Engine Details
| 3DGameStudio |
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Rating:
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| With hundreds of published titles, 3D GameStudio is the leading authoring system for all sorts of 2D and 3D realtime applications. It combines the C-Script programming language with a high-end 3D engine, a 2D engine (for HUD and menus), a physics engine, a level, terrain and model editor, and huge libraries of 3D objects, artwork, scripts, and pre-made games. |
| Author |
Conitec Datasystems |
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| Graphics API |
DirectX |
Operating Systems |
Windows |
| Programming Language |
C/C++, Delphi |
Status |
Productive/Stable |
| Documentation |
Yes |
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| Features |
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General Features |
Object-Oriented Design, Plug-in Architecture, Save/Load System:
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Automatic selection of own or hardware based T&L for maximum performance on old and new 3D hardware |
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DLL plugin interface |
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Arbitrary axis rotations for space and flight simulators |
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Path tracking for camera, actors or vehicles |
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Scripting |
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Starting users can use the large library of pre-made scripts. Can create an entire game without writing any code! |
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More advanced users can use the built in script language to have full control over the everything in the game. |
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Expert users can interface to the engine using C/C++ or Delphi. |
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Built-in Editors |
Level, Model, and Script editors included. |
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Physics |
Basic Physics, Collision Detection, Rigid Body, Vehicle Physics:
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Physics engine supports gravity, mass, damping, elasticity, friction, and hinge, ball, wheel, and slider joints |
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Polygon level collision detection for terrain and 3D objects |
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Lighting |
Per-vertex, Per-pixel, Lightmapping:
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Static and dynamic point, spot, and directional light sources |
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Light Manager for an unlimited number of dynamic light sources |
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Shadows |
Projected planar, Shadow Volume:
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Stencil shadows and 24-bit level surfaces |
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Texturing |
Basic, Multi-texturing, Bumpmapping, Mipmapping:
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Trilinear mip mapping |
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Multitexturing (up to 8 textures), light maps, detail textures |
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Material properties for static and dynamic objects |
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Shaders |
Vertex, Pixel:
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Object and postprocessing shaders |
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Shader viewer and editor |
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40 shader templates |
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Scene Management |
General, BSP, PVS, LOD:
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Seamless indoor and outdoor support |
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BSP Tree for indoor, Adaptive Binary Tree for outdoor levels |
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Animation |
Keyframe Animation, Skeletal Animation, Morphing, Animation Blending: |
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Meshes |
Mesh Loading, Skinning, Deformation: |
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Special Effects |
Environment Mapping, Lens Flares, Billboarding, Particle System, Sky, Water, Fog, Mirror:
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Programmable particle and beam generators |
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Sky system with animated layers and backdrop bitmaps |
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3D views and movies can be rendered to curved surfaces, for distortion or fisheye effects |
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Colored fog areas |
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Programmable 2D and 3D effects like lens flares, bullet holes, cartoon rendering etc |
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Slow motion / quick motion effect |
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Dynamic decal system for bullet holes, foot prints, tire marks etc. |
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Terrain |
Rendering:
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Deformable heightmap terrain |
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Continuous LOD mesh generation and mip-mapping |
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Multiple tiled textures and shadow mapping |
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Seamless integration with the indoor engine |
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Networking System |
Client-Server, Master Server:
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Multizone/multiserver support for massive online multiplayer games |
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Sound & Video |
3D Sound:
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Supports wav,mid,ogg,CD, mp3,avi, and mpg |
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3D sound sources with Doppler effect |
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Artificial Intelligence |
Pathfinding, Decision Making, Finite State Machines, Scripted:
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Full scripting language and DLL interface plus a large library of pre-built AI. |
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Rendering |
Fixed-function, Render-to-Texture:
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3D views and movies can be rendered to curved surfaces |
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Six degrees of freedom, multiple cameras and render views |
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Material properties for static and dynamic objects |
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Animated 3D sprites and decals |
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2D renderer for still images, 2D sprites, panels, buttons, sliders, overlays, Truetype and bitmap fonts, screenshots and movies |
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Mouse picking and manipulating of 3D objects |
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| Date Added |
Fri, 6 Aug 2004 |
Last Updated |
Fri, 1 May 2009 |
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There are currently 78 reviews for this engine
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| License Name |
Price |
Source Code |
Comments |
| Other/Custom |
Free |
No |
Lite-C. Unlimited free version with A7 engine, physics engine, debugger and model editor. |
| Other/Custom |
$99.00 |
No |
Extra. Adds shadow mapping, level editor and game templates. |
| Other/Custom |
$199.00 |
No |
Commercial. Adds network and shader support. |
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Screenshots:
Member Reviews |
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NOTE: The ratings and reviews below reflect the opinions of their respective authors and as such, do not reflect the opinions of DevMaster.net or its staff.
The reviews are not moderated and some are completely inaccurate. Therefore, most reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. If you find any inaccurate or inappropriate reviews, let us know by stating in detail why you think the review should be removed and any links/documents that support your contention.
| Very complete perfectly balanced engine |
| This is the best game development system I found. Very easy to start with but enough deep features to keep you addicted. Its amazing what you can achieve with very little programming. |
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| nice authoring system |
3dgs is very easy to use yet quite versatile. what i don't like is that 3dgs still does only support quake-style bsp level geometry (there also is a basic terrain system though). the level and model editors look and feel a bit outdated. the physics engine (ODE) behaves a bit erratically sometimes. the dynamic shadows are useless (z-pass stencil shadows only!).
[edit] new scene management with support for arbitrary level geometry is in the works now. once this is in, 3dgs could be great again! |
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| Best engine for quick prototyping |
| I used Blitz Basic before I converted to Gamestudio, which I found much easier to use. Excellent combination of features with ease of use. Also I prefer the simplified C scripting language over Basic. From all engines Ive tried, this one gets ten out of ten points. |
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| Best in class.. |
I've looked at a lot of engines and find 3DGS the best in its class. It is especially nice for the artist who may not be all that proficient in programming. Lots of nice features and the future looks bright:
http://www.conitec.net/forecast.htm
You should seriously look into this engine(now at version 6.31.4) if you want to get something out the door quickly. |
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| Best program for beginners & advanced users |
http://www.conitec.net/a4info.htm
---- EDITED for clarity December 24th 2004 ----
3DGamestudio is an excellent program (or programs, rather, since it includes the level editor, modeling editor, and scripting editor).
Beginners will have very little trouble being introduced into the world of 3D development, whether it's for applications, or top notch games.
The mainpage for 3DGSspells out a list of features, comparisons to other engines, Gamestudio has screenshots of works in progress and a small sample photos of the many programs/games created with gamestudio. Below is a post defying anyone to show a finished or published game. If they had gone to the homepage, theyd see a whole slew of them.
This program includes regular updates/features. Updates every 3-4 monyhs is far better than most engines available. Period.
The forums are so extensive, and full of so many of the answers you may ever need. Suppoert is excellent.
It's a superb community.
This is also the same community which has provides tons of contributions from scripts to tutorials.
Gamestudio's model editor features are enough to make what you'll need for games, even ultra high poly models if you want, but again, those are usually reserved for pre rendered media. Not games.
Don't want to learn C++ ? at least not today? C-Script is a pretty great way to get introduced to programming. It's got a learning curve, but a relatively easy one given what it takes to learn C++. But for those who imply that C++ is the only language in the world, You can implement it into gamestudio anyway.
Modeling and level design with 3D Gamestudio is pretty easy to grasp for beginners and people who don't want to script.
And the price is right no matter which edition you get. Claims are made that the price is too high. A true and serious developer doesnt pinch pennies.
The most you'll pay for gamestudio depending on the edition, is $899, and NO ROYALTIES. People whine too much. Ok go make your games with the quake 3 engine, I hope you have that $250,000 just lying around to license it when you want to have your game published.
I was going to go with a cheaper engine, (torque) but a call to the company confirmed to me I made the right choice, because they really had no interest in talking to a potential customer. Too busy to spend 5 minutes on the phone.
