video support:

[d-soldier]

I know that this would primarily be a feature for windows games only, but working with individual frames / animted gifs is very limiting... I don't know about .avi, but mpeg video would be a great benefit for those of us not developing for handheld porting.

[Sgt. Sparky]

a movie(.avi) and all movie formats have different properties,
it would be very difficult(but I know makslane could do it. ) to put the files in the right format for game development,
(you can use more than just a .gif you know. )
the movie files are better use for just movies.
but why exacly would you like to use a .avi or .mpeg?
(I am very confused about this. )

[kyensoftware]

if u are making a cutscene then you will most likely either:
~ Your 3d renderer has .png, .jpg or .gif support, either in sequence or animated gif!
~ I dont know of any painting progs that go immediately into video!

[d-soldier]

Audio synch is the biggy. In a video format the audio is linked directly to the set framerate, meaning that sketchy processing (for slow computers) will affect both the same. Whereas this method could have laggy video, offsetting the audio synch... plus, my data folder is already chalk-full of images for the actors, dont need 500 additional image files for each little cutscene in there too.

[Sgt. Sparky]

hmmm...
that is why you use animations instead of normal images for certain things.
but I see what you mean,
cutscene support would be nice.

[kyensoftware]

oh, yes... sound!
that is a biggy...
ge's sound is kinda laggy...
THAT IS A GOOD IDEA!
CheckSound (channel,min volume to check for, (optional)file that is being played)

[Bee-Ant]

I agree...
Game without video , like man without woman
I think...
how about .3gp???.rm???.mp4???.avi???

[d-soldier]

Moreover, the compression codecs available for video files are far superior to using sprites as large/full-screen animations. I think it would be a very valuable feature.

[Sgt. Sparky]

I know a way to set up a video for a game, by just using a gif and using frame syncing(I am not sure that is how you spell it thogh. ) I will make a simple Demo once I get back to my house. (pretty much if animpos == so and so, read sound ect.)

[morcior]

avi support is definately required, and it is not overly hard to do, especially as GE is based around SDL. There are several open source projects that can render 'avi' contained video through SDL.

GIFs are not a valid alternative for many reasons, audio synching was already mentioned, GIF files are also limited to 256 colors which makes them utterly useless for video, also the compression model of the GIF format does not lend itself well to photo-like images so you get very large files. Finally GE isnt that great at swapping large textures, try and play a 640x480 gif at 30fps!

So in conclusion: AVI support please! at least for some sort of mpeg4 codec

[d-soldier]

Good, you brought it up at the end... I was swaying from avi support because of the multitude of codecs available, which is why I was aiming more for an mpeg addition... Or as stated, an avi with a specific codec used... maybe one day?

[metal_pt]

Hi!

What about adobe/macromedia flash support (swf)?
Wouldn't that be great?

Best regards.

[AnimeTank]

O yea. (SWF) files would be a great edition to game editor versions in the future. And besides that, the animation in flash is superb, it is much better then drawing pic by pic in my games.

[Bee-Ant]

Then...how do you make a .swf video???I think better if GE will support all kind of video...

[pixelpoop]

most video codecs are owned by a company and cost money to use in products (much like the mp3 format). It would make game-editor jump in price and I don't think any of you would like paying an extra $40 USD for a bunch of video formats that you won't use. Since most video editors and Flash already export to a bunch of different formats, just 1 free format would be good.