3D Rad for Windows

User Reviews

• An excellent choice for aspiring game-creators

  YudhanjayaFebruary 12, 2010

  Pros

  1). Comes with predesigned physics, rendering etc systems which deliver impressive graphics 2) Supports the .x model format 3) Easy-to-use GUI 4) It's FREE! 5) Complex game creation quite possible

  Cons

  2) Some scripting knowledge is required if you want to go beyond simple games. 3) Woefully inadequate documentation. Tutorials?

  Summary

  It's very easy to build games - just import the 3d models and set them up. It comes with predesigned physics, rendering etc systems, so you're spared the hassle of writing them yourself - which is a MASSIVE task, let me tell you. It's FREE! You're free to make games and even sell them, with no restrictions Some scripting knowledge is required if you want to go beyond simple games. But then again the knowledge you need for this is much less than all the programming you need to learn otherwise .... Now this is where the problems begin. 3D Rad is yet to evolve decent tutorials or ebooks, although the site does feature a few tut. Nevertheless, I think we can safely expect them in the near future. My advice - get it. 3D Rad is incredibly powerful. While it can't beat commercial heavyweights like Cryengine and Unreal, it's quite a balance, all-round system on its own, and delivers surprisingly good graphics.It also comes with a bunch of preconfigures objects (cars, for example) with their own settings (eg: cars have acceleration and handling controls), so yiou can easily modify these if you need them. Excellent stuff.

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• Horrible, half finished software

  MaxxxGamerJanuary 28, 2010

  Pros

  Game development without programming

  Cons

  Very slow engine, works only for very small and simple games. Inflexible concept, not possible to create real games.

  Summary

  A game is contructed from objects with property windows that you need to connect for the objects to interact. Yes its no programming, but you can only do variations of their car demo. Software crashes often and makes an unfinished impresion.

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• Extremely useful for designers starting out...

  chrisman01October 28, 2009

  Pros

  -VERY simple, don't have to code if you don't want to -Comes with many pre-made models, more can be downloaded from the main site's forum -Excellent way to see how your plans can play out -allows bloom, gloss, and other modern effects

  Cons

  -Physics can seem a little off at times -Comes with low-res models - a lot of trial-and-error if you're new to the game design scene

  Summary

  This is the best free 3D programming software I have found. It lets you do pretty much whatever you want, but if you really want to push it to it's limits you have to get models from Google or Blender. It seems really promising, though. I'm in college for game design and I've already made a couple of mini-games using this. Once I learn to use Blender I'll probably REALLY push it to it's limits.

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• Not yet ready

  Games_4_GirlsOctober 3, 2009

  Pros

  Interesting concept, free download

  Cons

  Early version, crashes a lot, engine too slow

  Summary

  This could be a interesting software when it is mature. At its current state, with only a few game objects to use and a very bad and slow engine, its hard to judge. No games have yet made with it and I doubt any can be made, its just too buggy. But when it gets more stable and with a better engine it will be worth a look.

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• ultra Simple to use yet complex enough to do Cool games

  777loopOctober 1, 2009

  Pros

  *Free *monthly Updated *have a Big, Great and especially Active community *Compatible with lots of other Free tools like Google SketchUp, Blender, etc!! *a Great and always growing collection of Examples, Tutorials and PlugIns available *Ready to use

  Cons

  3D Rad currently lacks a few high end effects that you may find in other not free professional engines, and sometimes I miss more customizations options in some of its out-of-the-box tools.

  Summary

  The best about 3D Rad is that you dont need to know absolutly nothing to use it, nothing at all. Just point, click and play. It has a pretty nice collections of, yet very customizable, ready to use objects with which you can do nice games. Lets put it that you could safely say you wont need anything besides 3D Rad to mount a decent game in less than 3 hours. Of course, you can increase complexity and personalize your game as much as time, experience and knowledge you have to spent on it. Scripts: even when you dont need to know nothing to make games, 3D Rad also let you write code so you are really free to do whatever you want, dont being affected by its simplicity. The updates are driven the way the community wants to!! Resuming: a excelent option to start in games, learn and understand basis, make a nice game fast and easy or just spend some free time playing around. :)

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• Not useful

  Peter_EdyeSeptember 21, 2009

  Pros

  It's free.