I can only say that while accurate when taken out of context, most the negative reviews about gamestudio are 'suspiciously' negative. Or a little TOOOOO negative.
Gamestudio is an excellent program, and you can just download the 30 day trial for free and see for yourself. Thats all there is too it.
These reviews are open to everyone, even to opponents who like to slam competing products. Do your research and forget these reviews. No matter what anyone says, Torque and Gamestudio are very similar in their abilities, and prices. And there is NO GAME ENGINE ANYWHERE that has every feature. NONE
Thats why people chose different engines for their projects. None suit everyone. Each has their strengths and weaknesses.
Go to the websites of each engine, and check out the forums.
For gamestudio, go to their threads Showcase1, and Showcase 2 to see what is possible.
The biggest problem is that people are too lazy to do any work. thats why they complain about features. If an engine doesnt have 'lens flare' as a button to click, they complain. Hey, use a flippin sprite, moron.
Besides, if someone runs your game without a video card that supports all your big fancy features, they wont see it anyway! So do a little work and quit whining. Pros know that any engine has limitations, and they work around them. Gamestudio is as capable as any mid priced engine out there. |
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| Matt Reviews 3d Gamestudio (3dgs A6) |
I've been using 3d gamestudio for about 2 years now, I've had looks and plays around with all the other high class engines such as the Half Life 2 one, but I feel that 3d gamestudio is the best one as it is a complete game making package. Everything you need is contained within. Model Editor, Versatile and Easy Script Editor, World Editor, Shader Editor Now, and skinning tools.
It is also updated very often and the physics engine is excellent, the optional AI, razorAI is first class!
It's very inexpensive compared to all the other engines in it's class, so it won't hit you in the pocket too hard
Excellent community to help you with your projects, very friendly...
Supports all the modern features like normal mapping, multiplayer zone, shaders, bones, and everything else.
It's very quick and easy to produce top knotch work. The screenshots on this site for 3d gamestudio are pretty old and there are much more remarkable looking things being made now.
If you don't have it, THEN GET IT NOW!!!!
It's A++ Grade |
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| GameStudio is good; C-Script is okay... |
Hi! I'm Grayson from the 3D GameStudio forum (www.3dgamestudio.com).
If you're new to game developement and are looking to create your own games, 3D GameStudio is the right for you. 3D GameStudio contains 3 editors for you to get started in creating games.
WED - World Editor (has been named to 3D GameStudio as of 6.22)
WED is a "World Editor" and acts like a game creation tool. This is the editor for adding blocks, sprites (also known as billboards and are used for a glass, poster on the wall, stop signs, etc.), models, lights, anything you wish to have for your game. The map compiler is built into WED for compiling all the blocks (for Binary Space Partition (or BSP, for short) and lightmaps). When you're ready to test your game, all you have to do is to save your game, compile, and run your level. WED allows you to customize template scripts without having to do any coding. Without having to write code for your game (if you're a beginner), you can change the screen resolution, color depth, camera position, player's run speed, etc. For example, you can create a new block, size it as big enough, hollow the block, add the default texture, add a model (I use cbabe.mdl for test levels), save my level, then now comes to add templates to a test level. So, I add two script files (WED automatically adds files as needed by the script you added) which is the first person camera and a player script, then I add the player action to the player's model (cbabe.mdl). After that, I compile, run the level, and there I go! When I do this, I have created a simple 3-D room with the model! You can use the W for up, D for down, A for step-left and R for step-right in the keyboard BUT if you're not comfortable with the setup, you can customize the player's input script. For example, I have changed the mouse look to off since I don't like using the mouse when playing 3D games, I change the walk forward key to up, backwards to down, turn left for left arrow key, and turn right for the right arrow key. For walking sideways, I choose W for step-left and R for step-right and for looking up and down, Q for looking up and T for looking down and vice versa. Anyway, that's all I have for WED. If you want, take a look at the WED tutorial located at:
http://www.conitec.net/a4update.htm and find Level Design Tutorial English.
MED (Model Editor and a terrain editor built into one application)
For MED, I won't cover that much since it's very basic and I haven't been used that much. However, if you have used Milkshape3D, you can export your model to MS3D ASCII and import it to MED but there's a version of Milkshape 3D which is 1.7.1 and is the latest version. You can use MED as an importing tool to import your models and save it as 3DGameStudio's own format, MDL7 (bones animation) and MDL5 (without bones animation).
SED: Script Editor
With SED, you can create your own C-Script code for your 3D GameStudio project. It contains a syntax hilighter, code indention like when you type main() and in the next line you type in "{" and press Enter, SED automatically indents the number of spaces to specified number of spaces in the Configuration dialog box. However, in the Configuration dialog box, you will have to specify where you installed 3DGS in but not to add the "\bin" at the end as SED will find the "Acknex.exe" inside the bin folder. Otherwise, you will get the "Acknex.exe not exist" error message when you run the scipt. Also, when you want to run the script, you will have to specify what WDL file you want to load.
For those who're going to get Professional Edition of 3DGS, there's going to be a feature in 6.3 called a Split Engine Archeticture, which allows you to use your own knowledge of programming languages (like Visual Basic) to program your own game if you don't want to use C-Script. However, if you don't have Pro and you don't want to learn C-Script (note that there's going to be an ANSI-C comming sometime soon), you will have to save up your money to buy Professionla Edition. The reason for this is the DLL engine interface is a Pro feature, so if you don't like learning C syntax and you want to apply your knowledge of Visual Basic, Visual Basic .net, or C#.net, you're out of luck (including me but I'm going to be getting Pro sometime next year).
If you have more than two computers in your apartment/house, you can create 4-player multi-player games with Commercial but if you want to build a Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) like MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Player Game), you will have to buy Pro but to me, I don't see a need for multi-player so I can't tell you how good is the 3DGS's network engine.
So, if you're new to game developement, buy 3D GameStudio. I would like to recommand Commercial to have a couple more features not found in Standard and Extra such as higher resolutions, support for playing MP3s and CDs, etc. but if you do have lots of money and want render-to-texture feature and want to use mirrors, buy Pro! Keep in mind, however, 3DGS is mainly created for indoor games like First Person Shooter, Third Person Shooter, etc. And if you'd really want to apply your knowledge like Visual Basic or C#, save up your money and buy Pro. After that, update your Pro edition to 6.3. But 6.3's a beta version of 3DGS, so if you find bugs you have with 3DGS A6 6.3, please post it either in:
Engine Bug Hunt:
http://www.conitecserver.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6
Editors Bug Hunt:
http://www.conitecserver.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB29
Anyway, here's the link to 3DGameStudio's home page:
www.3dgamestudio.com |
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| 3D Gamestudio is simply the best |
Gamestudio is just that, a full suite of tools for creating any type of 2d or 3d game.
It includes the engine, a world editor, a model editor and its own scripting language with an editor. It also comes with a physics engine and Multi-player client/server mode for LAN and Internet or (TCP/IP, UDP) Multizone/multiserver support for massive online multiplayer games.
The engine is extrememly stable and has very few bugs, even upon release of new versions.
For the price of e commercial version you wont find a better more stable product that comes complete with everything you need to start learning how to create your own games.
Support is simply the best. The community is always willing to help out on the message boards. Also you can recieve help directly from the developers from time to time. They read, post and ask for ideas everyday. |
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| No programming? Almost. |
| This is a nice one. Not as good as top engines like Doom3 or HL2 but the best engine with a no programming approach. Well no programming is not fully true. But this is for you if you want to get fast results without reading big manuals. Advanced programmers can even code their own vertex and pixel shaders. |
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| Behind The Times |
I realize that a complete release of any game-authoring tool represents a significant amount of work and investment and applaud the effort! With that in mind, I really hate to be overly critical of someone's work, but... There seems to be a bit of hype in the reviews I've read so far, so I thought I would share my experience (although limited) with the A5 & A6 demos.
