Game development is a multi-billion dollar industry, so it’s unsurprising that several well-developed game creation engines exist. However, they are usually very expensive.
Neoaxis, a Delaware-based company has released a new improved version of their game creation engine & one of the important things about this launch is that the entire build is free to use — it even includes some open-source code.
Neoaxis can be used to build any type of 3D application such as visual training & VR (Virtual Reality) apps, but it’s mainly aimed at game developers. Download the SDK from the Neoaxis & install on a Windows machine — currently Neoaxis supports 2 build environments, but they plan to roll out support for a wide variety of OS in the future.
The Dashboard
The platform includes a built in IDE, which supports C# coding & Neoaxis’ own Visual Scripting, which is very handy for hooking up code on the spot. The software components are aimed at producing realistic 3D objects & environments, & as such offer a sizable range of tools to render this objective, which includes a .Net API.
3D objects
Tools to create 3D objects include a set of primitive shapes to start with—cubes, cones etc. the editor allows developers to build complex 3D objects using methods to mould these shapes by attaching them to each other or cutting them to produce the desired effect. Realistic shadowing is another built infeature. Structural material rendering, such as cloth draping, is also supported.
Terrain
A sophisticated terrain editor allows developers to construct lifelike environments & edit these environments to produce a backdrop for the application. Terrain layering is due to be released in the forthcoming version. Developers can ‘drop’ 3D objects into the terrain, which pan realistically. Scattered & directional lighting for terrain & its elements is supported.
Physics
Both soft & hard object physics is supported, as well as the rather cool bullet collapse scenario, known in gaming circles as bullet physics. As a result, objects react to events in a realistic fashion.
Animation & movement paths
The editor allows developers to build multiple paths of movement, which can be viewed as a whole or captured individually for each object in the environment. Moreover, specific objects can be animated & hooked up to events code, to react & move as individuals in space. The editor has really powerful tools in this regard, which should satisfy most developers’ game creation ambitions.
2D
A fully featured 2D engine is planned for the forthcoming release.
Material & effects
A library of ‘material’ & and effects is available, which currently includes a free set of ground materials & sky lighting /coloring tools. Neoaxis plans to expand this library in the near future.
All in all, this is a very powerful tool for developers to employ in their endeavor to create realistic games, & with constant updates planned, it’s really a tool to watch.
Image Credit: Neoaxis
