http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/aug05/08-31ValveCPlusPlusPR.mspx

Today at Microsoft® Tech•Ed Australia, Microsoft Corp. announced that Valve Corp.®, creator of award-winning game franchises “Half-Life®” and “Counter-StrikeTM,” has named the upcoming Microsoft Visual C++® 2005 Express Edition as the preferred development environment for hobbyist Windows® developers creating modifications for SourceTM, the engine on which “Half-Life 2” is built. In addition, during Tech•Ed Australia, attendees will get to hear how Team Dystopia created its modification for “Half-Life 2” with Visual C++.

Microsoft’s Visual Studio® Express Edition products, including Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, will offer developers a low-cost tool to explore game “modding” on Windows. Hobbyist developers will also be able to learn more about how to create modifications for “Half-Life 2” on Microsoft’s Coding4Fun Web site, which features a new “Half-Life 2” Mod Corner. Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition, currently available in beta, is due to ship this fall and will be compatible with the next release of Valve’s Source software development kit (SDK).

“Windows gaming is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing areas of computing today,” said Brian Keller, product manager in the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp. “By working with content and technology creators such as Valve and releasing the Visual Studio Express products, we can provide great opportunities to the game development community. Valve and Microsoft share a vision of providing aspiring developers of all ages with the tools they need to get started with software development and pursue their passions.”

Microsoft Visual Studio Express products are low-cost, lightweight and easy-to-learn. They include Starter Kits and other introductory features to streamline programming for the nonprofessional developer. With the Express products, hobbyist, novice and student developers can build dynamic applications, whether they are building new games, creating modifications for games such as “Half-Life 2” or pursuing other software-related hobbies such as robotics or home automation. Valve’s SDK is available as a free download for “Half-Life 2” customers, which provides specialized tools and code that allow developers to build modifications to, and completely new games around, Valve’s powerful Source engine.

“Visual C++ 2005 is the development environment our engineers are using to create our next generation of products,” said Gabe Newell, founder and president of Valve. “Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition is a great, low-cost tool that opens the door for the mod community to leverage a robust version of that same development environment in the creation of its Source-based games.”