There has been a lot of recent Stage3D related news highlighting the constantly improving quality. Great timing for the TOP 5 Stage3D news and sources you shouldn’t miss (in case you are not familiar with Stage3D, here is more background information).
1) Unreal Engine for Flash Player 11
Yes, it’s official. As announced at Adobe MAX 2011, the high-end Unreal Engine has been ported to Flash Player. Certainly the first step for console level gaming, and a great reference for Stage3D performance.
2) Unity 3.5 Developer Preview with Flash Player Export
The new Unity 3.5 developer preview supports Flash Player export, providing the largest possible browser audience for Unity based games. Even better, Unity has a contest to encourage you to export to Flash.
“Create Unity-powered Flash content with the Unity 3.5 public beta, upload it to the web, and use the submission form on this page to enter for a chance to win the grand prize of $20,000!”
Unfortunately the contest ends January 5th, but already resulted in numerous Flash based Unity 3.5 showcases, as example Angry Bots, Russian Subway Demo, GnarBike, and many more to come judging by the recent Unity Flash activity on Twitter.
3) Away3D and Alternativa Platform
It’s probably not fair to include both in the same line, since they are somehow competitive, but it’s absolutely worth monitoring both the Alternativa Platform blog and Away3D showcase for the latest news and demos. As example the AlternativaPhysics is impressive, and the Adobe MAX 2011 featured Away3D website Nissan Stage-Juk3D is still one of the best Stage3D based marketing websites.
And of course there are other fantastic engines like Flare3D, most of them honored in the Flash Platform Game Developer Center.
4) Flash Daily
FlashDaily.net is a very well maintained showcase site with the latest Stage3D examples. The name indicates daily news about Flash Player 11 and “Flash 3D stuff”, which seems to qualify as a bookmark.
5) Adobe Gaming Evangelists
The absolutely best way to get the latest information about Stage3D, Flash Player 11 and gaming are the Adobe gaming evangelists Enrique Duvos, Lee Brimelow (formerly The Flash Blog), Tom Krcha, and Mike Jones.
If you follow closely, you will find interesting sneak peeks like Stage3D support on mobile devices and on AIR for TV.
Overall very vivid times, and worth keeping up with the latest news – there will surely be plenty in 2012.