Game Programming and Development Tools

Amazing FREE 3D Engine!!! – AmazingJas

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Well it's free for non-commercial use, but then again this is the current UNREAL game engine, which normally sells for $350,000!! And also pretty easy to mod. Here's the goss:
Hard to believe but true. Epic will be giving their current Unreal game engine away for free non-commercial use! I still can't believe it, but it appears to be true:

free engine check this.
from www.beyondunreal.com

Free Unreal Engine License?

Yes, you heard right! 3FC caught news of this quite a bit before anybody else did, but it would seem as though Epic will be having a free for non-commercial-use version of their engine.

We're creating a version of our engine which can be licensed for non-gaming use with the following features: It will include an Unreal Engine runtime and Epic's Unreal toolset such as UnrealEd, Karma Authoring Tool, UnrealScript IDE, UnrealScript Debugger and exporters for Max and Maya. The runtime will have a vanilla user interface suitable for loading maps and setting configurations. Our tools are strictly Windows based so that is the only platform we plan to support initially with this. If there is enough demand the runtime itself could be made available for Linux and Macintosh OS X as well.

The runtime will be a free download and free to use for non-commercial and educational use. It will include a sample level but no game-specific content. The download will be fairly small - maybe about 20Mb. You can think of it like a free version of UT2003 but without any of the gaming content or code. It will NOT be compatible with UT2003 however - levels created for this version will not run directly in UT2003 and vice-versa.

Mack

Administrator

Posts: 2779
From:
Registered: 01-20-2001
I must be completely blind tonight because I don't see any mention of this anywhere?

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It's not seeing is believing, it's believing and then seeing.
http://www.twoguyssoftware.ca

Mack

Administrator

Posts: 2779
From:
Registered: 01-20-2001
N/M I found it and a comment from Mark Rein here: http://www.3fc.de/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=400

[This message has been edited by Mack (edited October 11, 2003).]

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
When it rains it pours! I just found another one that seems really good, but same constraints (ie, non-commercial), though you can buy a license for about $300 so it's a bit cheaper for commercial use. It's at http://www.3dstate.com
GUMP

Member

Posts: 1335
From: Melbourne, FL USA
Registered: 11-09-2002
Non-commercial plus it's not supposed to be used for games... basically not much use for most of us here.
ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
non-commercial meaning can't be distributed or can't be sold?

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Mack

Administrator

Posts: 2779
From:
Registered: 01-20-2001
quote:
Originally posted by ArchAngel:
non-commercial meaning can't be distributed or can't be sold?

Can't be sold

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It's not seeing is believing, it's believing and then seeing.
http://www.twoguyssoftware.ca

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
I don't think that non-gaming means you can't make games with it, I think it's more like it won't be provided as a game to peeps like you and I. At last I hope this is the case. Otherwise, who would be interested in it? They wouldn't even bother.
ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
hmm.. might be able to use it then.. but only as freeware.
or I'd probably just get the 3D Game Studio and sell with that.

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GUMP

Member

Posts: 1335
From: Melbourne, FL USA
Registered: 11-09-2002
Museums, architects, etc. Things like that have already been done with the older Unreal engine.
AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Gump, you may be right, but I hope you are not
nfektious
Member

Posts: 408
From:
Registered: 10-25-2002
Actually, that sort of technology (especially when it is free) is ideal for 3D/interactive renderings for architects and that sort. I'm involved in that type of work and I know that it is much easier to build something akin to a game level than it is to build a model in something like 3DS. Plus, when you consider the lighting and the amount of control you can have over scripting, you can really make something that sells a client on a design.
When you consider some of the things the US Gov't is interested in (look at America's Army, etc), using this technology for training/scenario-based material is a smart move.
On an individual level, this type of thing is a no-lose for those who want to experiment with stuff. The Unreal-series feature set is amazing as it stands. When you have access to that and get to add your own code...well, it seems you have an awesome opportunity to learn.
Klumsy

Administrator

Posts: 1061
From: Port Angeles, WA, USA
Registered: 10-25-2001
perfect tool for christian machinima (well for machinima full stop (period if you are a yank) ).

