Free Game Engines?

#1

Hi guys,

Today I attended a seminar here in Hyderabad, India, in which the head of Discreet, India division spoke. In his speech he said that there are a couple of free game engines. I wanted to know wether there are any and where i can get them.

I am very new to game developement. I want to learn. Can any of you suggest how I should go about it? I am currently gettin all my resources together. I know some C programing and some C ++. I have got a Borland compiler. I have got GMAX(since i have some experience with 3dsmax) and I thought i need a game engine just to see how it works.

Thanks in advance.

#2

free 3d engines , no problem:

http://www.genesis3d.com/ - genesis3d
http://ogre.sourceforge.net/ - ogre
http://crystal.sourceforge.net/ - crystal space
http://nebuladevice.sourceforge.net/ - nebula device
http://neoengine.sourceforge.net/ - neo engine

maybe this is of some use for you :slight_smile:

#3

Thank you for the links, i will look thru them. and which ones best to try as a newbie? would like some help on that.

#4

Yeah wich one for the newbies? :slight_smile:

#5

http://www.quest3d.com/

check it out, requires no programming, and extremely powerful.
Easily capable of producing a game with.

#6

Although not free, the Serious Sam engine is VERY affordable.

If you buy a copy of Serious Sam, you could basically do everything you need right out of the box.

See Ya,
Philip Nelson

#7

There’s also the Torque engine which is the engine used in Tribes 2. While also not free, is a pretty good deal at $100 U.S. per programmer seat for non-commercial use. Not bad for a professional engine. Also with Garage Games restructuring their license agreement you can now publish your games any way you like instead of just through them. www.garagegames.com

Also in reasonably priced engines there’s the Auran engine that I believe is called Jet. Can’t remember hopw much it is exactly but as of last time I checked you could still download the last beta of it for free to tinker around with. www.auran.com

-Trevor

#8

I use 3d Gamestudio A5 and have found it really easy to use. You can check it out at www.conitec.com. It uses the C programming language which is quite easy to learn.

If you want the professional edition, you can get it on Kazaa, that way it won’t cost you a thing.

P.S. This is my first post so, Hello Everybody.:beer:

#9

I dont like to support illegal activity…

#10

<removed by Administrator - that post was in direct violation of our policy>

#11

I am using 3D GameStudio A6 Pro. But where can I download plugins for Maya or 3DS MAX so that I can export to .mdl format.

Looked at www.3dgamestudio.com but they didn’t work to download

Thanks/ Robin

#12

I started using Blender ( http://www.blender.org/ ) seriously about a month ago (after trying numerous other engines, including 3DGS, Quest3D, and Deep Creator). I am currently working on a commercial simulator which is about 50% completed. I highly recommend Blender’s Game Engine for anyone looking for a non-programmer’s game development system.

Some of it’s advantages:

  • Open Source (ie. FREE)
  • Fully integrated 3D modeling and animation system (although you can also import .3ds, .obj, .x, etc as well)
  • Very easy to learn, visual logic creation (compared to Quest3D, Deep Creator and 3DGS)
  • Integrated programming language is Python (easier to learn than C (IMHO), and can use PyGame, etc to extend functionality… all Open Source)
  • Multiple OS support (Windows, Linux, OSX)
  • No commercial splash-screen, license limitations, etc.
  • Latest version (2.41) includes GLSL shaders, normal maps, Bullet physics, etc. etc.
  • Next release (2.42) will include vehicle physics, character physics (ragdoll), etc. (prerelease available now)
  • Outstanding, free technical support ( http://www.elysiun.com )
  • Thousands of free sample project files
  • Hundreds of free tutorials

I think the most common criticism I’ve heard about Blender is that it is difficult to learn, but in my experience it was no more difficult than Quest3D (in fact, Blender was easier IMHO) plus there are hundreds of free tutorials. In the past month that I have spent with Blender I have gone from “completely lost” to “very comfortable” with it’s tools. As a modeling / animation tool, I found it easier to learn than Maya, perhaps on par with 3DS Max. Keep in mind, if you are coming from either of these systems, it will seem harder at first since it’s workflow is completely different.

The other most common criticism I’ve heard, is that Blender lacks good documentation. This is probably the most valid criticism, but I have to say that this is also the case for nearly every game engine I’ve tried. The only solution I’ve found is to search the support forums for past posts and sample projects. In this area, Blender’s outstanding support forum ( http://www.elysiun.com / ) shines.

Give it a try, dedicate yourself to making it work for at least a week, ask questions at Elysiun, and let us know how it goes!

#13

So where did you get it?

#14

yes but the software you’re making needs to be opensource too I think.

#15

yes but the software you’re making needs to be opensource too I think.

ABSOLUTELY NOT! You are free to distribute or sell your creations with Blender without any restrictions whatsoever.

I think you are confusing this with the restrictions on modifying the actual application, Blender, itself. Since the source code to Blender is freely available, if you want to modify Blender’s source, you may do so, but if you distribute your modified Blender, you must also include your source code and a copy of the Open Source license. This is pretty much the norm for open source software and is intended to keep folks from repackaging an open source application and then selling it as if they had created it themselves.

#16

Hi, I recommend checking out this site for commercial and open-source game/graphics engines. You can find a lot of detailed info and reviews of each API.

http://www.devmaster.net/engines/

Top 10 Commercial Engines1.Torque Game Engine2.TV3D SDK 63.3DGameStudio4.Reality Engine5.Deep Creator6.Cipher7.3Impact8.3D Rad9.AgentFX10.Quest3D
Top 10 Open Source Engines1.OGRE2.Crystal Space3.Irrlicht4.jME5.Panda3D6.Reality Factory7.RealmForge GDK8.The Nebula Device 29.OpenSceneGraph10.Axiom

#17

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