[gameprogrammer] Re: Browser capabilities for a 3D game

ons, 20 07 2005 kl. 08:34 -0700, skrev Kevin Jenkins:
> VirTools (Proprietary Engine)
> http://www.virtools.com/
> * This is by far the most powerful engine in the list.  You'd really 
> have to go to the site to see all the features, as there are too many 
> for me to list here.  The only thing I'll add is this seems to be based 
> on releasing actual executibles, of which web support is one output stream.
> * Since the information is spread out and slightly vague, I emailed them 
> and got a response right away.  These are the answers I got to my questions:
> 
> 1. Can VR tools make a networked game that runs entirely in the browser?
> [[Virgile Delporte - Virtools]] Yes. Combining Virtools Dev and the 
> Virtools Server. You may want to check this example: 
> http://www.virtools.com/applications/technology-chatpark3d3.asp
> 
> 2. If so, is it cross-platform?
> [[Virgile Delporte - Virtools]] The Virtools authoring platform is on 
> the PC and the Virtools Web Player runs on both the PC and the Mac 
> platforms.
> 
> 3. Does VR tools support C++?
> [[Virgile Delporte - Virtools]] Yes. Virtools is built in C++, and our 
> SDK is in C++. However, we provide 3 programming levels within Virtools. 
> 1/ a flowchart programming, using ready-to-use components called 
> Building Blocks; 2/ a proprietory scripting language with a syntax close 
> to C/C++ ; 3/ the SDK itself, with the source code of most of the 450 
> Building Blocks we provide in Dev, together with the source code of many 
> internal engines (sound, video, animation, particle etc.)
> 
> 4. How much is a developer license?
> [[Virgile Delporte - Virtools]] The entry price for Virtools is $9,500.
> 
> So in summary, I would rank these engines in terms of performance and 
> cost as:
> 1. Vir Tools ($9500 +)
> 2. Wild Tangent ($10,000 commercial, $5000 web only)
> 3. Shockwave 3D ($1200)
> 4. Flux (?)
> 5. Java (Free)
> 6. Flash (?)
> 
> For a top of the line game, I would go with Vir Tools.  For a mid-level 
> game, I'd go with Shockwave 3D.  For a simpler game, or if you want to 
> do pseudo-3D, I would go with Java.  If you have the money, time, and 
> knowledge, you can always write your own using Active X.
I have to speak up again, and say that i have worked with the Virtools
engine and found it to be very poorly documented.

Another key issue is that it is close to impossible to have more than
one person working on a project at a time. Since eveything is tied up in
one big file it is impossible to be more than one person working on it
at a time. Additionally this file is binary and thus makes it impossible
to do use any SCM system on it.

I was going to write a "why not to use Virtools for any project larger
than one man demos", but i haven't gotten around to it yet, it just
moved closer to the top of the list.

-- 
Rasmus Toftdahl Olesen <halfdan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

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