I felt that the game engine design itself is outdated, resembling DOOM more than anything (Yes DOOM, not Quake... D-O-O-M ;) DOOM was a great game, so if you are a creative an innovative designer, it's possible to overcome that ;] As a game designer, you will have to recognize this as an inherent limitation though.
The WED is reasonably intuitive and easy to learn, but again, irregardless of new features, it reminds me of the old DOOM editing tools. (D-O-O-M, not Quake!) :0
The 3d modeler is... ahhh, interesting.... I consider myself to be a competent modeler, and I really couldn't produce anything I wanted to use with it. But to be fair, perhaps that's just due to my ineptitude.
If you want to shell out $50 to play around with a DOOM style game engine that's fairly easy to learn, then this is for you.
Personally, I think it's behind the times. Its pricing structure is completely off the curve for what's being offered. FAR more powerful, full-featured game engines are available for substantially less than the $899 price tag wanted to fully license this product with networking. (And I'm going to resist the temptation to list those, but I'm sure you can find them on devmaster... somewhere ;)
Sorry guys...
I think you're making a good effort and have established a community, hat's off to you there, but my advice would be drop the whole price tag to the $49 to $150 range to keep competitive.
Just one man's opinion. |
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| GameStudio: A Great and Simple to Use Engine |
Someone wanted to compare 3D GameStudio and its level editor, WED, to Doom. There is a bit problem with this. Doom was not a 3D game and did not use a 3D game engine. Instead, Doom used what is known as a raycasting engine, which simulates 3D worlds from 2D information. As a result, the level editors for Doom and DoomII were top-down only, allowing you to create levels by creating "outlines" and defining hights via coding or other tricks. I believe that individual meant to liken 3D GameStudio more to Quake then Doom, but I can only go by what was stated.
3D GameStudio is very advanced, though it is certainly not a DoomIII or Half-Life2 engine (but, then again, you are not paying hundreds of thousands for it either). The current beta, due out to users very soon, is fully DirectX 9 compatible and, thus, fully compatible with today's shaders and the DirectX 9 shader langauge. Therefore, wonderful affects can be achieved very easily in 3D GameStudio.
Some people may feel that 3D GameStudio is outdated because, in its current rendition, it is a fully BSP-compatible engine. This means no concave surfaces on one single object. While BSP may be restrictive as far as what type of level geometry you can use, it is blazingly fast in terms of the frames per second you get when running a large, complex level. Future editions of 3D GameStudio will allow the user to switch from BSP to Octree and back should they need to.
3D GameStudio shines in two areas; ease of use and a fairly complete toolset. When you get 3D GameStudio you get the 3D engine, a level editor, a model editor and a scripting environment for programming. Basically the only thing you need to add is a 2D paint program, sound and your own creativity. This is much nicer than many other engines that force you to build your own tools.
If you are a non-programmer you can get up and running in no time. There is nothing special that you have to do in order to run and walk-through a level you have built. 3D GameStudio even comes with pre-defined templates to help you get varius types of basic games up and running.
If you program, there are a few ways to go about using 3D GameStudio. One way is to use the provided scripting langauge, C-Script. Another way is to create and link to DLLs via the SDK using a programming language like C++, etc. So, you are not limited.
As an artist, I find that 3D GameStudio has an awesome graphical display. Images are crisp, clear and clean. Some of the other engines' displays are sometimes "muddy" (IMHO).
I own my own business creating real-time 3D content. 3D GameStudio is my main tool because I can create content for my clients quickly and they are always pleased with the results. |
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| Spend you money elsewhere. |
Gamestudio is nice because the FPS framework is already there. Unfortunately, it is full of clumsy interfaces and components that, while ok on their own, feel like they are held to each other by string and duct tape.
I've been using it for about 2 years now, and while it is a complete package yes, the model editor is pointless and shouldn't even be considered as a model editor.
The other user has done some quality work with the engine yes, but nothing I've ever seen even resembles a game, mostly virtual walk thrus for companys and are not really impressive scenes.
Mostly small indoor spaces.
Lets get into the meat of the engine, first and foremost is control, the professional user has absolutly none -- period.
Alot of the more inexperienced users clamor on about the SDK, which is nothing more then a way to bypass using C-script language..
There no access to static light code bsp geometry code or anything else that would make it worthwhile.
Performance - The performance of the engine is somewhere around half-life 1 engine, when trying to build anything expansive indoor or outdoor, you will find yourself fighting the engine and the engine fighting you. This is why you never see any detailed large level screen shots from the community. It's quite a slow engine unless doing tight indoor scenes.
Looks - The static lighting of the engine isn't half bad, but the way it interacts with models or doesn't interact with models I should say is terrible.
All model are lit from brightness and color of the floor beneath them. Basically old technology.
Dynamic lights work well on geometry and models but your limited to 8 of those, there is an update somewhere down the road that will increase this to 128 but even so it will be limited to how many are in the same scene.
Ease Of Use - This is the big one for Gamestudio, while it is quite ease to get up and running quickly yes. As you get more experinced and try to build more detailed enviroments you find the product fighting you.
Let me clarify, with other engines Torque,Blitz,Cipher,Unreal and so on, it's quite easy
to build great looking scenes with out much fuss.
I find with Gamestudio, you spend alot of time adjusting materials and brightness values of models to get them looking right to fit the scene. This slows development down when trying to make bigger impressive levels. So most the time ease of use with Gamestudio simply doesn't speed up development it slows it.
In torque with the lighting pack, I could build a level indoor and outdoor combined in hours that myself and I'd bet most if not all Gamestudio users, would be fighting for days to match, and they wouldn't get it looking as good.
Source Code - You get none - period. And the SDK is just a crippled SDK to try and satisfy users begging for it.
Support - Support from conitec is excellent.
Development Speed of the engine - Slow, Conitec uses a 4 month beta cycle between updates to test new features which is a great system and I'm sure helps the stability of the product. The main problem is that many of the systems implented between updates are half done. On there website they do a comparison between all other engines out there.
They list there engine having terrain as does Torque and Unreal.
What it doesnt say is how inferior there terrain system is compared to these other engines, and I tend to find that most of there systems are implemented this way as I have explained.
They seem to be in a rush all the time to satisfy all the new users on there forum that are screaming for new features, and in the process they half implement the features and tack it on to rush the feature out the door.
I think that someday mabey years in the future there will only be a handful of users using this engine, who will always be around since everything on the face of the Earth has a group of hard core dedicated heroes who think their Orange Datsun is the best car that ever had three tires and a brick under one wheel put on the almost road.
I spent around $1800 on Gamestudio already and it was too much.
If you want to make demo or quick prototypes then Gamestudio is for you.
But if your interested in making a SHIPPABLE game then look elsewhere..
There's a much more inexpensive option that resides at the top of this engines list.
And purchase 3D Game Programming All In One to go with it.
Save yourself some time and money. |
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Great stepping stone package; not a long-term solution...Posted by:
Mike73
at Sep 12, 2004 |
The 3DGame System engine frustrates me.
I love the features, the availability of editors to cover the key areas of game design and that it's a very stable engine (I've never had an app crash on me made in it, unless it was due to creator error, forgetting a file, etc)
However, the 3DGS suffers two huge setbacks: Its pricing scheme and feature set.
I can't really understand Conitec's decisions on features to include in their different bundles, or what they charge for them.
Example: Reflections.
Reflections are, unarguably, old technology. We're talking circa '97 tech here, folks; far from DirectX 9 pixel-shader effects like real-time refraction or displacement mapping.
Well, imagine being told you have to spend as much as $899 for the ability to have reflective surfaces in your game? That's what you can expect if you want to get mirrored surfaces out of the Conitec/Acknex 3D engine; something every other 3D engine out there, hobbyist level and up, have included their engines for years now. No joke.
How about $199 for the ability to use dynamic shadows? Another technology that, while newer than reflections, is still long removed of its "bleeding edge" crown.
Want a color depth greater than 16-bit, or resolution higher than 1024x768? Yep, expect to have to pay just shy of $200 for those as well.
Seeing a trend here?
