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| Developer(s) | Adobe Inc.,Macromedia,MacroMind |
|---|---|
| Target platform(s) | Web browsers,Windows,macOS |
| Editor software | Adobe Director |
| Player software | Shockwave Player |
| Format(s) | DIR, DCR, DXR |
| Programming language(s) | Lingo |
| Application(s) | Browser games,desktop apps,video games |
| Status | Discontinued on April 9, 2019 |
| License | Proprietary[1] |
| Website | www |
Adobe Shockwave (formerlyMacromedia Shockwave andMacroMind Shockwave) is adiscontinuedmultimediaplatform for building interactive multimedia applications andvideo games. Developers originate content usingAdobe Director and publish it on the Internet. Such content could be viewed in aweb browser on any computer with theShockwave Player plug-in installed.MacroMind originated the technology;Macromedia acquired MacroMind and developed it further, releasing Shockwave Player in 1995.Adobe then acquired Shockwave with Macromedia in 2005.[2] Shockwave supportsraster graphics, basicvector graphics,3D graphics,audio, and an embedded scripting language calledLingo.[3][4]
During the 1990s, Shockwave was a common format for CD-ROM projectors, kiosk presentations, and interactive video games, and dominated in interactive multimedia.[5] Variousgraphic adventure games were developed with Shockwave then, includingThe Journeyman Project,Total Distortion,Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou,Mia's Language Adventure,Mia's Science Adventure, and theDidi & Ditto series.Video game developers developed hundreds of free online video games using Shockwave, publishing them on websites such asMiniclip and Shockwave.com.
In July 2011, a survey found that Flash Player had 99% market penetration in desktop browsers in "mature markets" (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand), while Shockwave Player claimed only 41% in these markets.[6]Adobe Flash andAdobe AIR are alternatives to Shockwave, with its3D rendering capabilities,object-oriented programming language, and capacity to run as anative executable on multiple platforms.[7]
In February 2019, Adobe announced that Adobe Shockwave, including the Shockwave Player, would be discontinued effective April 9, 2019.[8]
Shockwave originated with the VideoWorks application developed byMacroMind for the originalApple Macintosh. Animations were initially limited to the black and white of early Macintosh screens. VideoWorks was rebranded as Director 1.0 in 1987. Director 2.2 was released in 1988, and included theLingo scripting language with extensibility provided byXtras. AWindows version was available in the early 1990s. Director 3.0 was the last version by MacroMind, and released in 1989 which introduced XObjects to Lingo.Shockwave Player had still not been developed, and the sole means of publishing content remained generating executable applications.
In 1992, MacroMind (now MacroMind-Paracomp) merged with Authorware Inc. and becameMacromedia. As the Internet became more popular, Macromedia realized the potential for a web-based multimedia platform, and designedShockwave Player for the leadingweb browser of the time,Netscape Navigator.Shockwave Player was released with Director 4.0 around 1995, and branded Shockwave Player 1.0. Its versioning has since been tied to Director's versioning, skipping versions 2 to 4. Shockwave was now a two-part system, a graphics and animation editor known asMacromedia Director, and a player known asMacromedia Shockwave Player.
Macromedia Director quickly became the de facto production tool for the multimedia industry. By 1993 it was used to develop most Macintosh CD-ROM games,[9] such aspoint-and-clickgraphic adventures.[10] Throughout the 1990s Director was credited with the creation of the majority of educational CD-ROMs.[7] It was preferred over competing applications due to its range of features, relative ease of use and Director's ability to publish executables for bothApple andMicrosoft operating systems.[7]
A less-sophisticated alternative to Director was Apple'sHyperCard.[9] From 1995 to 1997 a competing multimedia authoring program appeared calledmTropolis (from mFactory). In 1997, mTropolis was purchased and discontinued byQuark, Inc., who had its own plans into multimedia authoring with Quark Immedia.
In December 1996,[11] Macromedia acquiredFutureWave Software and its FutureSplash products.Macromedia Flash 1.0 was released shortly thereafter. Macromedia now controlled two of the three leading multimedia platforms for the web, withJava being the third.
Macromedia Director 8.5 was released in 2001 and was the first version to specifically target thevideo game industry.[10] It introduced 3D capabilities, 3D text, toon shading,Havok physics,Real Video,Real Audio, integration withMacromedia Flash 5, behaviors, and other enhancements.[10] 3D modelling programs such asLightWave,Cinema 4D, and3D Studio Max were upgraded to export 3D models for Shockwave.[7][10]
As of 2001, over 200 million people had theMacromedia Shockwave Player installed, making Shockwave a common format for online video games.[10] Websites such asMiniclip and Shockwave.com were dedicated to Shockwave and Flash-based video games.[12][13]
Macromedia was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005, and the entire Macromedia product line includingFlash,Dreamweaver,Director/Shockwave, andAuthorware was now handled by Adobe. Director is currently developed and distributed byAdobe Systems.
The early 2000s saw a decline in the usage of Director/Shockwave as most multimedia professionals preferredMacromedia Flash and other competing platforms. After the Adobe acquisition, no new versions were released for four years.[7]
In 2007, Adobe released Adobe Director 11, the first new release in four years.[7] It introducedDirectX 9 native 3D rendering and theAGEIAPhysX physics engine, panel docking,QuickTime 7 support,Windows Media,RealPlayer support,Adobe Flash CS3 integration, andUnicode support.[7] It was considered an "incremental release" by reviewers and the scripting editor was still considered "primitive".[7]
As of 2008, the market position of Director/Shockwave overlapped with Flash to a high degree, the only advantage of Director being its native 3D capabilities.[7] However, with the release ofFlash Player 11, GPU-based 3D rendering was now supported usingStage3D (the underlying API),Away3D orFlare3D (3D game engines). And afterAdobe AIR was released, Flash programs could now be published as native applications, further reducing the need for Director.[7]
In February 2019, Adobe announced that Adobe Shockwave, including theShockwave Player, would be discontinued in April 2019.[8]
Xtras are plug-ins for the Lingo scripting language that enable additional functionality into a Shockwave project. Xtras are typically used to add file system I/O, hardware integration, and advanced multimedia functions. Xtras are supported and available forAdobe Director,Adobe Authorware andAdobe Freehand.
Many of Director's own functions are implemented as Xtras. Xtras use the MacromediaOpen Architecture which was designed to allow easy creation of interchangeable components between Macromedia products. Adobe maintains a list of third party Xtras.
Xtras for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) have an .X32 file extension. Xtras forMac OS generally have an .XTR extension. The file extension *.X16 is reserved for Xtras for Microsoft Windows (16-bit).
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