Submitted by , posted on 18 October 2001



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This is an early shot of our in development game „Startrek Realspace“ it will be a completly free game, and is under active development. It is based on our own “Realspace Engine” a completely modular game engine, which allows to create any game with no or little C++ coding. It is the basis for my book "Game Engine Design and implementation with DirectX 8.1" which is due out in Q1 2002 , by the German publisher "Markt & Technik"

Here are some features and facts:

General:
  • Modular architecture due to use of plugins for almost everything.
  • Runtime loading of plugins.
  • Resource manager for caching, loading and unloading data as needed making optimal use of present RAM. Also makes sure every file is only loaded once.
  • All data files [ except really standard ones, like WAV,MP3,TGA ] are saved as XML documents, making them easily understandable / convertable.
  • Abstracted inter object communication using a compact messaging system.
  • Event system using messages as backend.
  • Object system, managing all runtime created classes, and allowing standardized access to their properties.
  • Easily write new object classes in plugins and export them to scripts and the main engine core.
  • All systems are designed to be easily extendable by 3rd party plugins.
  • Easy to use debugging console. Support library: [ Useable in any project, not just Realspace ]
  • Sophisticated DLL aware RTTI System.
  • Extensive debugging support with callstack traces, memory leak detection, smart pointers and the likes.
  • Automatic bug report over the internet.
  • Detailed debug log.
  • Safe array and linked list templates [ to be independent of STL ]
  • Template and DLL aware support for Singletons.
  • Support for dynamic binding of DLL files.
  • Dynamically resizing data buffers.
  • Vector, Matrix and Quaternion math modules.
  • Multi threading primitives [ Thread class, with mutexes and semaphores ]
  • Unicode aware String class.
  • Window abstraction class.
  • DirectX helper methods.
  • Graphics:
  • Entirely written with DirectX 8.1 in mind, completely optimized for it, making heavy use of state batching, triangle strips and other optimization techniques to achive maximum performance on todayÂ’s and tomorrowÂ’s graphics cards [ geForce1 class card is required]
  • Hierarchical Scenegraph with hierarchical view frustum culling.
  • Some numbers: Pushes about 18 million triangles / sec on a P3900 with geForce3. [ using fixed function pipeline without any hardware lights ]
  • Using vertex shaders for almost everything form lighting to special effects
  • Using DirectX 7.0 style multitexture pipeline for per pixel effects
  • Highly configurable shader system supporting Textures, Detail maps, Glow maps,Per Pixel Bump mapping using Dot3 Product blending.
  • Configurable and extendable particle system, using DirectX 8.1 Point Sprites.
  • Xml based mesh format, supporting attachment points, shaders and other things.
  • Custom 3DSMAX 4.x plugin to export meshes to the custom format.
  • Skybox support, for space backgrounds.
  • Additional support for using DirectX X File meshes, and adding shaders to them.
  • Several additional special effects [ lens flares, glares ].
  • Collision detection and response.
  • Trilinear filtering.
  • Configurable alpha blending.
  • Full screen Anti Aliasing.
  • TrueType Font rendering.
  • Static Level of Detail system.
  • Standardized Orientation system allowing to control objects with so called “Orientation providers” can be anything from scripted to dynamically calculated.
  • Sound:
  • Support for WAV,MID and ADPCDM Compressed wav files.
  • Full 3D Positional sound using DirectSound3D.
  • Streamed playback of MP3 and WMA files.
  • Speech synthetization.
  • Networking:
  • Transparent networking system, automatic serialization of all objects
  • Totally transparent to the user.
  • Support for TCP/IP communication using DirectPlay.
  • Planned: Voice communication using DirectPlayVoice.
  • Planned: Messages are packed and encrypted for sending over the network.
  • Input:
  • Completely abstracted input system, allowing arbitrary input device to be assigned to different actions.
  • Keyboard and Mouse input using DirectInput.
  • Planned: Joystick support.
  • Planned: Speech recognition input device.
  • Scripting:
  • Easy to use scripting system, allowing complete customization of the engine as well as implementing complete games without writing a single line of C++ code!
  • Embeds the RUBY Scripting language [ Version 1.6.5 ], a fully object oriented, fast scripting language.
  • Derive from any of the C++ classes defined by the engine, and extend their functionality.
  • Respond to arbitrary messages, or even send out your own.
  • Internet:
  • File system accepts not only local filenames but also URLs, files are transparently loaded from the web.
  • Embedded Internet Explorer browser for display of standard information [ embedded into the graphics engine, can even be drawn as a texture on an arbitrary surface. ]
  • A demo will not be released very soon, since DirectX 8.1 is required. For more information go to http://www.realspace.at

    Ps: We are looking actively for graphics artists willing to help with the game.



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