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"Games authoring never was easier"
3D GameStudio is the leading authoring system
for 2D and 3D computer games. It combines a javascript-style
language with the high-end A5 3D engine, a 2D engine,
a VC++ interface, a map and model editor and huge libraries
of 3D objects, artwork and pre-made games. It was never easier
to create 1st person
games, 3rd person games, role playing games, side scrollers,
flight simulators, spaceship simulators, board games, sports
games, 3D pinball... realtime presentations,
virtual exhibitions... and
3D applications never seen before!
GameStudio is for everyone. If you
are a professional, program your game in VC++ using the DLL
interface - it's much easier than with usual 3D engines. If
you are a beginner, use the easy to learn scripting language.
Or 'click together' simple 3D games from predefined elements.
It's up to you.
Games authoring systems are the future of
games programming. Even with no programming knowlegdge, by
following the step-by-step tutorial you'll build a simple
action game in one afternoon! By investing
a little more time you can program games in commercial quality.
If you want to know more about GameStudio's capabilities,
try the demos,
visit the user community
or the screenshot gallery,
read the frequently asked
questions, or take the guided
tour...
"An
excellent toolkit to quickly prototype and
develop 3D graphics applications"
Dr.Dobb's Journal August 2000
 
 

 
 
Some of the commercial titles produced
with 3D GameStudio

|
The Editors
The WED (world) and MED (model)
editors make creating levels, placing light effects, defining
movement paths and modeling actors a straightforward process.
For quick results a huge library of over 1000 prefabricated
textures, building parts, furniture, vehicles, weapons and
actors is included. Due to the import compatibility to most
common 3D formats and popular 3D games, levels (MAP
files), textures (WAD, PCX, BMP, TGA
files)
and 3D models (MDL, MD2, X,
or 3DS files) can easily be created or downloaded from
on the Internet.
Each
level consists of an environment with fixed and moving parts
- landscapes, dungeons, buildings or cities. Within the environment
you can place colored light sources, which throw real
shadows, and 3D sound sources, which emit background sounds.
Textures and Sprites can be created with any paint program.
Animated models, which are used for actors, are created through
the model editor MED. You can import animation frames from
X, 3DS or ASC files. As
soon as your levels are ready, a button click generates a
file set plus EXE file ready for distribution via Internet
or on CD-ROM. The optional File Packer compresses everything
into a tiny single encrypted file.
back
to top

|
The Engine
The
3D engine is the core of the development system - it generates
the 3D effects and controls the artificial intelligence of
the actors. Due to its BSP-Tree and terrain renderer, the
new A5 high-end engine handles indoor and outdoor
sceneries equally well. It has a lighting engine that supports
true shadows and moving light sources. The sophisticated three-fold
culling algorithm renders even huge worlds of more than 100,000
polygons with over 60 fps. Programmers can use the DLL interface
for adding new effects and features.
Technology ........................................................... |
- Six degrees of freedom,
true perspective rendering
- Blazing fast: 70
fps in 1024x768 (P2-350, TNT2)
- Supports DirectX,
Direct3D, DirectSound
- Fast software renderer
for low-end systems without 3D card
- Screen resolution
up to 1600x1200
- 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit
colour, window
or fullscreen mode
- BSP tree, portal
renderer and z buffer algorithm
- Geometric LOD
and
mip mapping
- Animated soft-skin
models and sprites
- Heightmap based terrain
for landscapes
- Unlimited skin
size and frame numbers for models
- Polygon level collision
detection on fixed and moving 3D objects
- Real time creation
of objects
- Unlimited number
of levels, objects and players
|
Special effects ........................................................ |
- Static and dynamic
coloured light sources
- Static and dynamic
shadows
- Coloured fog areas
- 3D sound sources
with doppler effect
- Alpha-channel
transparency
- Animated multi-layered
sky and backdrop bitmaps
- Procedural textures
for water or lava
- Morphing and mesh
interpolation for models
- Programmable particle
generators for smoke trails, explosions, tornados..
- Unlimited 2D and
3D effects (lens flares, bullet holes etc.) can be
created by scripts
|
Versatility ..............................................................
|
- Multiple 3D windows
and realtime cameras for 1st or 3rd person views,
side scrollers, split screen, zoom, remote or missile
cameras
- Arbitrary axis (quaternion)
rotations for space and flight simulators
- Path tracking
for camera, actors or vehicles
- 3D objects can be
taken or manipulated with mouse in real time
- Full programmable
and customizable through javascript style language
- Script compiler,
debugger,
single step and console mode
- DLL interface and
SDK for programming in VC++
- CD Audio, MID and
WAV support for music and 3D sounds
- Game score save,
load, screenshot functions
- Integrated 2D
engine for background pictures, 2D sprites, panels,
buttons, sliders, overlays, 2D controls, text, and
AVI movie scenes
- Two-player mode via
split screen, serial cable, or modem
- Multi-player client/server
mode via network or Internet
- End user level editor
for distribution together with game
|
The
engine is improved permanently to support emerging hardware
and technologies or new graphical advances. Free updates
appear regularly on our website.
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to top

