I received Bryce 3D from the first issue of 3D World magazine for free. It is the MetaCreations version. I was wondering if someone has tried or if it's even possible to upgrade to a bought version of Bryce 4. Will the Corel Bryce 4 CD recognize the free installed Bryce 3D? Does the upgrade offer/conditions extend to the free version given away by 3D World Magazine? Am I making sense or have I horribly confused everyone? Any information would be greatly appreciated. - gdavis3d

Bryce 5 will be out in the Spring. Hold off until we get word whether or not B5 is worth it -- then you'll probably want to buy that instead. To my knowledge, the Corel Bryce 4 upgrade was only available as a limited-time offer to previously registered Bryce 3D owners, about 2 years ago. Once that limited time expired, everyone had to purchase a full version of Bryce 4 to get it. The only difference between the two was that the upgrade didn't come in a box, just cellophane-wrapped.

Ack! I meant the Metacreations Bryce 4 upgrade.... I didn't think Corel has released a Bryce-3D-to-Bryce-4 upgrade, just the 4.1 upgrade, which patches an existing 4.0 or 4.0.1 installation. They also offer the full retail version of B4.1.

I mean if I was to buy a full retail version of Bryce 4 from CompUSA for the upgrade price of around $89 or so, would the CD recognize and acknowledge the Bryce 3D v3.1 (free from 3D World magazine) that is on my PC? Also does the upgrade policy from Corel cover the free giveaway? Does that make any clearer sense? -gdavis3d

That's a good question: the answer is: it depends. (a) If it really is a "full retail version" of bryce 4, then it's not an upgrade. An upgrade requires a previously-registered (i.e. paid for and with a serial number) version of Bryce 3D. If it doesn't say "Requires previously registered version" on the box, then it's a full retail version... Bryce 4 might have come down in price to $89, especially since Bryce 5 is coming out soon. (b) if it is an upgrade ("requires previously registered version"), is it Corel-branded, or Metacreations-branded? Did your free version of 3.1 come with a serial number? If it didn't, then the upgrade won't work, because you need a serial number, and the upgrade doesn't come with one, IIRC. I highly doubt that the upgrade policy from Corel covers the free giveaway. If that were the case, then they'd never sell any of the full versions. My guess is that you must buy a full version of Bryce 4, and that the free version of Bryce 3d is useless for upgrade paths. Remember, Bryce 5 is coming out shortly, so I'd suggest waiting it out.

The free Bryce3D on the cover of 3DWorld magazine was released specifically to encourage upgrading to Bryce4, and there was a special offer page in the magazine for that purpose. The 'problem' is that the upgrade offer was made by, and only available from, 'Upgrades Unlimited'; a UK company (a division of Computers Unlimited) - and so probably limited to UK readers. This promotion (and the similar one with a free Poser3 release) was the work of 'Computers Unlimited', which was the UK distributor for the MetaCreations products. As far as I'm aware, the upgrade packages they offered were 'old' MetaCreations stock, not stuff from Corel or Curious Labs. I haven't heard of MetaCreations Bryce and Poser upgrade disks checking for previous versions. I believe that the MetaCreations upgrade versions were exactly the same as full versions except they came without a box. They were functionally 'full' versions and came with their own serial number. They did not make a search of the hard drive for a previous version, or ask for a CDROM or old serial number. The onus was on the retailer to establish that you were entitled to an upgrade version. This is certainly how it was for me in the UK with my upgrades to Bryce and Poser. I heard from friends that it was the same system used in the USA as well. There was no time limit whatsoever on the retail upgrade version of MetaCreations Bryce4, and it was available up to and beyond the end of MetaCreations (and is probably still available from some sources now). The only time limit was for a free upgrade (direct from MetaCreations) for people who purchased Bryce3D within a couple of months either side of the Bryce4 release date. I don't know about the Corel operation.

Call corel, ask them directly. Bryce 4 comes with a skylab and dem capability. Though it looks the same, the additions are spectacular. Can't wait to see what Bryce 5 has to offer.

I think you can only upgrade through 3D World Magazine - the price was very reasonable - what is 89 pounds in US$? The offer to upgrade is still available at their site. http://www.3dworldmag.com Jade

Upgrading thru (the now X) Metagreedations meant either calling them and giving them the serial # of a previous version, or putting the serial # in their WEB based order form. As was already mentioned, their is no previous version detection that happens while installing a newer version. The upgrade version is the same as the full version. No applause please. Just send me your credit card numbers. (snicker!!) Norb

I just upgraded to 4.0 yesterday from the free version that came with the !st issue of 3D World. It is possible and everything works fine.