be happening with G-Force. It's been a great product. I hope that some of the ideas (in another forum thread) about album cover sprites get incorporated into one of the versions of G-Force one of these days. I think that would be awesome.

Keep up the good work. Love the product.

If Andy didnt have to cater to people who want 64 bit I think Gf 4 would have been out by now.

[Duzdol]

If Andy didnt have to cater to people who want 64 bit I think Gf 4 would have been out by now.

Yeah, that awful technology keeps moves forward. It's not like 64 bit hasn't been around for years. Everyone clinging onto 32 bit is holding back progress.

[juxtiphi]

If Andy didnt have to cater to people who want 64 bit I think Gf 4 would have been out by now.

Yeah, that awful technology keeps moves forward. It's not like 64 bit hasn't been around for years. Everyone clinging onto 32 bit is holding back progress.

Andy has already explained the a 64 bit GF will not be much different from 32 bit, the only benefit will be that it will work in a 64 bit architecture .

[Duzdol]

Andy has already explained the a 64 bit GF will not be much different from 32 bit, the only benefit will be that it will work in a 64 bit architecture .

This is still a good thing for GF. It keeps GF from becoming dated , and he won't have to worry about it a couple years down the line once 32 bit support is dropped. That will leave him with plenty of time for 64 bit optimization .

[juxtiphi]

Andy has already explained the a 64 bit GF will not be much different from 32 bit, the only benefit will be that it will work in a 64 bit architecture .

This is still a good thing for GF. It keeps GF from becoming dated , and he won't have to worry about it a couple years down the line once 32 bit support is dropped. That will leave him with plenty of time for 64 bit optimization .

I disagree 32 bit progs will be around for a long long time but but as you say a few years from now. GF is not dated and would probably benefit from having the time to grow naturally instead of forcing andy's hand for something that is unnecessary now.

[ozbeats]

[color=yellow]I dispute 64 bit is a waste of time or that it is un-necessary!

Its totally needed! Unless you're still using a win 98 by any chance

Even 1000's km's away from the USA here in australia all high end gaming computers,
that are sold at major retailers like Harvey Norman, and even Dell online and HP are using 64 bit architecture, including drivers.

Admittedly 4gb of system ram for 32 bit pc users will keep almost everything running smoothly,
however on the other hand a dual core or quad core pc is at a major benefit when utilizing 64 bit operating systems,
more RAM uo to 8 Gigaybtes (not limited to 4gb max like 32 bit systems) and is more reliable with less crashes.

Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, all utilize the 64 architecture
Whether you choose to install it on a capable PC is your own choice!
Don't assume a higher level system architecture isn't better, try it out first

In my PC system with 2TB disk space, Core 2 Quad, Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit, 8 Gigabytes of RAM plus a Nvidia GEForce 9800GTX+ with 512 of its own inbuilt video memory too -
NO lagging at all, no wait times, multi-tasking is a breeze and i experience less program and browser crashes normally due to excess memory loading. Games for windows is way better

Studio editors, television stations in digital and production studios would already be using 64 bit architecture
simply because it offers more random access memory power on general pc systems, even servers are 64 bit.

64 bit systems are smart enough to run even most 32 bit programs, however they must be configured
to allow usage in a 64 bit architecture (e.g wmp 12) by utilizing a small coding string / registry code,

For us SS Members to benefit with full functionality would need to be 64 bit (in g-force's case) to run in a 64 bit only programs
like Windows Media Center (Win 7 release), which is not using 32 bit architecture in 64 bit Operating systems.

So that is my reasons why 64 bit system compatibility is 100% needed!

I've even rang Apple during the week as an Upgraded Pro Quicktime user and gave them a little serve over their lack of 64 bit integrations / capability.
Quickitme's lack of 64 bit support freezes simplified 64 bit integration of music visualizers, which i've made quite clear to Apple's senior customer consultants here in Australia.

Cheers

Thanks from Alf in Australia[/color]

[juxtiphi]

[color=yellow]I dispute 64 bit is a waste of time or that it is un-necessary!

