3D engines

[Matte]

I was going to say NeoAxis, but someone else already said it.
PhyreEngine by Sony should be good too.

[slin]

On a seperate note dark basic has a new no programming engine, I am tempted to buy.

Oh and the community here is not too bad, but you guys do tend to bash anything non rf based its ok, we its an rf-forum who wouldnt expect that?

[steven8]

On a seperate note dark basic has a new no programming engine, I am tempted to buy.

Oh and the community here is not too bad, but you guys do tend to bash anything non rf based its ok, we its an rf-forum who wouldnt expect that?

We don't bash everything non-rf. Not at all. Also, who are 'we'? Just curious. Also, in reference to your earlier post about it being 'all play' here, if you don't have fun making games, where can you have fun?

I'm going to check on that new version of DB. I like DB.

[slin]

Hey Steven,

I am referring a bit towards responses to things such as the gamestudio a7 when someone asked about it. Or when somebody first posted about antiryad gx.

Now remember this is just an outsiders guy point of view, personally I think RF is a great piece of software.

My reference to all fun and no work may have been misplaced, I apologize, once again from first look it seemed like there were not many projects being worked on all that often. Once again my apologies.

The new DB software is titled, something x? I don't remember too well.

So far I cannot find anyone who has used it, looks like an upgraded version of that gamemaker software they had.

I am tempted to buy it.

[Sph!nx]

Well, I'm not the most active, but I've been lurking around the corners for a while now and I noticed that more projects are popping up then the first period I was around.

About bashing other programs and projects. I haven't noticed at all. I think this is one of the most welcome forums for that!

[bernie]

To be fair I have seen good honest criticism of programs perhaps yer man considers that bashing.

[Pickles]

FreeVector - http://www.bookshock.com/software/frv/freevector.html

12 FreeVector Games - http://www.picklejargames.com/

# No Compiler Required
# Rendering controlled by FX files - Alter the renderer as you need.
# Easy to use scriptable interface to control pawns and the player.
# Easy to build menus with only a few script commands.
# Prototype games quickly.
# Built in Glare, Glow and Shadow Mapping.
# Automatic LOD and Automatic Bump Mapping.
# Automatic Outline Shading.
# Per Pixel Lighting.
# Built In Easy to Use Physics Engine.
# Zero Buffer Locking at Runtime.
# Render Gigantic Terrains and Endless Water.
# Supports: .X Skinned and non skinned meshes.
# Suports: DDS,TGA,JPG,BMP and PNG.
# Scriptable Motion Blur.
# Per Pixel Point Lighting System.
# Fully documented.
# Completely FREE.

[Destron]

All I can say is that this thread is going to be locked soon.

[slin]

Hahaha chill guys!

This is about 3d engines, lets quit arguing alright?

Lets see, another good 3d engine, basic4gl is free and a lot of fun, I would suggest checking it out if you are bored.

Or heck check out the blender 3d game engine, it is kind of like reality factory. Not as fast at all, but its getting better, I kind of hope it gets good in the future.

Come on guys, lets see what some other good engines are.

[Destron]

Hahaha chill guys!

This is about 3d engines, lets quit arguing alright?

Lets see, another good 3d engine, basic4gl is free and a lot of fun, I would suggest checking it out if you are bored.

Or heck check out the blender 3d game engine, it is kind of like reality factory. Not as fast at all, but its getting better, I kind of hope it gets good in the future.

Come on guys, lets see what some other good engines are.

Well we haven't started arguing yet... but I feel it coming since Pickles posted in this thread.

Oh good Lord I'll probably start an argument just by saying that

[Pickles]

Thought I would post the change log since ALOT has changed since the first FreeVector thread. I'm going to make a few more games with it and then write a book on how to get the most out of the engine.

Version 1.2.1
- Automatically Create Bump Map Mesh for Non Skinned Meshes and World Objects Only.

Version 1.2.2
- Added command to get squared bone distance to player.
- Added a command to record the last type of projectile that hit a pawn.

Version 1.2.3
- Added commands to use a pawn as a player weapon. Can also be used for an over the shoulder third person view.

Version 1.2.4
- Added the ability to have an opitional bump texture named BumpTex in the bump mapping shader. This means the light map does not have to include the normal map.

Version 1.2.5
- Now a Model with a texture named VIDEO, will play the video loaded by the menu.

Version 1.2.6
- Added BumpTex as an optional texture for physical objects.

Version 1.2.7
- Added commands to control a player Lantern using a per pixel volume texture.

Version 1.2.8
- Added command to blend between two anims using the camera pitch.

Version 1.2.9
-Added single command to use a pawn as a first person weapon.

Version 1.3.0
-Added command to control 'Exposure' float in all effect files.
-Added command to set the maximum and minimum pitch of the camera
-Added command to set camera pitch.

Version 1.3.1
- Fixed Bug in Bump mapping for world objects.

Verion 1.3.2
-Added command to get distance between player and specified pawn bone. - float GetPointDist(point num)

Version 1.3.3
-Fixed bug to prevent crashing due to a model that has lightmaps for only some of the subsets.

