Ultimate 3D
Encyclopedia
Ultimate 3D, also referred to as U3D, is a free 3D engine designed for use with Game Maker
. It currently uses DirectX 8.1 and is programmed by Christoph Peters in C++
.
Ultimate 3D was originally designed to be an easy-to-use 3D engine for the user friendly game creation software Game Maker
, which only supported 2D rendering at the time of the first Ultimate 3D versions, and the early versions' features were quite limited in the beginning. Ultimate 3D 2.0 beta 1 offered a much wider range of features, which could be used to make advanced 3D graphics. Through the Ultimate 3D effect file format (*.ufx) and the support for post screen shaders new shader
effects could be added in a comfortable way. In spite of the big changes, the engine's ease of use, detailed documentations, and good support, especially on the forum, are still important attributes of Ultimate 3D.
Currently, the latest version of Ultimate 3D is 2.1.2 beta. The following is a list of its important features:
In addition to traditional model support, Ultimate 3D also has its own file format (*.u3d) which comes with password encryption and pre-applied shader and material effects.
and script library can be downloaded from the Ultimate 3D website and then merged with a Game Maker project to allow use of Ultimate 3D. It is supported in Game Maker versions 5 and later.
In contrast to Game Maker's existing Direct3D functions, Ultimate 3D draws a separate window over Game Maker and renders to it.
Since 2 programs can't render the same portion of the screen at the same time, integrated GM drawing functions can't be used together with Ultimate 3D. That's why U3D also integrates 2D drawing functions.
, is the most popular project in progress. Another game that utilizes Ultimate 3D is an MMORPG
entitled: The Warriors Path (which has been discontinued). In addition to this, a game simply known as "Project Data" is currently in the planning stage of development, although details pertaining to the games genre and theme have yet to be disclosed. A fourth game, Project CORE, a Third-Person Stealth Action Shooter, is currently in beta stages.
Game Maker
GameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
. It currently uses DirectX 8.1 and is programmed by Christoph Peters in 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...
.
Notice
As of July 1, 2008, Christoph Peters has announced that future Ultimate 3D versions will not offer interfaces to be used with Game Maker anymore. Ultimate 3D 3.0, which is currently being developed, will be based upon DirectX 10 or even 11 and may become the base for a complete game making solution .Features
Game Maker
GameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
, which only supported 2D rendering at the time of the first Ultimate 3D versions, and the early versions' features were quite limited in the beginning. Ultimate 3D 2.0 beta 1 offered a much wider range of features, which could be used to make advanced 3D graphics. Through the Ultimate 3D effect file format (*.ufx) and the support for post screen shaders new shader
Shader
In 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...
effects could be added in a comfortable way. In spite of the big changes, the engine's ease of use, detailed documentations, and good support, especially on the forum, are still important attributes of Ultimate 3D.
Currently, the latest version of Ultimate 3D is 2.1.2 beta. The following is a list of its important features:
- An efficient system for creating primitive geometry
- A model loading system for:
- Animated Anim8orAnim8orAnim8or is a freeware OpenGL based 3D modeling and animation program by R. Steven Glanville, a software engineer at NVidia. Currently at version 0.97, it is a compact program with several tools which would normally be expected in high-end, paid software...
model files, also with bone influences and skin weights (*.an8) (Scenes are not supported, because the file format description of the *.an8 file format doesn't describe their chunks) - Animated 3D Studio Max3D Studio MaxAutodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio MAX, is for making 3D animations. It was developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities, a flexible plugin architecture and can be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. It's frequently used by video game developers, TV...
files (*.3ds) - Animated Quake IIQuake IIQuake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Id Software and distributed by Activision. It is not a sequel to Quake; it merely uses the name of the former game due to Id's difficulties in coming up with alternative names.The soundtrack for Quake II...
model files (*.md2) - Animated DirectXDirectXMicrosoft 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,...
model files, also with vertex skinning (*.x) - Animated Milkshape 3DMilkShape 3DMilkShape 3D is a Shareware low polygon 3D modelling program created by Mete Ciragan. It is used mainly by people compiling models for Half-Life, Blockland, The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and other sandbox games....
model files, also with vertex skinning (*.ms3d)
- Animated Anim8or
- Vertex tweening, a technique to make frame based animations (as used by *.md2 files) totally smooth
- Lighting and fog system
- Support for sky spheres and sky cubes
- Functions for drawing 2D graphics and texts
- Fully automatic level of detailLevel of detailIn computer graphics, accounting for level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object representation as it moves away from the viewer or according other metrics such as object importance, eye-space speed or position....
generation - Functions to manipulate models in real-time, by changing their geometry data
- Cel-shading for graphics in comic style
- Multi texturing for techniques such as light mapping
- Spherical and cubical environment mapping for reflections
- The Ultimate 3D effect file format for adding custom 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...
effects - Support for post screen shaders
- Support for per pixel lighting and parallax mappingParallax mappingParallax mapping is an enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques applied to textures in 3D rendering applications such as video games...
- Support for real-time stencil shadows
- An efficient terrain renderer for big and detailed terrains
- A complex particle effects system
- Support for split screens
- Render to texture and render to cube texture functions
- Math functions for efficient matrix and vector calculations (those can't be done with Game MakerGame MakerGameMaker is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved...
) - A portal engine for highly efficient cullingCullingCulling is the process of removing animals from a group based on specific criteria. This is done either to reinforce certain desirable characteristics or to remove certain undesirable characteristics from the group...
- Support for fullscreen antialiasing
- Support for anisotropic filteringAnisotropic filteringIn 3D computer graphics, anisotropic filtering is a method of enhancing the image quality of textures on surfaces that are at oblique viewing angles with respect to the camera where the projection of the texture appears to be non-orthogonal In 3D computer graphics, anisotropic filtering...
In addition to traditional model support, Ultimate 3D also has its own file format (*.u3d) which comes with password encryption and pre-applied shader and material effects.
Use
Ultimate 3D is used via Game Maker's built-in extension capabilities. A DLLDLL
DLL may refer to:* Data link layer, a layer in the OSI network architecture model* Delay-locked loop, a device to reduce clock skew in digital circuits* Doubly linked list, a data structure in computer programming...
and script library can be downloaded from the Ultimate 3D website and then merged with a Game Maker project to allow use of Ultimate 3D. It is supported in Game Maker versions 5 and later.
In contrast to Game Maker's existing Direct3D functions, Ultimate 3D draws a separate window over Game Maker and renders to it.
Since 2 programs can't render the same portion of the screen at the same time, integrated GM drawing functions can't be used together with Ultimate 3D. That's why U3D also integrates 2D drawing functions.
Community
U3D has a forum community of more than 1000 members. The forum is usually read at least once a day by one of the three Moderators, who answer questions about the engine's mechanics as well as techniques for creating 3D effects.Games using U3D
A number of games are currently being developed with U3D. At the moment, Edge of Infinity, a MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
, is the most popular project in progress. Another game that utilizes Ultimate 3D is an MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
entitled: The Warriors Path (which has been discontinued). In addition to this, a game simply known as "Project Data" is currently in the planning stage of development, although details pertaining to the games genre and theme have yet to be disclosed. A fourth game, Project CORE, a Third-Person Stealth Action Shooter, is currently in beta stages.
3D Studio Max Exporter
Users of 3DS Max that have trouble exporting models properly to a format usable by Ultimate 3D will be happy to know that an exporter is currently being made that will allow direct exporting to the engines proprietary *.u3d format. A release date has yet to be announced.External links
- Ultimate 3D - Official Ultimate 3D Website
- U3D Forum - Ultimate 3D Forum