Gamestudio
Encyclopedia
3D GameStudio or 3DGS is a commercial 3D
computer game
development system which allows the users to create 3D games and other virtual reality applications, and publish them royalty-free
. It includes a model/terrain editor, a level editor, a script editor/debugger and comes with a big collection of textures, models and artwork, as well as a game template system that allows the creation of basic shooter games or RPGs
without programming. For complex games or other applications you can use either the integrated programming language named Lite-C
or an external development language such as Visual C++
or Borland Delphi
.
Gamestudio is marketed at users of various skill levels, providing three different levels of usage ("beginner", "advanced", and "professional") for hobbyists, artists, as well as programmers. Additionally, Conitec also markets the system for uses such as advergame development and the creation of real-time presentations, simulations, and virtual exhibitions. Most published titles made from Gamestudio are created by development teams of only 2 to 3 developers. There is also a large online community of users in support of the development system.
Free updates are normally available once every 4 to 8 weeks.
Gamestudio / A8 has 2 different meanings. The Gamestudio part refers to the editors and game template system, but the A8 part refers to the game engine.
for physics simulation. The engine automatically updates the game state on all machines when playing over a network, but also provides functions for more low-level multiplayer programming. It uses an ABT (Adaptive Binary Tree) renderer for indoor and outdoor levels, and an additional BSP
renderer for indoor levels. The BSP renderer is only available in the Pro edition. The free edition and Extra edition don't support shaders.
The engine supports high resolutions, terrain rendering, pre-rendered shadow maps and dynamic stencil shadows (single dynamic shadows for models). The 2D system (GUI system) of the A8 Engine is not very powerful (see scripting section), but replaceable using the 3D system if needed. Using Lite-C
, most things can be customized. Shader model 3.0 support and post-processing using stages may assist shader programmers in chaining together effects to produce any number of custom-made shader effects.
, 3ds Max, Maya and Adobe Photoshop
or GIMP
can also be used to create professional imagery and models for Gamestudio.
The editors allow users to put together games by creating a terrain or building environment, inserting models, and adding behaviors to them from template scripts or own scripts. If desired, users can create their own models and designs, textures, and scripts. Textures are created in external paint programs like GIMP
, Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or Microsoft Paint
.
(or BSP for short) technique.
WED is the main program of Gamestudio, the user can startup their game from here, attach the scripts to it, etc. WED is the location where the user can merge all the parts of their game (programming, 3d graphics, levels).
The layout for WED is fairly simple. The main part, the central right section, is where most of the editing is done. There are three graphs and a 3D view. Through re-arrangeable, the top left window is the top view, which has the X and Y coordinates. The bottom left is the side view, or the X and Z coordinates. The bottom right is the back view, or the Y and Z coordinates. The top right is the 3D view, which gives a quick preview of the level without building (compiling) it.
The graphs are split into multiples of 128 and further split into multiples of 16 to help with snapping and spacing. The graphs will automatically resize when zoomed out a bit and in steps of multiples of 8 (1024 and 128 then 8192 and 1024).
The left central section lists objects in the level, textures, and some other things. Textures must be of a power of 2 (such as 256×128, 1024×256, or 64×64) for best effects. Odd ones (like 394×213 or 723×1280) look worse and are slower at rendering.
The top is the tool bar which allows the user to manipulate objects, add new objects (such as entities, sounds, and lights), build a level, run it, and several other options.
When right-clicking on something and choosing properties, the user can manually enter a position, assign an action to an entity, or adjust textures on the individual sides of a block.
A disadvantage of WED is its incapability to do anything without blocks or terrain. E.g. it is really hard to build a street (that is not just a plane), because it is nearly impossible to move the blocks in the perfect position, so no "steps" or gaps are in the street (it is just not possible to get the edges of the blocks perfectly together, the snap-to-grid-feature helps only when using nearly non-rotated blocks). Triangles or a snap-block-edge-to-block-edge feature would fix that and would make it possible to make a more complex floor out of more than one single block without gaps or steps.
Like WED, MED's general layout is almost the same. It has the three graphs and the 3D view. They are arranged in the same way as WED.
MED is somewhat like WED in the general layout, but MED also has a skin editor, which allows the model to be textured. The skin editor has a completely different layout. The texture is shown on the left side and the model is shown on the right with tool bars surrounding these. Textures are frequently created in external graphics editors and imported from a BMP, TGA, or PCX image file. MED uses UV mapping which has vertices from the model's mesh placed on the texture to texture the model.
