3D GameStudio is Here!

3D GameStudio is the leading authoring system for 2D and 3D computer games. It combines a programming language with a high-end 3D engine, a 2D engine, a map and model editor and huge libraries of 3D objects, artwork and pre-made games. It was never easier to create 1st person games, 3rd person games, role playing games, side scrollers, flight simulators, spaceship simulators, board games, sports games, 3D pinball... real-time presentations, virtual exhibitions... and 3D applications never seen before!

GameStudio is for everyone. It offers three levels of games creation:

� Click together' games in the level editor - for simple games, like shooters
� Program effects or games in a C-style scripting language - for ambitious beginners
� Program effects or games in C++ or Delphi - for experienced programmers

Games authoring systems are the future of game programming. Even with no programming knowledge, by following the step-by-step tutorial you'll build a simple action game in one afternoon! By investing a little more time you can program games in commercial quality.

          The Editors

The level, model and terrain editors make creating landscapes, placing light effects, defining movement paths and modeling actors a straightforward process. For quick results a huge library of 1000 prefabricated textures, building parts, furniture, vehicles, weapons and actors is included. Due to the import compatibility to most 3D formats and popular 3D games, levels, textures and 3D models can easily be created or downloaded from on the Internet.

Each level consists of an environment with fixed and moving parts - landscapes, dungeons, buildings or cities. Within the environment you can place light sources, which throw shadows, and 3D sound sources, which emit background sounds. Textures and Sprites can be created with any paint program. Animated 3D models are created with the model editor MED.
You can import levels and animated models created with popular 3D game editors like Worldcraft� or Milkshape�. Usual 3D file formats (X, 3DS, MDL, MD2, MAP, WAD) are supported; terrain can be imported from terrain generators through greyscale heightmaps. If you are used to high-end editors like 3D Studio MAX�, you can alternatively create your animated models with the GameStudio/MAX plugin, which is available for MAX 2, 3, and 4.

As soon as your levels are ready, a button click generates a file set plus EXE file ready for distribution via Internet or on CD-ROM. The optional File Packer compresses all files into a tiny encrypted resource.

          The Engine

The game engine is the core of the development system - it generates the 3D effects and controls the artificial intelligence of the actors. Due to its combined BSP-Tree and terrain renderer, the A5 engine handles indoor and outdoor sceneries equally well. It has a lighting engine that supports true shadows and moving light sources. The sophisticated threefold culling algorithm renders even huge worlds of 100,000s of polygons with over 70 fps. Programmers can use the DLL interface for adding new effects and features.

Technology ...........................................................
� Six degrees of freedom, true perspective rendering
� Blazing fast: 70 fps in 1024x768 (P2-350, TNT2)
� Supports DirectX, Direct3D, DirectSound
� Fast software renderer for low-end systems without 3D card
� 8-bit, 16-bit, window colour, window or fullscreen mode, up to 1024x768
� BSP tree, portal renderer and z buffer algorithm
� Geometric LOD and trilinear mip mapping
� Animated 3D sprites and decals
� Heightmap based deformable terrain for landscapes
� Animated soft-skin models with unlimited skin size
� Polygon level collision detection for terrain and 3D objects
� Unlimited number of levels and objects

Special effects ........................................................
� Static and dynamic light sources
� Shadow mapping
� Coloured fog areas
� Camera portals and mirrors
� 3D sound sources with Doppler effect
� Alpha-channel transparency
� Animated multi-layered sky and backdrop bitmaps
� Procedural textures for water or lava
� Morphing and smooth mesh deformation for models
� Programmable particle effects
� Unlimited programmable 2D and 3D effects (lens flares, bullet holes etc.)

Versatility ..............................................................
� Multiple 3D windows and real-time cameras for 1st or 3rd person views, side scrollers, split   screen, zoom, remote or missile cameras
� Arbitrary axis (quaternion) rotations for space and flight simulators
� Path tracking for camera, actors or vehicles
� 3D objects can be taken or manipulated with mouse in real time
� Full programmable and customizable through C-Style language
� C-Script compiler, debugger, single step and console mode
� DLL plugin interface for external effects pluginsC++ and Delphi functions
� MID and WAV support for music and 3D sounds
� Save / Load feature for resuming games at arbitrary positions
� Integrated 2D engine for background pictures, 2D sprites, panels, buttons, sliders, overlays,   2D controls, text, screenshots, and movie scenes
� Two-player mode via split screen, serial cable, or modem

          The C-Script Language

We can create a game by clicking together a level, placing player, weapons and monsters, attaching behaviours to them, adding a game menu, and then publishing the whole stuff. So why do we need a programming language?

Let's face it: games 'clicked together' from predefined elements are boring. We have to program some individuality into our game. The task is not to avoid programming - it is to make it as fast and easy as possible. GameStudio's scripting language was made for this.

Scripts can be attached to every object. They react on events like being hit or touched, spotting a player, being clicked on, whatever you imagine. GameStudio's C-Script is based on the modern C language syntax. If you've ever programmed a web page in Javascript, you know C-scripting already! Otherwise you'll pick it up fast by working through the included tutorial "Learn Game Programming in 6 days". It's fun to learn programming with GameStudio: while you type code, you can observe the results immediately in the virtual world!

C-Script offers all features of a programming language, like multitasking, arrays, 3D vector arithmetic, file I/O, a compiler and a debugger. Scripts are not interpreted, but compiled - translated on-the-fly into optimized machine code. Therefore the scripts run up to ten times faster than other scripting languages like Javascript or Basic variants. They run almost as fast as if they were 'directly programmed' into the engine. And speed is of the essence for most games.

But if you really don't want to bother about programming, you don't have to. A huge library of premade behaviour scripts for all purposes is included.