3D Game Studio
Author
Has anyone used 3D Game Studio? I''m a begginer with a dangerous weapon in my hands! I''ve been tinkering with programming since the C64, but I still haven''t learned enough to get anywhere. I just got 3D Game Studio. I''m trying to produce a few simple games to post on the net for download. I want to have my own company. I don''t mind being a small company with small profits. What''s your opinion of 3D Game Studio? What advice can you offer an idiot like me?
Thanks.
Randy A Brown
I used 3D Game studio a few years ago. (A4 I believe) I just used it to learn game related math and such before I went to D3D & OGL. Although I did not seriously make a game with it, it seemed to be a very good engine. It was fairly fast in all my tests and was extremely easy to program but at the same time having full control of how stuff worked. The only problem I have with 3D Game Studio, is that to get a version that would make a decent game, you have to dish out a lot of money. (You could almost buy 3D Studio MAX with that money.) 3D Game studio also came with a pathetic modeler and the models are only tweened, they are not skeletal. The most important thing I found about 3D Game studio though, is that it has great forums and people are always willing to help you with your script. If you need any advanced features in your game though, it would probably be better to learn D3D.
I''m currently using 3D Gamestudio (A5.24) for a project my company is working on. My background is purely 3D art and animation, no programming at all. I have also worked with other, high-grade game engines (one that was built entirely in-house) while working as a game developer in the 3 years prior to the job I''m at now.
Gamestudio, when compared to these other engines, is not good. As an artist, I feel that I have to really fight Gamestudio to create a good looking product, instead of being able to use it as an asset to creating a cool looking product. It seams to offer only basic features, and few options, especially when it comes to lighting. At a programmer’s standpoint, it cannot be purchased with the sorce code, which makes it difficult to adapt some features to fit your needs.
Now, having said that, if you’re just starting out, Gamestudio may not be such a bad choice. It is relatively cheap (when compared to higher end engines which can get up to around $250,000) and, for doing basic stuff, not too complex. And yes, the forums are good.
You may also want to look into GtkRadiant. You should be able to download it for free, but for creating your own product and distributing it, I’m not sure what the legalities or costs would be.
hope this helps
Gamestudio, when compared to these other engines, is not good. As an artist, I feel that I have to really fight Gamestudio to create a good looking product, instead of being able to use it as an asset to creating a cool looking product. It seams to offer only basic features, and few options, especially when it comes to lighting. At a programmer’s standpoint, it cannot be purchased with the sorce code, which makes it difficult to adapt some features to fit your needs.
Now, having said that, if you’re just starting out, Gamestudio may not be such a bad choice. It is relatively cheap (when compared to higher end engines which can get up to around $250,000) and, for doing basic stuff, not too complex. And yes, the forums are good.
You may also want to look into GtkRadiant. You should be able to download it for free, but for creating your own product and distributing it, I’m not sure what the legalities or costs would be.
hope this helps
I too used GameStudio A5 for about 4 months before I got frustrated with its limitations. I made a tournament style demo but just didn''t feel totally in control of my project. I think the thing I found the most frustrating was importing models and shadowing issues. There is also no bumpmapping support nor environmental mapping. Only simple scenes can be created...any highly complex scenes will severly effect framerate which can give adverse effects in other scripted entitites. The template scripts they provide you are just horrible, and nearly impossible to work through, so I definity suggest starting your project from scratch. Also rendering is limited to 16 bit <-big letdown... Although targa textures can be displayed at 32 bit, 24 bit with an 8 bit alpha channel...
Positives: It was great to learn C-script before moving onto C/C++. It taught me alot about what is needed to go into a game...about the modeller, anyone who uses 3DGS definitely uses Milkshape3D as a modeller (Milkshape can export to 3DGS!!!). The collision-detection was quite good. The level editor was quite a help instead of importing from another program. (I found this limitation in 3DRAD...a waste of time). It is probably better for making a demo or illustrating an idea of what can be done. The community is AWESOME, namely a guy named KINJI...who has a website of Cscript tutorials which will get you up and running in not time. And Lastly, cheap. For $200 you can develop a commercial game (while displaying the A5 logo for a short time) and make as much money (as you can) as you want!
Go to the website and go to the forum...there is one topic that has screenshots of some projects users are working on. Some are quite good, while others seem like rehashed versions of some 80''s vid game.
Positives: It was great to learn C-script before moving onto C/C++. It taught me alot about what is needed to go into a game...about the modeller, anyone who uses 3DGS definitely uses Milkshape3D as a modeller (Milkshape can export to 3DGS!!!). The collision-detection was quite good. The level editor was quite a help instead of importing from another program. (I found this limitation in 3DRAD...a waste of time). It is probably better for making a demo or illustrating an idea of what can be done. The community is AWESOME, namely a guy named KINJI...who has a website of Cscript tutorials which will get you up and running in not time. And Lastly, cheap. For $200 you can develop a commercial game (while displaying the A5 logo for a short time) and make as much money (as you can) as you want!
Go to the website and go to the forum...there is one topic that has screenshots of some projects users are working on. Some are quite good, while others seem like rehashed versions of some 80''s vid game.
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