I can't understand the pricing scheme, I really can't. It's the same pricing scheme from as far back as I can remember, and I haven't seen any real significant changes to it. This leads me to one of three conclusions:
1. Conitec is just that greedy.
2. They're that out-of-the-loop as to what is considered cutting edge, and worth charging extra for, for a while now.
3. All of the above.
The engine, overall, is out-dated and is screaming for an update.
As someone else here has accurately pointed out, the features that they put themselves on level with compared to other engines (Unreal2, etc) is not an honest comparison. For example, the Terrain support in G3D does not even come *close* to Unreal2 or Torque or several others they have covered on their comparison chart. Unreal2 and, to a lesser degree Torque, implement complete terrain *systems*, allowing modification of the terrain in the editor, multi-layered texture painting directly onto the terrain and the ability to set polys as invisible/passable so you can build into the terrain and create underground areas.
G3D's terrains are basically static meshes that are rendered, and nothing more. You're better off using an external BSP-based terrain solution (like Nem's Terrain Generator), which provides better results and more control with G3D, than their internal terrain setup. In any capacity, do not let the comparisons on their chart fool you.. they do *not* give the whole picture.
According to their future path, it seems to be finally crawling toward a more "modern 3D engine" status. But at what rate? With most every other engine worth a look now easily 2 or 3 generations ahead, are they ever going to try and really catch up, or forever remain years behind?
All that said, if you're looking for something that's great for prototyping or learning the overall flow of game design, it's a great package. But, unless the engine gets a major overhaul and some serious time-machine treatment to bring its feature list closer to the present, do not expect to create anything that can compete, in any capacity, with modern titles. Even many $10 bargain bin titles boast features more advanced than what the 3DGS can yield right now. If none of that matters to you, then it's probably worth your time to check out. If you're looking for something that offers more up-to-date technology and features, look elsewhere. |
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| Commercial Version NOT!!!!! |
The whole run of A6 has been very bugged.
Collision, rendering.
It's been a turd this year.
A5 was much more stable.
I'm a commercial engine owner, I must say that the guy that codes this engine doesn't have a clue.
He's a bug fighter, constantly defending his product.
This freakin guy runs away after every release he makes.
"I'm goin away for 2 weeks"
Get use to that quote this guys a runner.
All bugs are driver bugs to Conitec, LOL
There is one guy who holds this piece of crap
together, Im sure this is the only guy at conitec that understands games. He has a good background.
He makes the templates for there engine.
Although hes being handicapped by an inferior engine.
Full C should be coming soon, so conitec says.
Anyway, this engine is behind the tech curve, I have to agree with other users.
Gamestudio is fighting to make features work that were circa 1999 at best.
3D Programming All In One |
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| A good indie engine, but definetly not priced for Indie Developers |
3DGS is a Love it or Hate it engine... Personally, I like it, but only the Pro version, which I´ll be reviewing here.
Features: It have great features, the physics engine is neat, the standard features are good enough. The model editor is useless, and some people will talk a lot about the SDK, but I tell ya, this means nothing on 3DGS. Outdated lightining and shadowing.
Ease of Use: While 3DGS is very easy to use and it gives you three levels of usability, (The first one is hell easy... You get a FPS quickly) you´ll be kinda annoyed because the editors look like you´re using a early open source app, not very organized and you´ll spend most of the time tuning your world to give it a decent look because of poor features, and I mean it, because most of the tips from the Aucknec User Magazine are aimed at it. With Blitz3D, one of my favorite engines, with little code and no assets you can make a great looking game or demo in a little time.
Stability & Performance: I´m reviewing the A6 engine here... While it´s very stable and kinda lightweight, the A6 features a lot of bugs, Conitec released recently the 6.22 update, right after the 6.20... Let´s hope A7 don´t inherit those bugs.
Support: Conitec have a class A support. The community are not "community" enough, but the forum is huge. Lots of info.
Conclusion: 3DGS A6 Pro is a decent engine, but for it´s features, it´s a bit outpriced for Indie Developers and Enthusiasts. It´s more likely that for the price, you will stick with Torque and buy the Network and Shader Engine. But the other versions should fit other developer needs.
Kind of Engine (For all versions): Maker(FPS)/Prototyping/Indie Engine
Aimed for: Lone Developers/Indie Developers/Small Sized Companies |
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| save your $$$ |
I've tried to work thru the tutorials and templates that come with the comercial version of this product. THEY DON'T WORK PERIOD!.
I defie anyone at 3dgs to show me a working game...the tutorials they supply are very limited...and there is very little explanation of why things are done. For example, they will say to chage variable weapon_fire to 100 but not say why. The templates work for the beta version which took me a week to find. |
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| A6 (Pro Edition) vs The Rest |
I've been reading all the Reviews.
Some of you are actually so angry
without any fundamental proof on
anything mentioned here, whatsoever.
So, I think you better REVIEW
with a little more detail.
Oh yes, to compare the A6 Engine
with "DOOM - Not Quake"...
holy christ...I say no more.
It's your DOOM in the end of the day.
Also when speaking from A6 as a "slow"
Engine...wake up...Splinter Cell DevTeam
must have had a crap copy of the
Unreal Engine or a bad day on compile.
Don't get me wrong I like SC, but the
performance was of low quality...guess
what?...It could have been better with
another Engine...
Overall Grade: 4 1/2 (Mid-Range 3D Game Engine, best value for money, ever)
Features: 4 Stars (Model Editor needs working on)
Ease of Use: 5 (very good for beginners)
Stability: 5 (never crashes, unless bad coding)
Support: 5 (super) |
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A very good package at a good pricePosted by:
Frost
at Feb 5, 2006 |
| 3D Gamestudio as mentioned in a post on this page, is a love it or hate it engine.. The thing is while it is the easiest engine around and keeps you busy, it doesnt stand in line with the other commercial engines available, but, you will not find such a complete package anywhere else.. no other engine gives you a pre-made world editor, model editor and script editor.. while that might make you think that it limits you.. you are wrong, the tools are well made and i doubt i would need anything else to work with. also, i really like the scripting language used to program with, its simplicity doesnt have to be limiting.. i dont think it really is limiting because anything you would like to program for your game, could be done easily.. |
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| Hard Pressed to find something equivalent |
After reading several reviews here thought I'd drop my 2 cents in the hat.
As the title states, You whould be VERY hard pressed to find a package of tools and engine with the fetures offered that costs under $1000.
You will also be very hard pressed to find ANY engine that didn't have some form of limitations that users complain about.
I'm not going to sit here and try to convince anyone to buy this engine/package over another. I could write pages of +'s and -'s about one engine vs another as I have owned, and used several engines.
What I will say is this, I havn't had to BUY any add-on packs/expansions to add functionality to the engine. I havn;t had the need to HAVE to alter any form of source code to get results I was after. Nor have I HAD to buy 3rd party applications ( on top of the costs of the engine) inorder to create anything for use in 3DGS. If i wanted an engine where I had to edit the source code to develope what I wanted to do, I'd spend just a fraction of an engines cost , get a few books and write my own from the ground up
and they don;t have to fight with licensing fees and what not.
I won't have to pay an EXTRA fee on the side for a license if I want to actualy commercialy release a game or other project I develope
Bugs.. few and far between and if brought to attention of the developers gets addressed very quickly. Most tend to be found in BETA updates before the updates become public. I chalk most of these complaints up to 'user errors'
Documentation. yes weak in some areas, but tends to be weak in the "how to..." area. Other engiens I've used had vertualy NO documentation and you had to rely soly on user community for that area ( and even more scary was some users in these communities CHARGED for their help).
Of the tools package many complain the model editor ( MED) is basicly worthless and out of date. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of high end packages and even some low cost to freeware modelers have, BUT MED does exactly what it is ment to do. Make model meshs. The real issue to the complaints IMO isn't lack of features, but that the users have to do the actual work by hand vs click a button and the modeler does a large portion of your work for you.