Model shapes are created either through primitives (like cubes and pyramids) or by creating vertices and building faces. Models don't have to follow the restrictions that BSP has which, along with faster rendering, makes them a better choice for level design in most cases.
.
C-Script was the old scripting language of Gamestudio. It is still supported, but was replaced by Lite-C
in A7 and is not recommended anymore for new projects. C-Script is a simplified version of C programming. It only includes one type of variable, a var, and does not support classes.
Lite-C
was introduced in 2007. It is similar to the real C language, but includes many aspects that make it easier than C. Unlike C-Script, Lite-C
supports the full C/C++
variable set, structs, and external classes, and is compiled instead of interpreted. It offers access to the DirectX
command set as well as to the Windows API. Lite-C
supports classes from external libraries, but a user cannot define their own classes in Lite-C
.
There is also a free standalone version of Lite-C
, which can be used separately Gamestudio.
plug-in is designed to assist in creation within Gamestudio without programming, integrating into the level editor. Intense X uses artificial intelligence
and pathfinding
engines that attempt to remove the “cookie cutter” look that often accompanies other game design packages. Intense X is open source and can be expanded and customized for users with programming experience.
There are three main online magazines which provide new tips, tricks and tutorials. Two of them (3AM and 3PM) are paid for, while the third, Acknex User Magazine (AUM for short) is free, being created by George Dan Pirvu and published monthly.
In addition to the manual, there are several tutorials available ranging from basic things such as how to use WED, MED, and/or SED to more advanced things such as how to design multiplayers levels, editing shades, or creating interactive environments.
A special license term restricts the use of Gamestudio to applications that do not "propagate genocide against a certain group, race, nation or religion existing in today's real world".
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
computer game
Personal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
development system which allows the users to create 3D games and other virtual reality applications, and publish them royalty-free
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
. It includes a model/terrain editor, a level editor, a script editor/debugger and comes with a big collection of textures, models and artwork, as well as a game template system that allows the creation of basic shooter games or RPGs
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
without programming. For complex games or other applications you can use either the integrated programming language named Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
or an external development language such as Visual C++
Visual C++
Microsoft Visual C++ is a commercial , integrated development environment product from Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI programming languages...
or Borland Delphi
Borland Delphi
Embarcadero Delphi is an integrated development environment for console, desktop graphical, web, and mobile applications.Delphi's compilers use its own Object Pascal dialect of Pascal and generate native code for 32- and 64-bit Windows operating systems, as well as 32-bit Mac OS X and iOS...
.
Gamestudio is marketed at users of various skill levels, providing three different levels of usage ("beginner", "advanced", and "professional") for hobbyists, artists, as well as programmers. Additionally, Conitec also markets the system for uses such as advergame development and the creation of real-time presentations, simulations, and virtual exhibitions. Most published titles made from Gamestudio are created by development teams of only 2 to 3 developers. There is also a large online community of users in support of the development system.
History
- 1993 ACK 3D (Animation Construction Kit) by Lary Myers (Wolfenstein-like open source engine )
- 1994 ACK NEXT GENERATION by Johann Christian Lotter / oP Group (improved version of ACK 3D, open source)
- 1995 ACKNEX-2 written for the German TV show X-BASE (engine comparable to Doom)
- 1995 ACKNEX-2 becomes Conitec property and is released as '3D GameStudio'
- 1997 ACKNEX-3 released
- 1999 A4 released (Windows Based Quake-like Engine)
- 2000 A5 released (Terrain Engine)
- 2003 A6 released (Physics and Shaders)
- 2007 A7 released (new ABT renderer and Lite-C)
- 2010 A8 released (Enet Network Library, Nvidia PhysX, PSSM)
Free updates are normally available once every 4 to 8 weeks.
Gamestudio / A8 has 2 different meanings. The Gamestudio part refers to the editors and game template system, but the A8 part refers to the game engine.
Game engine
The A8 engine uses PhysXPhysX
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
for physics simulation. The engine automatically updates the game state on all machines when playing over a network, but also provides functions for more low-level multiplayer programming. It uses an ABT (Adaptive Binary Tree) renderer for indoor and outdoor levels, and an additional BSP
Binary space partitioning
In computer science, binary space partitioning is a method for recursively subdividing a space into convex sets by hyperplanes. This subdivision gives rise to a representation of the scene by means of a tree data structure known as a BSP tree.Originally, this approach was proposed in 3D computer...
renderer for indoor levels. The BSP renderer is only available in the Pro edition. The free edition and Extra edition don't support shaders.