  Cons

  You can't make any real games with it.

  Summary

  3D RAD has the concept of no programming, so it gives you a few predefined objects, like a car, that you can combine together to a game. Unfortunately, that concept does not work. There are so few objects and their setup is so clumsy that you can only make very few types of games, and they have always the same gameplay. This becomes boring very fast. Also the engine is very outdated, with no real shader support and no effects whatsoever. In conclusion, this bad programmed tool is not worth the download, For creating games I recommend Dark Basic, or lite-C from Atari which is also free, or Gamestudio. With them you can make real games at least.

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• Sweet deal!

  dbalagnaSeptember 8, 2009

  Pros

  I'm not a coder by any means, and this makes it possible to get a mildly complex demo together quickly, with none of that code junk! There's an importer for SketchUp models. And...it's FREE!

  Cons

  I'm not and artist either...dang it.

  Summary

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• Awesome for non programmers as well as programmers

  avkak911September 6, 2009

  Pros

  * No real programming knowledge needed * Great community * Frequent updates * Developers listen to the community * You can make any kind of games with this application * It was a commercial application that now is FREE with FREE updates

  Cons

  * No real cons. The only thing I can say is it could have some fore shaders.

  Summary

  It is an awesome product that I have porvdly been using for the past year or so. It is easy and fun to make simple as well as advanced games. If your dream is to create a computer game, this is the way to go. It is easy to learn, no real programming is needed and adding your own models and artwork is easy. If you dont know how to model, learn how to use Google Sketchup and export them with ease to 3D Rad for your own games.

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• The Fastest Way To Make Games that ARE NOT LAME !

  cryptonxSeptember 5, 2009

  Pros

  Rapid development , You can start building games right away ! Easy Learning Curve , I didn't even read the manuals You can SCRIPT if you need to Great Physics Engine and decent rendering system Monthly Updated Great Community 100% FREE !

  Cons

  DirectX 9.0 only ( No plans on going 10 yet ) nothing I can think of

  Summary

  I am an architect and a 3D Artist , Coding is not really my thing although I don't mind learning a few lines here and there to accomplish something . 3Drad is just the best tool a 3D artist can get , to start creating interactive worlds and most importantly games right away . The engine is fast and its updated monthly with new features etc etc did I mention it is free ?

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• Great for small/single indie dev teams, fast results.

  shadmarSeptember 5, 2009

  Pros

  - Easy to use - No coding (if you want) - Scripting to make advanced logics - Instancing/cloning of skinmeshes and particles - User run development, donationware - Physics in a box - Great community and resources at the website

  Cons

  - Lacks some 3d formats I wish I could load, but not really important - Better lightning support would be nice - Ability to read heightmaps.

  Summary

  This engine is the one I've spent most productive hours into. It comes with a set of resources and alot of examples ready to use. I like the fact that you can put all resources into a commercial game royality free. Physics in a box, g-force, rigidbodys, static and dynamic, it all just works, no coding needed, they collide, bounce, it just works. Airfoils for air, fluid simulation, just works. This engine comes with Flightsim example projects, Racegame, Lensflares, Instancing skinmeshes (imposters of an existing skinmesh), ready to use cameras, Character object, forcefeedback, skyboxes, terrains, particles, trees, cars, wheels, wind/fluids, bonebased animation. The community via 3drad's forum has supplied ready to use resources like infinte terrain/water, skyboxes, script examples, animated ragdolls, particle clouds generators,, radars etc.. Compared to other engines I've tried, you actually (as a single developer without a team) can finish games or simulations here within a lifetime. Engine is stable, support is excellent. As a single indiegame developer this would be my best choice. So is it all glitter and glory ? Well almost, but I do miss features like terrain generated from heightmaps / noise. More shaders, custom shaders, support for more formats like .obj, .3ds and animated formats like mdl and md5. Ability to load new objects into a running simulation (you can update model/textures however) Overall I give this a pretty high score (I would give 4.5, but since it isn't possible it gets 5). The engine has also comes with a new free updated release very month and that's pretty awesome.

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