Q

Embargo 0800 GMT Monday July 21 2008

London based Qube software has unveiled the first ‘point release’ of its revolutionary middleware solution ‘Q’, saying it highlights the ease and rapidity with which new features can be added.

Q 2.1 ships with enhanced scripting and a new, multi-threaded script debugger; both features designed to help developers get games to market quickly.

Although Q 2.1 is the engine’s first point release, it’s part of a programme of continuous improvement that has seen Q updated monthly since it was first made available to partner studios 18 months ago.

“The same architecture that makes Q the only true cross-studio solution also makes it quick and easy for us to add new features,” said Qube CEO Servan Keondjian, “because even major Q updates don’t break compatibility with code and data built on older versions.”

“What we’re doing is adding plug-ins using exactly the same process as studios use to build their own,” said Keondjian. “So Q is simply more responsive to clients’ needs than any other middleware on the market, whether that be through Qube adding new features or through studios doing it themselves.”

Q’s new scripting is a C++ / Java-like language with a multi-threaded script runtime. It offers access to the complete Q API and to developers’ own objects and native code from script, and allows script to be embedded within native code.

The integrated debugger offers a full-featured debugging environment with breakpoints, step-in/out, threads and watches.

Also included in the latest release are new shader and scene rendering plugins to expand Q’s existing rendering library.

“Not all developers have the time or the inclination to get deep into native code,” said Q Program Manager Jamie Fowlston. “Scripting and debugging, as well as the additional shaders, are all tools that make Q a better off-the-shelf solution as well as one that studios can customise to their hearts’ content.”

"Q has always supported arbitrary shaders and scene rendering algorithms,” said Fowlston. “Adding a new shader or scene rendering algorithm is easy with Q, so we'll continue to expand the library of rendering effects with future releases."

Q is presented as a series of modules arranged around a powerful and flexible framework. When Keondjian set out to build Q in the wake of creating Direct3D his aim was to develop a cross-platform and genre-agnostic game development solution that’s easy for studios to make their own.

At the heart of Q’s design is the principle that it should be possible to provide high-level engine functionality, while still being able to customize and add to it quickly and cleanly, thus avoiding many of the problems faced by developers using monolithic game engines who waste valuable time rebuilding large parts of it when they need to change or add features.

“One of Q’s core strengths is that it provides an excellent technical foundation that allows us to make consistent progress with each new release,” Fowlston said. “That same foundation allows developers to use Q as a cross-studio solution knowing that any custom features they add won’t be broken by future Q releases.”

To try Q today contact Jamie Fowlston on +44 20 7431 9995 or via info@qubesoft.com Further details are available at www.qubesoft.com

For media enquiries contact Qube’s Director of Communications, Jonathan Kent, on +44 (0) 7981 803 144 (m) or email jonathan@qubesoft.com

Qube Software produces 'Q', the only truly cross-genre, cross-platform 3D game solution on the market today. Q is a complete game solution in a completely customisable and extensible framework. Q has been designed to revolutionise game development by offering a standard for developers to use on all platforms across all projects. Qube Software is a privately held company that was founded in 1998 by Servan Keondjian and Doug Rabson, the creators of Direct3D, and is headquartered in London, UK.