The engine supports high resolutions, terrain rendering, pre-rendered shadow maps and dynamic stencil shadows (single dynamic shadows for models). The 2D system (GUI system) of the A8 Engine is not very powerful (see scripting section), but replaceable using the 3D system if needed. Using Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
, most things can be customized. Shader model 3.0 support and post-processing using stages may assist shader programmers in chaining together effects to produce any number of custom-made shader effects.
The editors
Gamestudio supplies users with an editing suite. However, software like BlenderBlender (software)
Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
, 3ds Max, Maya and Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
or GIMP
GIMP
GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
can also be used to create professional imagery and models for Gamestudio.
The editors allow users to put together games by creating a terrain or building environment, inserting models, and adding behaviors to them from template scripts or own scripts. If desired, users can create their own models and designs, textures, and scripts. Textures are created in external paint programs like GIMP
GIMP
GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
, Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or Microsoft Paint
Microsoft Paint
Paint is a simple graphics painting program that has been included with all versions of Microsoft Windows. It is often referred to as MS Paint or Microsoft Paint...
.
The world editor (WED)
The World Editor (or WED for short), is the main editor. With it, the user may position the various objects, assign actions to models (also known as entities) which are defined through scripts, assign textures to level geometry, and build levels using the Binary space partitioning treeBinary space partitioning
In computer science, binary space partitioning is a method for recursively subdividing a space into convex sets by hyperplanes. This subdivision gives rise to a representation of the scene by means of a tree data structure known as a BSP tree.Originally, this approach was proposed in 3D computer...
(or BSP for short) technique.
WED is the main program of Gamestudio, the user can startup their game from here, attach the scripts to it, etc. WED is the location where the user can merge all the parts of their game (programming, 3d graphics, levels).
The layout for WED is fairly simple. The main part, the central right section, is where most of the editing is done. There are three graphs and a 3D view. Through re-arrangeable, the top left window is the top view, which has the X and Y coordinates. The bottom left is the side view, or the X and Z coordinates. The bottom right is the back view, or the Y and Z coordinates. The top right is the 3D view, which gives a quick preview of the level without building (compiling) it.
The graphs are split into multiples of 128 and further split into multiples of 16 to help with snapping and spacing. The graphs will automatically resize when zoomed out a bit and in steps of multiples of 8 (1024 and 128 then 8192 and 1024).
The left central section lists objects in the level, textures, and some other things. Textures must be of a power of 2 (such as 256×128, 1024×256, or 64×64) for best effects. Odd ones (like 394×213 or 723×1280) look worse and are slower at rendering.
The top is the tool bar which allows the user to manipulate objects, add new objects (such as entities, sounds, and lights), build a level, run it, and several other options.
When right-clicking on something and choosing properties, the user can manually enter a position, assign an action to an entity, or adjust textures on the individual sides of a block.
A disadvantage of WED is its incapability to do anything without blocks or terrain. E.g. it is really hard to build a street (that is not just a plane), because it is nearly impossible to move the blocks in the perfect position, so no "steps" or gaps are in the street (it is just not possible to get the edges of the blocks perfectly together, the snap-to-grid-feature helps only when using nearly non-rotated blocks). Triangles or a snap-block-edge-to-block-edge feature would fix that and would make it possible to make a more complex floor out of more than one single block without gaps or steps.
The model editor (MED)
Though many users prefer to use external modeling programs, the model editor (or MED for short), gives you the capabilities to design models, and is sometimes used to make levels. Models can be made of anything ranging from simple boxes, to human models or complex environments like an entire city. Models are made of meshes, a group of vertices and triangles (often called "polygons") put together to form a shape; a skeleton of bones for animation; one or several textures for the skin; and effect files (.fx) for shaders.Like WED, MED's general layout is almost the same. It has the three graphs and the 3D view. They are arranged in the same way as WED.
MED is somewhat like WED in the general layout, but MED also has a skin editor, which allows the model to be textured. The skin editor has a completely different layout. The texture is shown on the left side and the model is shown on the right with tool bars surrounding these. Textures are frequently created in external graphics editors and imported from a BMP, TGA, or PCX image file. MED uses UV mapping which has vertices from the model's mesh placed on the texture to texture the model.
Model shapes are created either through primitives (like cubes and pyramids) or by creating vertices and building faces. Models don't have to follow the restrictions that BSP has which, along with faster rendering, makes them a better choice for level design in most cases.
