3D GameStudio
| 3D GameStudio | |
|---|---|
| Basic data
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| developer | Conitec |
| Current version | 8.47.1 (March 2016) |
| operating system | Windows |
| category | Computer game development system |
| License | Proprietary |
| German speaking | Yes |
| http://www.3dgamestudio.de | |
3D GameStudio ( 3DGS ) is a software package from Conitec which, in addition to the Acknex 3D engine designed for computer games and other multimedia applications, also includes a complete development environment with its own scripting language . The tool set supplied includes a simple model editor (MED), a BSP -based level editor (WED), a script editor with integrated debugger (SED) and a WYSIWYG editor that can be used to modify 3D environments within the running application (GED).
In addition to the tools supplied, texture and artwork collections , an extensive and customizable template system, numerous example programs , various SDKs for the tools and the engine and a multilingual reference are also included.
The template system allows you to create simple first-person shooters , RPGs , racing games , etc. without any programming knowledge. For more complex games and other genres, it is advisable to write your own programs using the programming languages and tools provided.
Until the introduction of the A7 Game Engine in 2007, the 3D Game Studio possessed with the A6 engine only on the scripting language C script, a simplified version of C . C-Script programs can not be precompiled, but are compiled and translated into machine code when the engine is started . Furthermore, the experienced programmer can use various software development kits to expand the tools or the engine with their own functions and features. There are SDK versions for C / C ++ and Delphi, among others .
The C-Script compiler has not been further developed since 2007, but is still supported by the A7. Instead, the Lite-C language developed in collaboration with Atari is used, with which functions of the Windows API or DirectX can be addressed directly. This means that much more complex programs can be developed.
Tools
The supplied model editor MED is intended for beginners. He has the basic tools for modeling, texturing and animating.
All individual parts of the game world are put together in the WED level editor. Functions can be assigned to each object ( Entity ) in the level editor. Object properties defined in the program can be edited in input windows so that a level designer can put together and configure the level environments individually. The template system can be extended by yourself, or you can create and use templates yourself so that the level design can be completely separated from the code.
The map compiler compiles the levels that have been compiled in the WED and creates a binary file that stores all model references, newly created meshes, lightmap data, object definitions, etc. Since the introduction of the A7 Game Engine, there have been two rendering methods, ABT and BSP - Tree rendering, which also require different levels of compilation. The BSP tree rendering is reserved for the Pro version from the A7 Game Engine and leads to a longer compilation because the compiler has to calculate all visibility data. If you compile in ABT mode, you can also import concave geometry or models as static geometry (and also provide them with light mapping data). You can import entire levels directly from other programs such as B. Import Maya (software) or 3D Studio Max . In the future it should also be possible to load precompiled lightmap data from these programs.
The advantage of authoring systems such as 3D GameStudio is the effective interaction of the individual parts and the resulting economic usability (shorter development time). This is because the developer no longer has to invest time, work and money in the elaborate development of these things, but can only concentrate on the design and implementation of a game. Disadvantages are the renouncement of being technically up to date and the - compared to tools individually tailored to a project - low flexibility (although the SDK actually revises this disadvantage).
Current status
Version 7 of 3D Gamestudio with the A7 game engine was released in 2007 . This was accompanied by the Lite-C programming language, which is also available free of charge. The progress of the engine is also secured by a more modern rendering kernel based on an adaptive binary tree, as well as a planned alignment to a completely shader-based rendering.
In 2010 the current version 8 came onto the market. The engine has been brought up to date to keep up with competing products. The completely shader-based rendering has now been expanded, including the function of real-time shadow mapping . The easy-to-design "WED blocks" were retained for quick success in level design. This level design is based on Constructive Solid Geometry , which was often used in older 3D games, but has increasingly given way to polygonal geometry. This method usually delivers results of significantly higher quality, but is significantly more complex and time-consuming to handle. Here the tool MED is often criticized in the community, which neither allows the creation of complex models nor the shader-based implementation in the engine. Further features of the new A8 engine are now the Nvidia PhysX implemented in Lite-C, which replaces the old ODE physics engine, and numerous (ongoing) improvements to the Lite-C scripting language. In addition, some optimizations have been made, for example reducing the rendering time of models.
Features of A7
| Edition | Lite-C free | Lite-C full | extra | Commercial | Per |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level editor | No | No | Yes | Yes | Distributable |
| Physics engine | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid + fluid |
| Multiplayer | No | No | No | 8 players | Unlimited |
| Zone / multiserver | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Scene manager | ABT | ABT | ABT | ABT | ABT + BSP |
| Static shadows | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Moving shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Particle generator | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rays generator | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shader | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mirror / rendering on textures | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| create a game | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Geometric LOD | Manually | Manually | Manually | Manually | Automatically |
| Bones animation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Weighted |
| Game templates | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Show logo | In the game | At the start | At the start | At the start | Selectable |
| File packer | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Demo mode function | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| C-Script compatibility | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plugin / Engine SDK | --- | Open source | Open source | Open source | Full license |
Features of A8
| Edition | Lite-C free | Lite-C full | extra | Commercial | Per |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level editor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Distributable |
| Physics engine | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid | Rigid + fluid |
| Multiplayer | No | No | No | 8 players | Unlimited |
| Zone / multiserver | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Scene manager | ABT | ABT | ABT | ABT | ABT + BSP + portals |
| Static shadows | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Moving shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes + soft shadows | Yes + soft shadows |
| Particle generator | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rays generator | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shader | No | No | No | Yes | Yes + compiler |
| Mirror / rendering on textures | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| create a game | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Geometric LOD | Manually | Manually | Manually | Manually | Automatically |
| Bones animation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Weighted | Weighted |
| Game templates | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Show logo | In the game | At the start | At the start | At the start | Selectable |
| File packer | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Demo mode function | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| C-Script compatibility | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plugin / Engine SDK | --- | Open source | Open source | Open source | Full license |
restrictions
A special license condition prohibits the use of Gamestudio for games that “propagate open violence against a group, race, nation or religion in today's real world” (quote from the license agreement).
Development history
- 1993 ACK-3D (Animation Construction Kit) was published by Larry Myers.
- 1994 ACK NEXT GENERATION was published by Johann Christian Lotter (improved version of ACK 3D, now open source ).
- 1995 ACKNEX-2 was published by oP group Germany, in the same year ACKNEX-2 became Conitec's property and was marketed as 3D GameStudio.
- 1997 ACKNEX-3 release
- 1999 A4 release (Windows-based, Quake-like engine )
- 2000 A5 release (terrain engine )
- 2003 A6 release ( physics engine and shader )
- 2007 A7 Release (ABT Render Kernel and Lite-C)
- 2010 A8 Release (Support of PhysX to use GPU processors with Nvidia graphics cards parallel to normal graphics calculation.)