Skinning a model in MED to many is also a complaint because it uses the method of a single image mapeed to the model ( quake/quake2 mesh skinning) vs using mesh groups and materials applied to groups ( which is already now in beta testing for the next update)
My personal opinion is those that have used 3DGS and are totaly negative about it realy didn;t use it. expected either click and play tool or expected to make the next Halflife2 doom3 or what ever with no work involved on thier part.
c_script isn't much differnt than using quake, unreal or other engine scripting, based on a loose form of c syntax. those that struggle with it tend to be those that expect a solid instruction set that does X, Y,Z so I don;t have to do anything ( this is the reason for template scripts). c-script is there for the user to develope projects with a more versitile and flexible control without the burden of learnign a complex OOP language ( keeping the user within the context of the engine functionality)
Those new to game development and REALY how games work tend to be disapointed in ANY package they try because of "tricks or faking it" methods to get a desired result. Instead of learning the only REAL trick to programming " use what you can to get the desired result"
I've been using 3DGS ( in some of its various versions) off and on for several years. I would personaly recomend it, especialy to someone new or intermediate to game development
Edited:
on a side note: I'd like to find out how many OTHER publicly available 3D engines are used in various collage and univeristy classes. yes 3DGS is used in many schools, not just for game development either but also 3D art, rendering, animation an so on. |
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| An excellent buy |
3D Gamestudio is the best and easiest authoring system that I found. I've used it for two years and never regretted buying it. It is easy to become aquainted with the software. The program is straight forward, easy to use and easy to learn. It can do almost anything, I have seen very professional games come out of this system. All that it requires is talent. If you put in the proper talent, 3dgs will give it to you. 3dgs is reliable, it has never crashed on me. The only errors I got with 3dgs were ones that I put in myself and ones that are easily repaired. 3dgs is dynamic; it is updated every month or so with new editions comming out every year or two. A6 is relatively new and up to speed.
It's price is relitively low. Alot is possible with Standard for a low price of $50. Professional can do even more. It costs $900, but compare that with Unreal, which has a whopping price of $350,000! It is an excellent program for beginners because they can learn the fascinating feild of computer gaming at a relatively low cost. It is also a good program for experts because of its ease of use and flexibility.
The scripting language is easy to learn. After two short years of practice, i have become adept with C-Script. It is a language that is easy to learn but like most languages, you can't learn it overnight. C-Script can do almost anything, and what it cannot do, can be implemented via a C++ DLL.
If you ever encounter any problems with 3d Gamestudio, e.g. scripting, level building, 3dgamestudio.com has a forum that is willing to help you with anything.
MED was the only disappointment. It is a difficult and complicated software. Rather, get Milkshape at milkshape.com for your models. Other than MED, 3d Gamestudio is an awesome program. It's flexibility, reliability, scripting, support et al make it the best thing since French bread. And I love French bread. |
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| Very Simple to use, very Nice results. |
| 3D GameStudio A6 is quite a versatile program. Unlike other engines, GameStudio is loaded with its own editors, WED, MED, and SED. WED has to be the best world editor I have seen, however, GameStudio has some hard-to-intigrate features. Shaders are somewhat difficult to master, and you must have really up-to-date graphics hardware. Lets just say, to make your game look good, you really have to spend lots of time. The GUI of all the editors is a tad outdated, but really, that doesnt take away from the power. On the contrary, there is tons of support, and the simplified "C-Script" makes programing very easy to learn. Conitec updates very often, and you can even propose new ideas to them. So, all in all, I recomend this engine, 9/10. |
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| Do more with less! |
In game development these days, there are many ways of approaching it. 3DGS is just one of them. The common idea that in order for a game to be considered "professional" it has to be written in a particular language or using a certain engine is totally arrogant, biased, and pure ignorant in nature.
To develop a game to achive a certain result(s) is the main goal of a game developer. How you achive it doesn't matter because the end result is whats most important. The quality of the game does rely on the tool you use to build it with but what you the developer put into it.
3DGS simplifies what you need to do and allows you to develop your game faster than with other 3D engines. Its comes with everything you need to develop a game with including a script editor, world editor, and model editor. Granted its not the best and most high-end in the world, but it serves its purpose very well.
The only main negative aspect of 3DGS is the pricing which for a lower-end engine is quite expensive. |
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| Good Engine |
| This is a great engine for beginner and pros alike. In a very short time you can put togehter a game using the templates or in a bit longer amount of time you can do one with your own code. Not a big boy engine but it doesn't have a big boy price either. A great christmas present. |
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| excellent package |
Hello mates. first of all, excuse my buggy english.
Well, in my opinion there are only two great engine which are easy to use and look great at the same time: it´s torque and 3dgs.
i work with 3dgs since the a4 version (now we have 6.3), and i did really develop well: form the pure-interior engine in a4 up to the terrain support in a5 to the shaders for the new version.
features-
WED editor (map builder) is easy to learn, good at compiling speed, and u are able to produce good graphics within a minimum of your time. It has still some problems in displaying models and terrains in the preview window, but the free IceX editor is a good terrain alternative.
And that´s the missing 5th star: there are engine who have a much better terrain support, in one word: torque. So decide for torque referring to vast outdoor levels, choose 3dgs for great indoor performance and rather small terrain episodes. nevertheless very good
MED (model) editor is useless, for modelling as well as for animation. Use the ex- and importers if you want to achieve sth. great. poor
SED the code editor with its comprehensible language make scipting a pleasure. very good
over all: good. Next time, the crew should program a better med and enhance the terrain support.
ease of use-
very easy WED, simple drag and drop system for models, lights, sounds, terrains, textures, geometry. scripts are assigned through actions by a single click in the properties dialogue window.
simple script system, comprehensible language.
no in-game editing, but (for me) this is not necessary.
stability&performance-
very stable, if scripted correctly. average performance, especially in vast areas covered with shaders. 4 stars.
support-
own free magazine, vast community which help you in the forums, conitec-support depends on the version you bought. excellent.
over all, 3dgs is the most "complete" package i´ve ever seen. very good for beginner, but pros can achieve stunning results as well.
not appropriate to terrain rendering. |
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| I love it |
| Its the best game engine out there I think personally, and I love the fact that you can actually try it before you buy it, instead of watching some tech demo. I have not tried torque because I wouldnt know what I am getting before I buy it, and its very easy to use. the forum online helps you feel like part of a community. |
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| Why is this in the top 5? |
Why 3D Gamestudio continues to hold it's place in the top 5 3D engines on DevMaster.net is really quite astounding. When you look at the features or if you have tried to use 3D GameStudio, you will realize how bad it really is. All of the other engines in the top 10 list are better than this.
Here's a quick run-down on the features:
Tools - 3
MED doesn't deserve to exist, other than as the only tool you can use to make a model 3DGS will properly handle.
WED is half-decent as a BSP based level editor, but it lacks many features, and takes a long time to compile the levels. Remember, if you are using an engine like Irrlicht or Axiom, you could model your level in 3DS max (without any of the numerous limitations of WED), save it, and run it in Axiom or Irrlicht without ANY compile times whatsoever.
Format support
Gamestudio has terrible support for any format other than it's own .MDL format. Importing a complicated model from 3DS Max is all but impossible. JPG isn't supported either - at least not last time I checked
Lighting
Abismal. Try it, you'll see what I mean. Lighting is about as good as an average game from 1998 perhaps?
Terrain
Terrible. The Terrain has to be kept to laughably low polycounts, and even then the player is constantly falling through it.
BSP
Bad. Long compile times, when you try to make a half-complicated shape, WED will say things like "CSG Limitation - No concave shapes"... Also WED lacks features like bevel or extrude - again, at least last time I used it.
Programming
Bad. Can't use Delphi or C# or C++. They advertise it as if you can, but 3DGS's support for the languages is so bad, really you can't. The only language you can use is their C-Script scripting language. It's OK.
Physics
OK. They advertise it, but it's still filled with bugs. It's only included in the $1k Pro edition, too.
