I recently discovered a freely available 3D game engine from a company called CandoInteractive. The game engine is delivered either as an executable or shockwave file suitable for the internet and was designed as a teaching aid. You simply create a 3d world in Carrara and saves as 3d shockwave. The game engine will automatically detect and provide: -physics -collision detection -interactivity between your models The present paradigm supplies a car that will navigate through your world, but the engine can be easily modified to provide a different environment. I've personally found it incredibly fun and stimulating and love to hear your reactions. To see and download the engine: http://www.candointeractive.com/gamedesign/ Look for the following paragraph located near the bottom of the page: "IMPORTANT: If you have access to a 3D modelling package, and would like to download and try out out the above vehicle application ( including sample files, and a document describing how to customise it ), click here to download the trial for free." ...jerry

SPPAAAAAAAMMMMMM :-(

Jerry, Thanks for the link. I don't consider this type of message as SPAM. Jerry is not trying to sell me anything. He just wanted to share a site he thought we would be interested in. I'm interested in trying the software just to see how my Carrara models would look in a 3d game. Keith

Attached Link: http://www.jshoot1.ca/basicLevelCar.zip

"download the trial for free" Phrases that make you go hmmmm.

Listen I get it that people have been burned by all sorts of disappointments both technical and ethical and I don't blame your scepticism. If you feel that there's something fishy about my interest then I wish you well and I mean it. But as Keith mentioned above I do not have any agenda other than to promote the use of 3d worlds as a way of expressing ourselves. This trial (which is free and has no time limits) is offered by its creator in trust. Its use in schools or by individuals who feel that it would be helpful for them to license it, serves to promote the use and acceptance of 3D technology, which in my opinion inspires me more than does print, html, video,aniamtion etc. It's like this for me: We make something in 3d. Let's put our creations in a world to live in. It has been really frustrating for me to try and master Director which so far, is the only way to build such a world for our work. This trial engine provides this world and all the rules that define it. Every other form of distribution seems contrived to me. Once in a world with the rules defined we can sit back and watch what happens spontaneously without predictability-sort of like life. And now I've broken one of my own rules which is to speak only to improve upon the silence... ...jerry

Jerry, When you use words like "free trial", that makes one feel like it is just a demo or it is time bombed. Realize that people get inundated with spam in their mailbox and via ads on forum sites, other forum sites and "free trial" is often what you see to entice you to sell your soul or part with your cash. ;-) Now I'm not saying that this particular message is spam as there seems to be some use for Carrara with it, but rather in general, and why people may be skeptical. Also you mention that it is based on shockwave, which, I hate to say, gives the impression of a cheese ball 3d engine. Any serious 3d gaming engine is not going to be based on shockwave. Can you imagine how Halo or Unreal would play if it were based on shockwave? YYYYYYYYYYikes! Just my thoughts... Regards, Paul

I was joking about how you said it. Because nobody pays to download a trial program.

Thanks for sharing, jshoot!

Thanks for your all your comments. This group is a lot of fun for me. I'm a retired stay at home Dad, and don't get out much. About using the 3D shockwave engine. This is very interesting for me to know what shockwave associates in peoples' minds. The original Myst and several of my childrens' games are produced with Director. There are actually a lot of stunning games and interactive media produced with this technology. As for 3D gaming for the web there is simply no other player in town. (aha! - a challenge) Here are some examples: http://necromanthus.com/Games/ShockWave/deusex.html protoype built for the Ford Motor co: http://inludo.com/demos/topgear/topgear01.htm The more people use this technology, the better, easier and cheaper it will get. Don't take my word for it. Download the game engine and put your models into it. Also download by my basic level for Carrara. The template files included are for 3dStudio Max, LightWave and Maya and need rescaling to get things to work. It's really a lot fun and a great way to share our work with eachother... ...jer

The problem seems to be how do we distinguish advertisements from informational posts like Hoofdcommissaris's recent post on a texturing plugin? It may be difficult to discern from jshoots first post so how do we announce the things we've "discovered" on the web so that its not misinterpreted as spam? We need a forum "secret handshake" :-) (just kidding) Ed

If you really want to get picky, ;-) the original Myst was developed using Hypercard by Apple for the Mac. I think it was ported later to the PC, but I don't know what they used. And yes I do know of a few programs that are quite good that have been done with director. So I didn't mean to rain on your parade, just that to be a serious gaming engine, I wouldn't think it would be developed in Shockwave, Not unless something has changed in Director over the last year or two.

I stand corrected on the origins of Myst and certainly no offense taken. The point is Director has changed in the last couple of years to include 3D worlds, retained its versatility and power to produce near application power and to put it all on the web with Cross Platform capability. There are some other iniatives including Adobe Atmospheres and Viewpoint technology and would invite examples if anyone has any. The point on the fine line between informational and informercial submissions is well made... ...jer

Agreed. I have asked some members to stop "spamming" the forum in the past and have moved threads because of it. This particular thread really shouldn't be here except that I thought it may spur Carrara issues. -Kix

I agree that the post should have been done in '3D Applications' forum since that is where folks talk about other programs that people may not have heard of. And then maybe a simple post here to mention the oppurtunity for Carrara users to look over there. (Or not.) Either way, Shockwave/Director have improved dramtically in the last couple years to include 3D support, but it's SUCH a pain, from what I understand, to impliment that it doesn't get used well alot. But, that doesn't mean that it is impossible to use... just tough. Just my 2 cents... mileage will vary, and don't swim out to far after eating...

I've tried to learn Director's 3d controls over the 3D world and found it pretty frustrating. Did the tutorials using the built-in behavours, but their pretty shallow compared to what can be done if you know how to program. I tried a lot of different on line tutorials, but most of them didn't do what I wanted or didn't work at all. Not to go on about this because this forum is aboout Carrara not Director. Just to say that this initiative, that caused me to start this thread, to produce a prepackaged director file that contained all the essentials for an on line game or interctive media storyline, completely freed me from the rigors of Director to continue creating in Carrara. To me it's the perfect solution, it's free- and tell me if you share the same exhuburance as I do... ...jerry