Game Engine Reviews

I began downloading demos of each of the engines I mentioned in my previous blog.

Blitz3d
First impressions: Fast, stable, easy language, networking. NO Crossplatform. No world builder. Must use thirdparty applications to build worlds and then glue the interactions and placement via code. Kinda combersome for any huge game development.

Crystal Space
Tons of features. Huge Community. Complex coding required. Very general Engine. Again no World Builder but it is cross platform.

Realmcrafter
Super Easy - Comes with multiple toolset such as worldbuilder. Geared specifically for making MMORPGs. Connects to MYSQL. Not Crossplatform. Very interested.

Panda 3d
Disney backed engine. Comes with some toolsets such as a minimal world builder. Cross Platform. Has a version for UBUNTU :) Also can connect to MYSQL as well as networking.
Also very interested.

GameStudio A7
Very easy scripting engine. The actual Game Engine is a bit dated but can still produce some great effects. Has multiple toolsets such as worldbuilders. TCPIP but I think it is more learning towards LAN playing then Internet. Not Cross Platform.

TrueVision 3d
Based on Visual Basic. Easy enuff language to code in. High level engine. No real world builder toolset. Not Crossplatorm. No TCPIP Play uses DirectPlay so really only LAN games.

Beyond Virtual
New entry into game engine arena. Looks very promising. Very cost effective solution. Made specifically for MMORPGs. TCP networking. Worldbuilders. NO Cross Platform.

Kaneva
Also a new entry into the game engine arena. Also looks very promising. Made specificaly for MMORPGs and has integrated Worldbuilders. No Crossplatform.

Dark Basic Pro
Easy language. No Worldbuilders. TCPIP networking. No Crossplatform. General Engine.

These are all the engines I looked at this morning.

So far I am leaning towards the following, in no particular order:

• Realmcrafter
• Panda 3d
• Beyond Virtual
• Kaneva

Realmcrafter, Beyond Virtual and Kaneva are all commercial engines with integrated toolsets. They are very attractively priced. Panda3d is free to use but I will have to build some tools to get it up to speed with some of the features the other engines already provide.

Game engine list

So here is a list of the engines I looked at and am considering on using for my MMORPG:

• Blitz 3d
• Crystal Space
• RealmCrafter
  
• Panda 3d
• GameStudio A7
• TrueVision 3d
• Beyond Virtual
• Kaneva
• Dark Basic Pro
• LawMaker Game Engine
• OGRE
• Irrlicht
• Antiryad Gx
• Blink 3d
• Apocalyx
• DXStudio
• Quest3d
• Torque Game Engine
• Toi
• Wild Tangent
• Yake
• Blender
• Ca3de
• Delta3d
• GLBasic
• Raydium
• Shiva

If you know of any other engines I should consider, please throw me a comment.

I found most of these engines here: http://www.devmaster.net

Game Engine Reqs

So I have decided to spend some time and resources on developing a MMORPG. Sure there are plenty out there but after spending countless hours playing WOW and having dabbled in video game design, I feel it is time to extend my expertise from standalone games I have created for fun to something that could generate income. I have plenty of hardware and bandwidth as I also own a hosting company here in chicago so resources are plenty for this experiment.

Game engine requirements

• Scriptable
• Easy to extend
• Must have importers for major modeling programs: Milkshape, 3Dsmax, Maya, Blender
• Interior and Exterior rendering
• Skymap
• TCP / UDP networking
• Physics
• Shadow rendering
• Preferably opensource but I am willing to shell out some money to get a decent engine
• Libs to connect to MYSQL
• Small footprint
• Particles

Game engine pluses

• Cross Platform: Would love to build a linux version of the client
• InGame Toolsets such as WorldBuilders, etc.