What open-source 3d engine should I use to make a tiny 3d game (by myself)? [closed]

Question

It can be non-open-source but must be free.

I've heard panda3d is good, what do you guys think?

Answer 1

There is plenty of free 3D engines, and Panda3D is a good one to my mind, but as you ask for informations about other 3D engines, I would suggest the following competitors on top of Panda3D:

• Ogre3D: http://www.ogre3d.org/
• Irrlicht : http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/

The choice depends mostly of your feeling. You should try some tutorials for each one and read some threads on their community forums.

Answer 2

In general

eBusiness said that You don't have much experience with making games. Games are quite complex problems to solve and if You want to program them then You really need to know a lot; but if You will use some simple programs for making games like game builders (I recommend You more advanced builder, Blender Game Engine, in which You basically click things to get them done). You should really ask about some 3d game builder too or possibly ask for specific game builder like 3d rpg game builders.

Problem is that there are lot of concepts You may have not heard and You should know like :

• Finite State Machines
• Event Driven Programmming
• Boolean logic
• Analytical Geometry
• Matrices and vectors ...

I started to make things in BGE and it looks great. I used to do it in Quake engine but let it be because I wanted to have destroyable clothes. I can not tell You much about cons of BGE but what I heard it is very easy to use and from my little experience it is easy to make games in it.

If You don't know much about programmming then perhaps Blender Game Engine

Pros:

• You can have simple game in Blender Game engine created in around 20 minutes.
• You have powerful 3D modelling and animating program, there are some movies made in Blender
• You have powerful physics engine Bullet Physics
• You can be program it graphically by "connecting wires"
• You can program it in Python, dynamic programming language
• You can test Your game with press of one button ('p' to start simulation)
• Blender is open source
• Blender has big community

Cons:

• You have to set up Your game (In Quake You already have playable game and Quake's game logic)

To get started in BGE:

• there are tutorials on BGE at Youtube.
• automatic doors
• switches
• artificial intelligence

How You usually work in it:

1. You make 3d models with 3d scene
   • You can follow Noob to Pro tutorial
   • or Greybeard's Blender Tutorials
2. You specify their physic properties
3. You specify game logic (key up moves character 0.3 points in X axis, ...)
4. You press 'p' for simulation, You press ESC to go back to Blender
5. If You are not happy with it You go back and change things

Basically, follow some tutorial on Youtube and You will have a game soon. :) And after following simple tutorials You might want to learn how BGE works (how BGE's game loop works).

If You know mathematics and some programming then perhaps Quake 1 engine

It is very easy to set up, You can , but Quake can be hard if You want something advanced done like clothes and similar...

Pros:

• the game logic is ready for You ...
• there is good community at inside3d (don't forget to register in forum here)
• You usually learn it by hacking Quake game logic
• AFAIK it is open source
• it has scripting language Quake C, very easy to learn and very easy to start in it
• game logic is in Quake C, all Quake 1 engine games use Quake C
• You get multiplayer very easily because Quake supports him natively
• there are modifications of Quake engine which look like very good, You can exchange them to run Your game :)
• game logic of some commercial Quake games was released: see Hexen II: Hammer of Thyrion
• it is not for very advanced things like clothes or some real physics, even though aerodynamics, buoyancy, turbulence and ragdolls have been done in Quake C

Cons:

• If you want to get things done in Quake C You will have to in the end resort to analytical geometry, goniometry, reo

How You make game in it:

1. You set it up like here and get documentation from here

2. for levels, monsters ...

   • in Your level editor (I reccomend simple Qoole) You make geometry
   • in level editor You also make entities (ladders, switches ...)

3. for game logic

   • You modify .qc files. Classes of objects which are on a map correspond to functions You have in map, these functions are starting points of each entity.
   • You can modify behaviour of already made entities
   • You compile .qc files (You execute one program to do it all for You)

4. You run Quake to test it

Alternatives

• Unreal Development Kit
• Unity3D
• something like DarkBasic, they have lot of tutorials and You might get it somehow

Answer 3

I think maybe you shouldn't write a 3D game at all.

I can only guess at how experienced a game developer you are, but everything I can learn about you make me believe that you are very green.

Setting up a 3D rendering environment in something like Blitz3D is very easy. (It's not free, but it's absolutely the easiest tool that I know.) Making something that looks good and works for a game is however a relatively big job.

So, stick to 2D for now.