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Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Your right Klumsy, the latest Unreal engine is perfect for Machinima, I'm thinking of canning my 3d Movie Making software project because I can't offer much more than what it does already.
AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Well it's now available for download so we'll soon know! It's available for download from http://udn.epicgames.com/ (about 14MB).Here's the legal speak:

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. BY USING OR INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE, OR BY PLACING OR COPYING THIS SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER HARDWARE, COMPUTER RAM OR OTHER STORAGE MEDIUM, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, PROMPTLY DISCONTINUE THE INSTALLATION PROCESS AND CEASE ALL USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

1. Thanks. Congratulations and thank you for licensing our software. We're sorry to cramp your style, but our lawyers tell us that if we want to keep control and ownership of the cool stuff we're developing, we have to make sure you understand and agree that you are just getting a right to use it and that that right is limited in certain ways. So here's what you need to know and agree to.


2. License. The runtime edition of the software accompanying this license, the related tools and documentation, and any content you or others may lawfully create with the software or with any part of it (the "Runtime Software") is licensed for your use, subject to terms and limitations in this license agreement.

3. Commercial Exploitation. You may not use this Runtime Software, any content created for it, or use the tools provided with this Runtime Software for any commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Epic Games, Inc. ("Epic").

4. Use Restrictions. We want you to enjoy our products for years to come, and we want to be able to continue to release awesome stuff, so you need to be aware that there are some things you cannot do with the Runtime Software. The Runtime Software contains copyrighted material, trade secrets and other proprietary material. You may not decompile, modify, reverse engineer, prepare derivative works based on the Runtime Software, or disassemble the Runtime Software. You may not rent, sell, lease, barter, or sublicense the Runtime Software. You may not delete the copyright notices or any other proprietary legends on the original copy of the Runtime Software. You may not offer the Runtime Software on a pay-per-play basis or otherwise commercially exploit the Runtime Software or use the Runtime Software for any commercial purpose. You may, however, use the Runtime Software for non-commercial and educational purposes. Should you want to send the Runtime Software to anyone, you need to know that you may not ship or export the Runtime Software to any country that would be in violation of the U.S. Export Administration Act (or any other law governing such matters) and you are not authorized to utilize and you may not authorize anyone else to utilize the Runtime Software in violation of any applicable law. The Runtime Software may not be downloaded or otherwise exported into (or to a national or resident of) any country to which the U.S. has embargoed goods or to anyone or into any country who/which are prohibited, by applicable law, from receiving it. That list of countries changes from time to time and it is your responsibility to know the listed countries.

5. Termination. This license is effective until one of us terminate it. You may terminate this license at any time by destroying the Runtime Software and related documentation. In the unlikely event that you are naughty and fail to comply with any provision of this license, this license will terminate immediately without notice from us. Upon termination, you must destroy the Runtime Software and related documentation. Please don't wait for us to come after you; it would not be pleasant for either of us. If we do have to come after you, we're going to expect you to pay us for our troubles, including the cost of our lawyers.

6. Disclaimer of Warranty on Software. You are aware and agree that use of the Runtime Software and the media on which it is recorded at your sole risk. The Runtime Software, related documentation and the media are provided "AS IS". EPIC EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES. EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE RUNTIME SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY US OR ANY OF OUR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, S0 THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

7. Limitation of Liability. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, NEGLIGENCE, SHALL EPIC OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, LICENSEES, SUBLICENSEE OR ASSIGNS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE RUNTIME SOFTWARE OR RELATED DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF SUCH PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THOSE DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. In no event shall our total liability to you for all damages, losses, and causes of action (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) exceed the amount paid by you for the Runtime Software.

8. Controlling Law and Severability. This license is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina, USA. If you were to sue us or if Epic sues you, the exclusive venue for all litigation shall be in Wake County, North Carolina. If any provision of this license is unenforceable, we will cross it out and the rest of it shall remain in effect.

9. Complete Agreement. This license constitutes the entire agreement between you and Epic with respect to the use of the Runtime Software and the related documentation. However, Epic reserve the right to modify the terms of this license from time to time and will post notice of material changes somewhere within www.epicgames.com.

10. Copyright. The Runtime Software and all copyrights, trademarks and all other conceivable intellectual property rights related to the Runtime Software are owned by Epic or Epic's licensors and are protected by United States copyrights laws, international treaty provisions, an army of clones, and all applicable law, such as the Lanham Act. You must treat the Runtime Software like any other copyrighted material, as required by 17 U.S.C. section 101 et seq. and other applicable law.