Overall - bad. Don't use it. Try the trial, you'll see what I mean. As I say, all of the other engines on DEvMaster's top 10 are better - both Open Source and Commercial. |
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| Great Gaming Tool.....Period! |
I have checked out all other accessible game engines out there.Problem with most of them is, either fair or poor graphics,difficult to learn,have to create your own tools to make things really look great,if that's possible;then issues to prices,yes some of the Engines are lower than others,but then....you get the picture?.
3DGS's Future editions will allow the user to switch from BSP to Octree and back should they need to. This will address most of the on going
adjustments in progress.So I said to all who is out to put 3DGS down...look out!.The price is right when you really consider all the goodies plus ease of 3D creation,fast,great graphic display......This 3D Package is a must for all users wanting to create a Game.It's ok,if you feel you have no clue about building a 3D....I can relate to that.3DGS will get you there. |
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| Seems good for 1st person shooter type games, but maybe not for 3rd person adventure games. |
I was recently using AGS, which is great if you want to do those old style games like Monkey Island 1 and 2 that I love so much (no 3D), but I've been looking for something more advanced but something that I can still create that type of point and click game play. At first I was about to give up on 3D Game Studio (this was really my first dive in 3D game development) as the built in help didn't really give you a step by step process on how to use it, which is how I learn best. But when i went to the site, I found additional tutorials, one that really showed me how quickly something can be created. After going through the steps, I quickly begin to learn how easy this program can be to use. I was able to create a house, with some simple lighting, a little furniture, and a 1st person player in about an hour! I was quite amazed by this, and it looked fairly decent, although it was not quite the look I was wanting.
I will most defenatly give 3D Game Studio a chance, to see if it can create what I need it to. Unfortanutely, I don't think the demo version supports a third person view, as I had read from one of the tutorials, I don't have quite enough information to go on if it will be able to do what I want or not.
I would say, however, if you are one that wants to create something like a first person shooter, in an extremely short amount of time, even by yourself, Game Studio is for you.
It is very easy to use, you do have to give it a chance and do a little research, don't expect to go in and create something by clicking buttons without reading any documention like I did. If you find the right tutorial, it's very easy.
As far as graphics go, it's hard for me to say, because I don't play first person shooters, it seemed to be just ok to me, the lighting makes a big differnce in how the game looks though. I'm sure if you use the right lighting and textures, you could get it to look really good.
For me though, I havn't been able to produce what I want yet, and it may very well be due to only having the demo version. I want something that I can create a 3rd Person Adventure Game. But instead of using 2D backgrounds, I want to be able to set up cameras that will automatically switch to different views depending on the placement of cameras, something that also has a dialog scripting engine simular to the one found in AGS. I'm still playing with it though, so we will see.
Please also note, that my grades are based off the demo version only and that my intenstions were set in creating an adventure type game. I have only used this program for about 10 days.
Hope this helps in what your looking for and good luck! |
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| review from a total beginner |
| i was juste surfing the net when i found this engine i tried the trial version and its very good, i dont now why people hate it so much and it is very easy to use considering i am a total beginner. |
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i wanted to like it.... but.....Posted by:
Jburns
at Nov 13, 2005 |
i wanted to like it. the lightmapper in the level compiler does a really good job.
but that's where the good stuff ends. the rest is crap, and the attitude the fanboys on the forum there is pathetic
my rationale is as follows.
1- no coordinated shader support. shaders are problematic and slow down the system dramatically. regardless of the hype, shaders are unusable in A6 they have basically been tacked on to the engine
one very talented user wrote a plugin, basically his own shader system using the renderer of A6, while it was a great effort that deserves applause its still a hack job at best
2- shadows still don't work right. get in the shadow volume, and the world except where the shadow should be gets shadowed. this bug has been reported for years.
3- shadows slow down the system dramatically
another long standing fault, its been this way forever
4- multiplayer code is problematic
5- commercial version only gets 4 multiplayer connections on top of that. you've gotta spend $800 for a pro version license to get many players together. and still, it won't work properly
6- you only get 1 physics object for the commercial version. gotta pay approximately $800 for the pro license to get more. and that is problematic as well.
7- constantly changing scripting language is the basis for mass confusion. they should of done it right the first time and just used one of the already well know scripting systems availble.
8- models imported and block geometry made in the level editor do not coexist well with the current lighting system.
9- the performance of the engine is slow
i know other have mentioned doom and quake comparison, a more real word view would be the halflife 1 engine with shaders and a junk terrain system thrown in, and junk networking
alot of these issues are being addressed if you look at their forecast page, so hopefully they will get it right in their next iteration
there's a lot more. and, although the forum has a few decent coders and developers. the most vocal ones are pure jerkholes. whose delusion are part of the public record. truth and fact have no bearing in their world.
this has been my experience with 3DGS so far
yours may be different |
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| An aging engine |
3DGS was a good engine, but it is definitely showing its age. The world editor is okay, but a bit awkward.
I do like the scripting language above those such as DarkBasic and Blitz. It's nicely put together in my opinion.
My MAIN problem with this engine is that yes, it is dated, and if you want more features which are also dated, you have to pay a good chunk of change for it. Their pricing schedule is not proportionate to the quality of their engine these days. Sure, back in '95 it would have been a good deal, but in 2005 it is a total rip off. |
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| 3DGAMESTUDIO IS A GOOD CHOICE. |
THIS ENGINE I WOULD PRESCRIBE TO ONE KIND OF DEVELOPER:
A NEW ONE.
I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND GAMESTUDIO FOR ANYONE WHO IS WANTING TO MAKE A GAME THAT WILL WORK WITH SIMPLE RULES AND A GOOD LAYOUT.
MANY PEOPLE WILL SAY THAT THIS ENGINE IS OUT-DATED...HMMM...YES, KIND OF, BUT NOT QUITE...
REMEMBER THAT EVEN A SUPER-NINTENDO GAME CAN BE A PROFESSIONAL ONE. AND IF YOU ARE NOT A MAJOR PROGRAMMER, THEN GAMESTUDIO IS A VERY GOOD CHOICE...IF YOU ARE ITCHING TO MAKE SOMETHING NEXT-GEN...I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND HAVING A TEAM AND A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF PROGRAMMING AND WHAT YOU WANT...
AS FAR AS SUPPORT GOES, THERE IS CLOSE TO NONE.
HOWEVER, YOU CAN ADD TEMPLATES TO YOUR GAME THAT ARE ALREADY MADE...AND JUST CHANGE THINGS TO YOUR OWN MATERIAL...WHICH IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN PROGRAMMING BY THE WAY...(CHANGING EXISTING CODE AND SEEING WHAT IT DOES)
GO WITH GAMESTUDIO TO LEARN AND CREATE. |
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| Decent but outdated |
| The engine itself is pretty decent, but it feels outdated. The model format is just "blech" and the model editor is even worse. The world editor isn't something to shed tears of joy for either. It's okay at best. The lighting of the engine is just horrible. Shadows contrast way too much and is very unrealistic. And yes, the pricing scheme is just crazy. Don't get me wrong here though, this engine is fun to play with, but you'll find yourself supporting the visual quality of your games more using artwork than anything else. |
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| lot of promise |
i like this engine very organized comes with a easy to use modeler and world editor. very nice site. my only complaint is the forum can be more active. but questions do get answered and do help out newer users. they have alot of resources to use for the community.
it just need a few upgrades |
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| Good God anything better. |
It's clear their not comming out with anything else and what they have sucks by yesterdays standereds. I can't believe this engine is number 3 on devmaster. It has playstation 1 rendering quality and tools that have no features it's modeler sucks and it c-script is horible support is not thier as advertised for C++ dll extension. and the community is not that great. This may have been a good engine 5 years ago, but now it sucks.
For coders I'd recommend C4 or Torque (i personly am not a fan of Torque but it would be rude of me not to point it out.)
For non-coders look at Bliz Basic, RealmForge or FPSCREATOR. ( I thought all three were crap. But thats what you get for a decent price engine for non-coders)
For Mac users I'd recommened Unity3d |
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| Where is 3DGS heading towards? |
I dont want to repeat mistakes from the past. I am programming in C , 20 years now! Many other off shoot languages have come my way. Learnt many, left many. Many have ditched me half way thru my projects lacking foresightedness to withstand adaptation to newer technologies, hardware.