The script editor (SED)
The script editor, SED, is a plain text editor with a compiler and debugger. However, key words like "function", "alpha", variable types, or numbers get colored differently to help you, line numbers help to find syntax errors given by the engine faster, a code jumper allows jumping to different functions, actions and objects, and other functions further assist in programming and organizing projects. The script editor is used to program in Lite-c or C-Script (a scripting language somewhat similar to C used in previous generations but supported for compatibility's sake).The game editor (GED)
GED is just like WED, but creating levels in realview (realtime). It doesn't support creating blocks or lights, yet.Scripting and Programming
Gamestudio uses two different types of script, C-Script and Lite-CLite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
.
C-Script was the old scripting language of Gamestudio. It is still supported, but was replaced by Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
in A7 and is not recommended anymore for new projects. C-Script is a simplified version of C programming. It only includes one type of variable, a var, and does not support classes.
Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
was introduced in 2007. It is similar to the real C language, but includes many aspects that make it easier than C. Unlike C-Script, Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
supports the full C/C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
variable set, structs, and external classes, and is compiled instead of interpreted. It offers access to the DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
command set as well as to the Windows API. Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
supports classes from external libraries, but a user cannot define their own classes in Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
.
There is also a free standalone version of Lite-C
Lite-c
Lite-C is a programming language for multimedia applications and personal computer games, using a syntax subset of the C language with some elements of the C++ language. Its main difference to C is the native implementation of multimedia and computer game related objects like sounds, images,...
, which can be used separately Gamestudio.
Intense X
The Intense XIntense x
Intense X, formerly known as Intense AI or Intense Dialogues, is a 3D computer game plug-in for the 3D Game Studio Engine.Intense X allows game designers with or without programming experience to create the games they want, using no programming at all.-History:Intense X was started by two...
plug-in is designed to assist in creation within Gamestudio without programming, integrating into the level editor. Intense X uses artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and pathfinding
Pathfinding
Pathfinding generally refers to the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes...
engines that attempt to remove the “cookie cutter” look that often accompanies other game design packages. Intense X is open source and can be expanded and customized for users with programming experience.
The editions
Gamestudio has four different editions. All editions come with free updates within an engine version (Free within A8, but not from A7.x to A8.x). They also all come with the model editor, level editor, and script editor. Games created in all editions may be published with the exception of Team editions.- The Free edition has WED level editor, the shadow mapping compiler and the game template system that allows 'clicking together' games from prefabricated scripts and components. Scripts are compiled at runtime and there is a watermark on the game screen.
- The Extra edition adds the ability to compile to precompile scripts. It costs $99.
- The Commercial edition adds multiplayer networking and shaderShaderIn the field of computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that is used primarily to calculate rendering effects on graphics hardware with a high degree of flexibility...
s. It costs $199. - The Professional Edition is for commercial game companies and includes security mechanisms and a file packer. It costs $899.
There are three main online magazines which provide new tips, tricks and tutorials. Two of them (3AM and 3PM) are paid for, while the third, Acknex User Magazine (AUM for short) is free, being created by George Dan Pirvu and published monthly.
In addition to the manual, there are several tutorials available ranging from basic things such as how to use WED, MED, and/or SED to more advanced things such as how to design multiplayers levels, editing shades, or creating interactive environments.
A special license term restricts the use of Gamestudio to applications that do not "propagate genocide against a certain group, race, nation or religion existing in today's real world".
Games
Games that have used Gamestudio include- Kabus 22Kabus 22Kabus 22 is a 3D horror–action game set in Kadiköy district in Istanbul. The player has three characters to control; the Turkish soldier Demir, his girlfriend Ebru and the mysterious Inzar...
(2006, Son Isik LTD, Merscom LLC) -Turkey - Citroën C4 Robot (2008, 2GEN Studio2GEN Studio2GEN Studio is a game development company founded by Yasin Demirden & Yakup Demirden in 2007. The firm's main headquarters reside in İstanbul, Turkey.- Games developed :* SR-MAN...
, Citroën Turkey) -Turkey - Dejobaan's Windows Games -USA
- SüpercanSüpercanSüpercan is an upcoming third person Action-adventure game. The game was developed by Sobee and will be published by TTÇocuk on May, 2011. Süpercan was first announced in November 2009.-Story:...
(2010, SobeeSobeeSobee is a game development company founded by Mevlüt Dinç in 2000. Sobee's main headquarters reside in İstanbul, Turkey...
Studios, TTÇocuk) -Turkey