11. Enjoyment Requirements. We are aware that there are rumblings and grumbling within the gaming community about heavy handed, legally onerous license agreements. You have our word that this one is as fair and even handed as it gets and, as you have read this far, you know it to be true. Now, be gone from this screen and enjoy the Runtime Software!

Klumsy

Administrator

Posts: 1061
From: Port Angeles, WA, USA
Registered: 10-25-2001
from my reading that license does not restrict the applications of the engine to non gaming only. i think they have just removed gaming specific code of their own. if you were making a freeware game, with no commerical interest, i believe the license is valid for such?

Karl

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Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

Mack

Administrator

Posts: 2779
From:
Registered: 01-20-2001
InBible (Interactive Bible) - See, hear and experiance with the most powerful events ever to hit this earth.
Klumsy

Administrator

Posts: 1061
From: Port Angeles, WA, USA
Registered: 10-25-2001
have you seen illumina bible software?

imagine that stuff in realtime :P

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
I've had a play now, and the base classes for weapons and enemies appear there, but no specific enemies or weapons to add. Does anyone know how to import these sort of things in so you can add them to your levels? I'm reasonable at level editing, but I've never added custom items like this before.
nfektious
Member

Posts: 408
From:
Registered: 10-25-2002
has anybody d/l this and toyed with it? i'm itching to give it a look...but my modem can't handle 14MB fast enough

if you've done something, how about posting some screens?!?

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
As I mentioned above, I've had a bit of a play. All I've been able to do import a character (AI) model and have it displayed. Seems you have to script everything so I haven't even made the enemys move/animate yet. One praise point is that it definitely isn't bloatware, the interface loads nice and quick. One negative is that there appears to be a slight jerkiness to the frame-rate, especially when straff-running which I couldn't quite get rid of, even with adjusting the mouse filter settings (which are quite impressive in themselves!). There is a special forum at www.beyondunreal.com specifically for people wanting to work with this runtime, which might be worth a look.
nfektious
Member

Posts: 408
From:
Registered: 10-25-2002
will be looking into that. already been there a few times

[This message has been edited by nfektious (edited October 18, 2003).]

nfektious
Member

Posts: 408
From:
Registered: 10-25-2002
ignore this - just a signature test. doh! moron alert! hahah. argh! slump!

[This message has been edited by nfektious (edited October 18, 2003).]

Papillon
Member

Posts: 31
From:
Registered: 04-22-2002
Note: if you create a level (or whatever) for use with this engine, you're not allowed to distribute the engine with the level (AFAIK, IANAL). You can distribute the level seperately, and provide instructions on how to download the engine though. And I guess it doesn't include source...

Another decent 3d engine is CrystalSpace (http://crystal.sf.net), which is completely free (LGPL), and provides source. Basically just requires that if you modify the source, you must also release it under the LGPL, and in the program you create using the library you need to be able to relink the program with a new version of the library -- basically you need to dynamically link the library. However, there isn't really a "program" included included -- it's just a library, and so you still need good coding skills. There are example programs though, to get you going.

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Papillon, where did you hear that? I don't think it's true because in the EULA agreement, it says:

"Should you want to send the Runtime Software to anyone, you need to know that you may not ship or export the Runtime Software to any country that would be in violation of the U.S. Export Administration Act"

Seems to me that this says that you can distribute the runtime?

Papillon
Member

Posts: 31
From:
Registered: 04-22-2002
I got that from further up in section 4 of the EULA:

...
You may not rent, sell, lease, barter, or sublicense the Runtime Software.
...

the key here being the "You may not ... sublicense the Runtime Software". On re-reading though, it sounds like you can offer the _original_ license to a third party -- that third party would then be required accept _both_ the original license and whatever license you have for your content... not too bad I guess.

I'm not touching it anyway... too many do not's and can not's, I'd be afraid I'd break one by accident. If you don't mind a lower quality you can always use the Quake I or II engines (GPL or whatever you want $10,000), or CrystalSpace (LGPL) or something similar...

AmazingJas

Member

Posts: 437
From: Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA
Registered: 04-03-2003
Thanks for the tip regarding Crystal, I can't get through to that website, but I'll keep trying.

Cheers.