Its totally needed! Unless you're still using a win 98 by any chance

Even 1000's km's away from the USA here in australia all high end gaming computers,
that are sold at major retailers like Harvey Norman, and even Dell online and HP are using 64 bit architecture, including drivers.

Admittedly 4gb of system ram for 32 bit pc users will keep almost everything running smoothly,
however on the other hand a dual core or quad core pc is at a major benefit when utilizing 64 bit operating systems,
more RAM uo to 8 Gigaybtes (not limited to 4gb max like 32 bit systems) and is more reliable with less crashes.

Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, all utilize the 64 architecture
Whether you choose to install it on a capable PC is your own choice!
Don't assume a higher level system architecture isn't better, try it out first

In my PC system with 2TB disk space, Core 2 Quad, Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit, 8 Gigabytes of RAM plus a Nvidia GEForce 9800GTX+ with 512 of its own inbuilt video memory too -
NO lagging at all, no wait times, multi-tasking is a breeze and i experience less program and browser crashes normally due to excess memory loading. Games for windows is way better

Studio editors, television stations in digital and production studios would already be using 64 bit architecture
simply because it offers more random access memory power on general pc systems, even servers are 64 bit.

64 bit systems are smart enough to run even most 32 bit programs, however they must be configured
to allow usage in a 64 bit architecture (e.g wmp 12) by utilizing a small coding string / registry code,

For us SS Members to benefit with full functionality would need to be 64 bit (in g-force's case) to run in a 64 bit only programs
like Windows Media Center (Win 7 release), which is not using 32 bit architecture in 64 bit Operating systems.

So that is my reasons why 64 bit system compatibility is 100% needed!

I've even rang Apple during the week as an Upgraded Pro Quicktime user and gave them a little serve over their lack of 64 bit integrations / capability.
Quickitme's lack of 64 bit support freezes simplified 64 bit integration of music visualizers, which i've made quite clear to Apple's senior customer consultants here in Australia.

Cheers

Thanks from Alf in Australia[/color]

as I said Andy has explained that GF will not really gain any performance enhancement from 64 bit hence his reluctance to update it.

It will be a long time before applications used in everyday life will be moded to 64 bit, maybe in the gaming world 64 bit helps with all the processing of graphics but regular programs will not benefit from 64 bit because they just dont need it.

[splungent]

I understand the update to 64 bit is a pain in the a$$ for Andy and the rest of the developers but I think it is necessary. The main reason it should be done is all the high end computer systems are all 64 bit with dual or quad cores. I just bought a windows 7 laptop with the i5 cpu and 8 gigs of ram. It is a sweet machine but a lot of software runs buggy on it. As long as serato scratch and gforce runs on it I am a happy camper. I realize there is a lot of code to be changed but I think it will be a awesome once it is done. Cheers to Andy and company.

[andy55]

To all the faithful that have been patient for so long on G-Force 4 (and 64 bit), I'm pleased to report that we hit a major milestone today.

As of today, G-Force 4 is now running fully in 64 bit! For those interested in specifics, we've completed our transition from Apple's legacy OpenGL (AGL) to the 64 bit OpenGL API (NSOpenGLContecxt). This allows us to therefore to compile 64 bit, so the endpoint is now in sight!

I'll be working hard this week to propagate the changes in the codebase to its fringes, so that I can get you G-Force 4 beta sometime next week. Make sure you're on the beta list if you want to see it!

Andy

[splungent]

Andy,
I want to personally thank you for this release. I am sure you and your team put a lot of work into it. I know there was a lot of impatience concerning this release (myself included) but I am sure it will be worth the wait. Thank you again.

[ozbeats]

Any updates on the status of this please will be greatly appreciated,

I'm hoping it won't be too much longer since you cracked the major milestone two weeks ago, with some effort it will be out well before by next birthday mid-may, and only 3-4 months behind Andy's initial release estimate at the start of this post, but of course who's counting???

If you really want us long term members of SS to respect the program and stay upgraded or renew, then it is in your best interests to keep us informed, considering the long delay already

Thanks, Alfred Penny