I have also programmed in 3DGS. fair enough. If i dont find a solution, I am sure I can find a work around. But I working on a new project for which I dont want to have my back against the wall. Coming to the point, I made commercial projects in 3DGS in the past. In spite of team efforts, time, money and energy spent on it, it remained a toy! And my producer is still making peanuts out of it.
I dont want my new game to be another *new* *improved* toy, While others are taking about XNA, XBOX 360 and Torque. I dont want to be in a toy league.
It is not that with 3DGS u cant make AAA title. I had this debate with JCL of conitec years ago. But big leagues does not only mean good engine, it also means if big, deep pockets are supporting it. Like Microsoft supporting torque. U can even get away with shady game when u r under the umbrella of big daddys. |
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| Limited 3D Engine |
Hi, well there are some positives reviews and some negatives, so ill post now a negative since is my point of view of this game engine, i own the extra edition and is good, is good for make fast prototypes of games but making a game seriously is bad.
Yes it is easy, similar to tv3d or 3dstate but:
1.MED model editor is an awfully waste of space in the package, even the bones are crap.
2.WED world editor is lacking of some features its easy to use but limited and tedious .
3.SED script editor is good with highligthing and autocomplete limited, but, has errors strange errors and debugging is certeanly a painfully path.
I think the lack of this game engine is the render engine the look seems old something miss, the same models in gstudio looks awful in another engines looks good and even excellents models.
Besides its limitation being the 4 versions out there.
I know the commercial and pro version can handle shaders but the effects dont look like shaders looks like another engine with lighting properties.
This engine is useful for beginners for making basic games but if you want to make decent games choose another engine this is limited. |
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| Pretty good |
| The Lite-C language is free, and that is what I am going to review. Firstly, the main disadvantages with it is that is has no world editor for the language. So you have to pay in order to get something that is pretty important, unless you want to add all the entites in manually by code, which is a problem. The language is very easy to pick up, and I got a game running in a week after I initially tried it. It uses a C type syntax, which I prefer over python. It is one of the reasons why I prefer this engine over Panda3d, because the code doesn't become so messy. It is very user friendly, and the forums are pretty good too. However, the free version is pretty limited (no shaders, no multiplayer, no world editor). The MED really sucks, and has a horrible interface. I prefer using the MED to import completed models and animations in, not to actually create them. Overall, I like this engine very much. Although the free version is limited, it is still very powerful and good for creating games or other applications. |
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| Write a title for your review: |
I had rough time finding engine to suit my needs, but I did it. 3DGS has all features I need, and more to come. Of course it isn't Next-Gen Console Engine like CryEngine 2 or Unreal Engine 3, but it has everything needed to make your own [indie] game.
I didn't get the WED at the beginning, but everything started to get more lightened, the more I used it. I didn't quit after two tries (as someone did here) nor did I angst for not being able to make the next MMORPG WH00!!11one immediately. Every editor in 3DGS are 100% supported and questions can be asked from experienced forum members or Conitec itself. SED is easy to use (nothing fancy, just text editor with helpful functions) after you understand the C-Script ( if you ever need it, that is :-) ). MED is horrible for experienced modellers, and prefer to use its importing capabilities instead and then make the adjustements only. WED is good when it comes in making any area from blocks, needs some time to get used, but it does its job.
I havn't been able to crash the engine, without using memorylocks and overflowing the engine intentonally (was extremely hard) so I think the stability is grade A+.
It's rather easy to get support; post to forums or send a message to Conitec. Takes max. ~3hours in the forums (normally conflicts happens, but the help comes quickly) and max 1day (except weekends) to get full support message from Conitec. |
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| Not really for a commercial game, but good for personal use. |
This engine is relatively easy to use, with a little bit of programming in a fairly easy c-script and a built-in editor, you can get your game up and running in no time.
However, the engine doesn't support the newer graphic effects, the shadows are outdated, the lighting is pretty bad, and you can't have very many polygons for the things in the game.
The engine doesn't crash, it does run great with quick tests and everything, only a few bugs.
The support is your average commercial support with it's own pros and cons.
In the end, you are much better off getting a free engine like Sauerbraten that has good features and new graphics, then attacking the source code with a little programming.
3d Gamestudio has good features for your personal fun-to-play games, but the newer games have newer graphics, and that seems to be one of the things people look for nowadays.
The Quake III BSP-style no-patch geometry with bad shadows takes the graphical power away. |
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Gamestudio/A6Posted by:
MrCode
at Jul 5, 2007 |
Conitec's 3D Gamestudio is basically how I discovered 3D game developement. It has three easy-to-use editors: WED, MED, and SED. WED being the level editor, which is easy to use, in my opinion. The only thing that I can criticize about it is that since the engine uses a BSP scene manager, large levels take forever to compile. However, with the new A7 coming out soon, there will be a new ABT (Adaptive Binary Tree) scene manager that is supposedly much faster to compile (if there is any compilation required).
After reading some of these reviews, I can see that MED is regarded as a very poor model editor. Granted, it does lack in some of the tools which would make things easier, but if you want to create something that is simple to build (I've found that machines and vehicles are easy), MED should suffice.
Gamestudio's scripting languages, C-Script and the more recent Lite-C (more C-like in structure) are great for beginning programmers. The syntax of both are easy to learn (C-Script is nearly compatible with Lite-C), and are pretty flexible in terms of features.
As for the price -- well, I will admit that the Pro edition is too expensive, but I am currently using the Commercial edition, only $199, and it's been quite useful.
The engine itself is pretty good. The rendering speed mostly depends on the layout and organization of the level(s). If it's sloppy, unorganized, and undeveloped, then of COURSE you're going to get bad results. But if you keep things neat, you'll get some pretty awesome stuff!
Support is the best; the user forums are almost always active, and most users are glad to help out (given proper manners, of course, ;).
Overall, I think that for people who are being introduced to game developement, this is a good buy. It might not be top-of-the-line stuff, but it's definitely solid enough that almost anyone can use it. |
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| 3DGS has come a long way |
I looked at this engine over a year ago and I thought it was showing its age with A6. Now looking at A7, and also other projects built with A6 I realize it is the quality of the developer that makes the difference with this engine.
There are some fantastic looking games built with this engine that people just have not seen. So I have licensed the Commercial version to build a prototype and the results are already great. The community is very large and very active. There is code out there being shared that can help anyone with their projects.
People need to realize that the old GIGO theory works here too. Put garbage in it and you get garbage out. But if you plan you the textures, and lights properly then you get a beautiful looking scenes in your game.
So don't judge this engine by the low end projects some people have populated the net with, look at the really nice looking high end projects done with this engine. That is what can be done and even more. |
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I like the features of this enginePosted by:
Zard
at Oct 31, 2007 |
Gamestudio comes with a set of tools - level editor, model editor, script editor, and engine. The level editor is good, the model editor is average. It is fine for small models but not suited for big or complicated animated models. The script editor is a IDE with debugger and project manager.
Gamestudio has also a system for clicking a game together from components without programming. It then generates the .c code for the game itself. You can afterwards modify the code which I found very comfortable because you can start with a click-together game and then program it further.
It comes with a great step by step tutorial into game programming. I had a programming course in school but at that time I didn't really get it. The gamestudio tutorial is better than the course I had in school, so if you were frustrated by other engines, like me, this is the right system for you. There is plenty of documentation and tutorials, and the community is very helpful.
The engine and script language is free, only the version with the level editor must be paid ($99) and the version with networking and shaders is $199. There is also a good shader tutorial.
I give it five points because I really like the features of this engine and the easy approach. |
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Excellent introduction into programmingPosted by:
Tamara
at Nov 4, 2007 |
When you use this engine, don't forget to download the Script workshops. They give a very good introduction into game programming for absolute beginners like me. It starts with the explanation of functions and variables, and then continues with how to define a user interface, a level with a plane, collision detection, sprite animation, bones animation, and finally, using the physics engine. It contains 24 lessons and every one is worth reading.