|
The Language
We can create a game by clicking together
a level, placing player, weapons and monsters, attaching behaviours
to them, adding a game menu, and then publishing the whole
stuff. So why do we need a programming language?
Let's face it: games 'clicked together' from
predefined elements are boring. We should at least have some
individual effects and behaviours in decent commercial quality
games. We have to program those effects. The task is not to
avoid programming totally - it is to make it as fast and easy
as possible. The WDL scripting language was made for this.
WDL scripts can be attached to every object
through a mouse click. They react on certain events like being
hit or touched, coming near to something, spotting a player,
being clicked on, whatever you imagine. Because
the syntax is similar to Javascript, you know WDL already
if you've ever programmed a web page! Otherwise you'll pick
it up fast by working through the included tutorial "Learn
Game Programming in 6 days". It's fun to learn
programming with WDL: while you type code, you can observe
the results immediately in the virtual world!
WDL scripts normally are very short. With only around 30 lines
of code you can create a simple shooter. Nevertheless it offers
all features of a programming language, like multitasking,
arrays, 3D vector arithmetics, file I/O, a compiler and a
debugger (command list).
You can program any 3D and 2D realtime
application with it - even a business spreadsheet. And you
can realize ideas never seen before in any game.
Unlike other scripting languages, WDL scripts
are not interpreted, but compiled - translated
on-the-fly into optimized Pentium machine code. Therefore
your WDL scripts can run ten times faster than other
scripting languages like Basic or Javascript. They run almost
as fast as if they were 'directly programmed' into the engine.
And speed is of the essence for most games.
But if you really don't want to bother about programming,
you don't have to. A huge library of premade behaviour scripts
for all purposes is included.
Back
to top

|
The Editions
There
are four GameStudio editions available. All contain the same
editors and the same speedy and powerful engine - they only
vary in some features. In most cases the $49 standard
edition will suffice. For entering professional game development
you may consider the commercial or even the professional edition.
You can upgrade whenever you want: all editions are
100% up- and downwards compatible. Try before buying? Download
the 30-days trial version with the predecessor A4 engine,
and start today creating games!
Edition |
Standard
|
Extra |
Commercial |
Professional |
Level editor |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes/distributable
|
Model editor |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes
|
Client/Server
|
no |
no |
no |
yes
|
Max
players |
1
or 2 ** |
1
or 2 ** |
1
or 2 ** |
unlimited
|
Max
screen res |
640x480x16 |
800x600x16 |
1024x768x16 |
1600x1200x32 |
Light
sources |
white |
white |
coloured |
coloured |
Static
shadows |
yes
|
yes
|
yes |
yes |
Dynamic
shadows |
no
|
no
|
yes |
yes |
Terrain
|
no
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
Transparency
|
plain
50% |
alpha/flare
|
alpha/flare |
alpha/flare |
Geometric
LOD |
no
|
yes
|
yes |
yes |
AVI
scene player |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
CD
audio player |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
File
packer |
no |
no |
no |
yes |
VC++
SDK
|
no*** |
no*** |
no*** |
yes
|
Watermark
* |
yes |
yes |
no |
no |
Support
(email) |
no |
no |
90
days |
1
year |
Price
|
$49.- |
$99.- |
$199.- |
$1250.- |
* Tiny
transparent 'A5' in a screen corner or on a panel. See gallery.
** 2-player games through split screen mode only.
***
Available
separately.
See price list.
Update / Upgrade prices see price list. Interim updates
are free.
Features
listed apply to the latest version that is shipped, or is available
for download at our website.
Price
list / Order page - Click Here
System requirements
Minimum: P-75, 16 MB RAM, CD-ROM, sound card, standard
VGA card or laptop.
Recommended: P-300, 64 MB RAM, CD-ROM, Joystick, 3D video
card (16+ MB), 3D sound card, Internet access.
Windows 95 or above, and DirectX 5.0 or above are required
for software rendering. Windows 98 / ME / 2000 and DirectX
7.0 or above, and a decent 3D card are required for hardware
rendering.
Imported file formats: 3DS, ASC, X,
MAP, MDL, MD2, AVI, BMP, PCX, TGA,
WAD, MID, WAV.
Instructor's license: Teach
games programming!
For school/university games programming
classes there's our new instructor's license. It includes
a special version of 3D GameStudio commercial edition, which
may be installed on a given number of student's PCs in a
classroom, and used for learning purposes. Restrictions:
publishing and distribution of the games is prohibited,
and the license owner may not give away his user name and
password to the students.
Team license: Save money!
For developer teams, team licenses
can be purchased at a reasonable price. All members of the
team must use the software for the same project, and the
software may not be used for separate projects or outside
the team. The team license includes the right to install
and update 3D GameStudio on the PC of each team member.
The owner of a team license may not give away his user name
and password to the team members. Only the license owner
may commercially distribute applications created with a
team license.
Royalties: Nope!
You have the right to create as many games
as you want, and to sell them without having to pay any
royalties or license fees. There are three conditions
for public distribution: mail us a copy of your game; display
the A5 engine logo for one second on your startup screen;
and don't use 3D GameStudio for a game that intentionally
propagates genocide against a certain group, race, nation
or religion existing in today's real world.
For special purposes - for example, using
GameStudio applications commercially at public places, like
TV shows or arcade machines, or for abandoning the engine
startup logo - a one-time license fee can be required. Depending
on the kind of the application, the fee ranges between zero
and $10,000 maximum (for details see reference manual).

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