Version 1.3.4
-Engine now updates player before pawns.

Version 1.3.5
-Added script command to move camera with mouse without adjusting player.
-Added command to turn degrees into radians.
-Changed SetPlayerRotation to accept radians only.
-Added self.CamYaw command to return the cam yaw.

Version 1.3.6
-Fixed bug in TraceToActor command.

Version 1.3.7
-Set shadowmap to use alpha channels in the foliage shadow.
-Changed LOD to use player position instead of camera position.
-Changed water position to use the player position instead of the camera.

Version 1.3.8
-Added command to rotate camera.
-Added command to set the color of a pawn.

Version 1.3.9
-Added command get the mouse sensitivity - self.getMouseSens.

Version 1.4.0
-Added command to invert the mouse Y movement. - self.InvertMouse.
-Added PawnToPlayer(speed) command.
-Fixed toon outline for skinned meshes.
-Improved glow system

Version 1.4.1
-Added three commands to control animation times. This is used for multiple anims on a single track.

Version 1.4.2
-Add WINDSPEED variable to the level file to control the swaying of the grasses effect.

Version 1.4.3
-Fixed bug in foliage system.

Version 1.4.4
-Added code to prevent toon outlining of tree foliage.

Version 1.4.5
-Corrected bug in the Menu Image memory manager.

Version 1.4.6
-Pawns can now cause damage to one another if shot at.

Version 1.4.7
-Pawns are checked against explosions. 100 is returned as the bullet if hit by an explosion.

Version 1.4.8
-Pawns can now through the script command SetEffectDead(bool) command, set an effect variable named Dead.

Version 1.4.9
-Fixed bug in environment mapping for pawns.
-Added texWorldAdjMat effect parameter.

Version 1.5.0
-Added PAWNDEPTH variable to the config file which if set to false, will prevent pawns from being rendered to the depth texture render target.

Version 1.5.1
-Added command to match the terrain using a vehicle*.

Version 1.5.2
-Fixed bug in scripting system.

Version 1.5.3
-Fixed bug in scripting system.

Version 1.5.4
-Fixed bug in bounding box system.

Version 1.5.5
-Modified collision system.

Version 1.5.6
-Added command to turn player.

Version 1.5.7
-Added command to check if player has collided.

Version 1.5.8
-Changed collision with physical objects.

Version 1.5.9
-Fixed bug in scripting system.

Version 1.6.0
-Fixed bug in scripting system.

Version 1.6.1
-Added command to match players position only.

Version 1.6.2
-Added DEPTHCLEAR# to config file.

Version 1.6.3
-Changed shadow target format to optional R32F. Depth target only.

Version 1.6.4
-Added above to config options.

Version 1.6.5
-Added eyePos variable to toon outline effect.

Version 1.6.6
-Altered mouse control to turn faster.

Version 1.6.7
-Added command to create motion blur effect along the forward and rear axis.

Version 1.6.8
-Added command to turn player with camera in first person mode.

Version 1.6.9
-Added command to set amount of blur.

Version 1.7.0
-Added Wind Speed variable to trees as well as ground foliage.
-Added script command to alter wind speed.

Version 1.8.0
- Added per pixel point lighting system for world objects.

[QuestOfDreams]

Destron, your comments are absolutely unnecessary

[Destron]

Sorry.

[Allanon]

I never heard of the FreeVector engine until this thread, it seems to have some good features and the screenshots of the demo games look nice. I will be checking it out.

Also, someone mentioned that the engine requires a high end computer to run. Well I think that is a good thing since by the time I make a game todays high end computer will be a standard computer. Almost all the great engine of the past such as Quake, Unreal, and even Genesis3d required a high end computer to get a playable frame rate with most features turned on when they were first released. Take a look at Crysis, there isn't a computer out now that can get a good frame rate with all features turned on. I'm glad when an engine sacrifices speed or playability in order to use tomorrows technology, that means my game won't be outdated when it hits the shelf.

[Destron]

I never heard of the FreeVector engine until this thread, it seems to have some good features and the screenshots of the demo games look nice. I will be checking it out.

Also, someone mentioned that the engine requires a high end computer to run. Well I think that is a good thing since by the time I make a game todays high end computer will be a standard computer. Almost all the great engine of the past such as Quake, Unreal, and even Genesis3d required a high end computer to get a playable frame rate with most features turned on when they were first released. Take a look at Crysis, there isn't a computer out now that can get a good frame rate with all features turned on. I'm glad when an engine sacrifices speed or playability in order to use tomorrows technology, that means my game won't be outdated when it hits the shelf.

When making a game you have to get past the trade-off between jaw-dropping graphics and making the game playable.
For me, the biggest thing that ruined Crysis was the fact that my computer (AMD 64 3500+, 2 GB Memory, nVidia 8800 GTS) could not run it on medium settings; and that also affected the gameplay since turning the physics settings down meant that several objects in the world would not respond to interaction.
I say the best playable graphics of last year award goes to Bioshock. I just played through it again recently, and I can play it on high settings without a hitch. Does it look as good as good as Crysis? No, but it's playable and still pretty enough to satisfy my graphics cravings.