There is also a shader introduction tutorial that starts with how to define an ambient shader, and then explains diffuse and specular lighting and how to do a normalmapping shader. |
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| 3DGameStudio |
I have used 3DGS on and off since early 2002, and have moved through 3 versions. It is a nice package and I would recommend it to any beginner wanted to explore creating 3D games
The engine may not have the latest bells and whistles but its still a fairly good engine. It comes with a full tool set, though some are a little lacking, they provide you with the basics to get started. It uses a C based scripting language that comes with some very helpful tutorials to get you started.
I'd say the best feature would be the community and support from the engine's creators. The forum is highly active, and full of people ready to answer your questions and provide feedback. There is a monthly magazine; AUM, as well.
For me, the two downsides were problems with the collision system (it seems to behave oddly at times, and can be a bit tricky to understand for new users. This does not mean the physics engine, I have not used that feature yet), and the C based scripting language (I would have rather had a modern C++ or object based language).
There is a whole universe of things you can do with this engine, and there is a free version, so get started. |
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| most reliable system |
i would have to label this the most reliable, stabil system i have used. i would suggest taking a class on it before using it (the tutorials in the help files teach you the wrong way to use it), but once you get the hang of it, you can let your creativity run loose.
I have used the full versions of A6 but i have only used the eval version of the new A7. in this review, i was talking about A6 due to the fact when i export/test levels in A7, the camera circles around out of contol. i have also noticed other glitches as well.
I have posted this problem on the support forums multiple times but i have not been able to get any help.
this system comes with a great terrain/skinning/model editor and a great scripting language/editor (both free)
WORTH YOUR money! |
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| Shader workshop in version 7.07 |
| With the new Gamestudio there is a shader workshop that lets you create vertex and pixel shaders and understand how they work. It begins with a small diffuse lighting shader and then continues with more complex shaders, normal mapping, postprocessing shaders, and ends with shadow mapping shaders with smooth shadows. All the shaders are explained so that even a beginner can understand them. Very cool! |
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| Great engine ! |
I own a commerical license of the engine and i am impressed with the new lite-c language (same thing as c++) , engine gains new features day by day, its 7.07 now and closed beta of 7.08 is going on. One of the best directx engine out there.
Perfect engine for all types of games, has great particle enigne, uses ode for physics but newton can be integrated,good graphics, great community, HLSL shaders supported, BSP levels, LOD, great terrain system,bone animation, infinite possibility on doing things, creat plugin architecture (not just the engine, editors has plugin system too!! :D )
The WED level editor is enough for any game (even more) but i still use 3d world studio(habbits :S) which supports 3dgs.
The MED model editor is good for low poly modeling, after some practice i got hang of it but lacks of some tools like cut etc. but i heard that the MED and WED will have more tools soon. I prefer using gmax / 3dsmax and SI XSI for modelling, Both med and wed can import models perfectly from fbx,ase,3ds (wed uses med model format mdl too).
I use med for some animation correction (sometimes create whole animation with med)
In conclusion, engine is the one of the most productive/active/stable engines out there.
the worst part of the engine is being non-crossplatform, but who cares, its a great engine. |
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| It's better than normal game Engine |
3DGS is a good game engine for developers who like to make game. it's a very good engine but need some idea about type of game you like to make i know it's not have great rendering type like DirectX and MSVC but the beginners and some of professionals can make great games with this.
Overall it's a good game Engine Just not have good Model editor and map editor but have Max2game studio and Maya2GameStudio so we can use powerfull softwares for make maps and models.
A7 is very better than A6 cuz it's have antialiasing and some directX code support with using LiteC and more codes for develop better games. |
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| a rock |
A lot of beginner are tremendously attracted by advanced features , particulary for graphic rendering
( shader and all those stuff) but the most important features for a game engines are , in order of importance :
- 01) stability
- 02) workflow easy of use
- 03) documentation comunity
- 04) advanced rendering
3dgs may not be the most advanced engine around, but it is as stable as a rock, user friendly , well documented and reasonably performing
In other words it is the only engine (togheter with Blitz3d) which allowed me to finish a couple of ( simple) games |
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| Near Perfect |
| Amazing.. completely amazing. Great feature, easy to use and great community. Any genre can be made easily using this game engine. And the best part is this engine are recently updated, atleast once a month. |
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| Mediocre at best |
This development solution is mediocre at best. You will never be able to create AAA software with it.
1. The engine code is poorly written / coded. But amateurs will never know this because well.. only amateurs use this.
2. Much of it is hard to figure out and use because of it's poor structure / coding.
3. Uses lots of old Legacy stuff.
4. The tools are no where near what professional game development tools are supposed to be.
If you want to blow some cash just to screw around as a hobby I guess it's ok but you won't ever make anything of actual value using this. |
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| Best game development system I found |
As a 3D artist I was looking for an engine that is easy to use yet powerful. After trying Torque, TV3D, C4, XNA and many others, spending 8 weeks researching, and going back and forth between game engines, I finally ended up with Gamestudio.
The main reason is its the programming language lite C, which is really a lite version of C++. Which means you can do everything with it but without learning big programming books. The engine features and ease of use are very impressive. Its like a dream come true for non programmers like me. And the engine is actually extremely stable. It is well put together.
So I have to give 5 stars in every regard except support that I can't judge because I didn't need it so far. |
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| Awesome Engine! |
| It's easy to use, when you dig more, you'll get more amazing features, and it's very very stable, and fast. Works on the very old machines. |
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| The most stable engine I found |
I found that Gamestudios A7 engine is a rock solid engine with a very easy approach. The API is simple and straightforward, so you can make a level walkthrough in about 10 simple lines of code, and without the need to read the manual or API docs all the time.
What impresses me is that you can't get this engine to crash except if you make a really hard programming mistake. Physics, multiplayer and shaders can be set up in a rather easy way, more direct than with most other engines. Simple applications such as screensavers only need a few lines of code, this is ideal for casual games.
For the price, $199, this engine offers the most features (radiosity, multiplayer, physics, shaders, decals, realtime shadows and so on) compared with other engines that I have tried. |
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| Very good support |
I have the Pro Edition of Gamestudio which comes with 1 year support, and have not regretted it. Gamestudio is not actually a studio but a very fast and flexible engine for all purposes of 3D games and 3D apps. The engine at the same time easy to use for a beginner but very customizable. You can do amazing things when you know what you're doing.
The support is unmatched. I needed to use a special 3D controller and within one day, they sent me a script how to implement it, and it worked like a charm. Very impressive! |
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| A7 is a really great step |
I began game programming with Gamestudio A6, but found the engine slow and the programming complicated. Then I went to RAD 6 because they advertised with no programming, but it turned out you can't do anything with RAD, it's totally unflexible. Then I went to TV3D, also made bad experiences, then to Torque, and finally, back to Gamestudio, this time the A7 version! I think I will stick with this engine.
Compared with A6, A7 is a huge step forward. The new engine is a lot faster and the script language, at the same time, now became a lot easier because they removed many of the restrictions of the old A6 WDL language. Also, the A7 multiplayer system is much better. |
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| shit |
Who will pay for the license for a single project for one developer for such a hopeless engine.
You can not even download a version for tests. Documentation is shit and tools as well.
Again, I do not recommend heartily. Thank you for your attention and good night to the state.
PS. this engine should not be in this list |
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| The best engine |
I've upgraded from the free to the commercial version 6 months ago. Before I had played around with many other indie engines such as Torque and TV3D, but I found that Gamestudio is simple the best. Feature wise and ease of use. It contains everything you need, not only for games, you can write any sort of program with it. The engine can now even control other applications by sending keystrokes to them.
Rendering speed is excellent. At $199 it's very inexpensive compared to all the other engines in it's class. Its updated every month with new features, and the community is quick to help you with your projects.
Unlike other engines this one comes with a really good documentation and tutorials.
I can recommend Gamestudio in every regard. |
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