Updated roadmap for Away3D 4.0

by Richard Olsson

As the roadmap for Away3D 4.0 is somewhat behind schedule, we wanted to publish an update on recent progress. Our original plans to release a beta version in November, and to then release a final 4.0 version in December was described in this blog post. We have not been able to reach these milestones yet, but that of course does not mean that work has stopped or that Away3D is going away.

The delay is largely as a result of our desire to create a high-quality, professional-grade library with Away3D 4.0. We are committed to providing a stable, flexible and well-documented API for the final release, and with some refactor work still in the pipeline, we have found it simply unrealistic to keep to our original timescales unless we were willing to compromise the scope of delivery in some way.

At present, API changes are being worked through and we would encourage anyone interested in these changes to take a look at "dev" branch on GitHub for the latest test builds. Much progress has been made here already, and there are even a few new features sneaking in which we'll be talking more about in a separate blog post. The revised roadmap plan expects completion of these refactors to fall around mid to late January, at which point Away3D 4.0 will officially reach beta. At this point we will switch to concentrating on bugfixing and minor refinements, adding the polish necessary to finalise our official Away3D 4.0 release version.

As a side note, we are aware of the current concern surrounding the future of one of our newer libraries Away Physics that uses Adobe Alchemy. Some of you may have heard that Alchemy is due an upgrade, although the precise nature of this upgrade is yet to be revealed. We are actively involved in discussions with Adobe over their direction with Alchemy, and hope to be able to bring you information in the near future on what this will mean for Away Physics. The prospect of technical improvements in this area is certainly one of great excitement for us, and the precise nature of the licensing model (which for many is the source of concern) is something Adobe are keen to make work for open source communities such as ours. Watch this space for updates on the discussion.

It is important to note that although Away3D 4.0 is technically still in alpha, a lot of people have already used it to create seriously stunning content. Take a look at our showcase gallery for some of the recent projects around the web that have been using Away3D 4.0 to achieve visuals of a quality and speed never before seen in Flash. If anyone is planning to publish an Away3D project, we encourage you to fill out a showcase form for future inclusion in our showcase section.

Thank you for all contributions, discussions, demos and sites submitted by the community in the last few months, and happy holidays to all Away3D users around the world!

The Away3D Team

COMMENTS

21 Dec 2011 03:28 PM

polyGeek said:

Thanks for the update. You guys are doing amazing work. Take your time and make it stable and awesome.

31 Dec 2011 05:41 AM

osoker said:

thank you for your hard work.

30 Jan 2012 09:38 AM

funtasma said:

Hey guys, great work till now. We hope to see the beta soon!
Unfortunately your website has difficulties in the IE.
-Benjamin-

08 Feb 2012 09:25 AM

Jens Chr Brynildsen said:

@funtasma thanks for spotting the IE bug! will try to get it fixed

11 Feb 2012 09:40 PM

BobWarfield said:

Any news on the Beta test release date? I'm looking forward to seeing the API nailed down a little more before undertaking to port to 4.0 from my current 3.x version.

Only registered members can comment. Click here to login or here to register