What are all your thoughts on the other leading 3D indi game creation packages out there? Are there others that I didn’t mention?
here are a few of my thoughts.
Dark Basic:
Having bought Dark basic (and still not having received it) I spent allot of time tinkering around with its graphics and code. Some groovy features I must admit, and I'm sure the "easy" coding works for some. Sadly I can’t stand the BASIC language (as I recently found out), I'm used to C, C++, and the standard JavaScript syntax so I guess I'm rather biased where scripting is concerned. A big shame about its lack of multiple uv support and tricky work around lighting techniques.
3D Game studio (Conitec).
I bought this first, and although I was more at home with the scripting style language, I didn't get very far after being stumped by its lack of bone support. The latest version supports bones, and a plethora of other features I was looking forward to, Seems like the best choice, side from the hefty cost for pro/commercial editions to surpass the 3D game studio startup images.
Blitz basic 3D (Blitz Research).
I only started paying attention to this after playing a rather graphically stunning demo that Impressed me quite a bit. Blitz can probably boast the most features and best graphics (including some very impressive looking bump mapping), but again, some nasty basic language - Which seemed allot more convoluted than dark basic. I poked the demo with a long pole, but little more.
Jamajic (clickteam).
Certainly the worst graphics and features out of all the competitors, although I found the scripting language fairly usable, just the package was not. Disappointing considering it was from click team who boast the wonderful multimedia fusion. I'm yet to see a full game completed with Jamajic! - A testament to how difficult it is to use.
Director Shockwave 3D (macromedia).
I realize this isn’t a game creator in essence, but thought it deserved a mention. I have probably managed to create the most impressive results with director, despite its sad lack of 3D features and bad/outdated engine. Again I was stumped by "lingo" which despite my best efforts I found cumbersome and clumsy. Thank god director will be supporting JavaScript syntax in just a few weeks! I'm excited, but very disappointed at the non-existent 3D update.
My Perfect Game editor.
If someone could pull of multimedia fusion style programming with 3D I would be ecstatic, providing MMF's degree of control is improved upon. Or give me blitz basic or dark basic WITHOUT the basic! lol. As it is I'm eagerly awaiting half life 2's SDK (mmmmmmm), and itching to try my hand at director’s new syntax which I'm already very comfortable with having programmed in flash extensively.
Please share your thoughts and experiences.
