GDC '08: Insomniac opens up toolshed

SAN FRANCISCO--Some companies share their technology between different teams as a way to get the most out of their programmers' work. Insomniac today announced it too will begin sharing its technology with other development teams--all of them.

Dubbed the Nocturnal Initiative, Insomniac's program will make bits and pieces of its technology code free to all developers on the official Web site. Insomniac reps characterized the move as a way to encourage communication with other developers and to give something back to the industry that has treated them so well.

The code will not be an engine, or middleware, or a licensed development solution of any kind. It will, instead, help handle common chores with benefits like memory-management templates, debugging utilities, and other basic functions that every developer has a need for when making a game. The utilities are also so basic that they could be adapted easily for any platform.