Simple alternative to blitz3d?

Hi there,

I'm a registered user of Blitz3d and Max.

I'm looking at the feasibility of running a new course for my students. One of the modules is designed around planning and developing a simple videogame. I've looked into blitz3d for education and the pricing isnt as really possible in our budget.

I was wondering if there is a creation tool similar to blitz3d that enables people to create 3dgames using a very simple programming syntax or click and create user interface?

It doesnt have to be very advanced, it doesnt need all the features of blitz3d just a small subset to creat a 3d demo.

I have been looking at lite-c but find the syntax a little too complex for a 60 hour course.

The course module information can be found here: Module Information

If that helps any.

I thank you all in advance for any help on this!

hmmm... are you asking about a 3d version of flash? ummm... I dont think something like that exists. I have thought about making one for a long time but I never really got around to it. good luck... if I ever get around to it ill tell u but it would be a while

Email sales@... - I'm pretty sure BRL offer bulk discounts for educational purposes.

[edit] Yes they do - bottom of this page: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Products/_index_.php

thanks GFK I had contacted BRL on the pricing of B3D, although it was a very good deal I couldnt justify the cost of 30 seats for one module lasting 60 hours in a course that has 18 modules!

Blitz3d is a fine tool, but maybe a little bit more in terms of features and price than I was looking for.

My ideal here is a free solution; however, a low cost solution would be considered too.

hmmm... here is something my school does for our 3d summer program... they have one computer with like 10 licenses of 3ds Max which is quite expensive for a school... 10 * 3000 = 30,000 or however much a full license costs... anyway that computer lets all the other computers on our network 'borrow' a license so only 10 copies can be opened at once but thats all we need because it is divided up into 3 or 4 classes so maybe you could buy 10 copies of blitz 3d and divide the class up? just a suggestion...

That doesn't really help our situation. We would need 30 students at any one time accessing the software. But thanks for the ideas Nate :)

You could try DXStudio there is a free version that is only limited by complexity and should suffice for your needs.

http://www.dxstudio.com

Shiva PLE might be an option.

-> http://www.stonetrip.com/download/shiva-ple.html

Why you can not work with the demo?

Else see:
http://www.coolbasic.com/index.php?lang=en
http://www.freebasic.net (There is a FORM Designer some where)
http://www.basic4gl.net/ (openGL..not bad)

All these are free.

bye

Will look into it, looks good.

Thanks Ricky

GLBasic is free for schools
Dark Basic Classic is free for schools

Hi Gary

Have you experience of receiving darkbasic free?

I have looked on their website and cannot find any info.

Thanks

Leadwerks Engine is also free for schools. It's the closest you can get to Blitz3D programming wise with a free tool for schools.
And the students can then reuse all the knowledge and experience what they learned in school, when they start to write professional games themselves.

EDIT: I think it's not free anymore, but you only pay for the teacher's license or something like that.

Sounds good Lumooja, where can I find info on this?

Ecere is also free... oop, c syntax, 3d, gui....

Only heard about this yesterday...

http://www.ecere.com/

Oh and its cross-platform too

An analogy about buses comes to mind.

Thanks guys :)

Keep in mind, DarkGDK is free along with the express edition of VC++

I couldn't find the license info for schools anymore, but the creator of the engine has told earlier to other teachers to send him an e-mail about the educational license:
http://www.leadwerks.com/company.html

Marc,

looks like Processing is worth to take a look at. They just released V 1.0:

http://processing.org/
"Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions. It is used by students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists for learning, prototyping, and production. It is created to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context and to serve as a software sketchbook and professional production tool. Processing is an alternative to proprietary software tools in the same domain."

There is a software rendered flash actionscript sdk. Check it out http://www.papervision3d.org/ pretty impressive considering it needs no plugins (other than flash of course)
Doesnt appear to be any hardware support yet though

Just heard back from TGC. Darkbasic is no longer avail free.

As mentioned above, the free demo version of Blitz3D may suit you.

Another option may be to create a scripted version of Blitz3D using Blitz3D and the BriskVM2 scripting engine ( http://www.koriolis-fx.com/ ). You could then compile this as a free tool to use in your course. You would need to feature limit it by removing some of the native Blitz functions, to comply with the terms of use for BriskVM2. You could most likely find enough functions to remove without interfering with your teaching course. You could also add some helper functions for common tasks, which would help with BriskVM2 terms of use compliance.

The obvious choice has to be MiniB3D, surely...

Failing Blitz outright, Basic4GL ought to be ideal.

In all desperation, how about LiteC?

GLBasic has a school version.
http://www.glbasic.com/main.php?lang=en&site=order

I mentioned that before. IMHO, it would be ideal.

re price, the only limitation of the free demo version of Blitz3D is a more than adequate / generous code length limitation so is I think perfect tool to introduce to your students.

re "friendlier" alternatives, Blitz3D is not impaired by any hair brained click and play semantics where you will end up simply teaching the use of an app and not actual coding skills.

Didnt some person here a while ago make a little creator thingy? Was it B32? Where did he go? He helped me alot when I was new


Edit... Here he is http://blitzbasic.com/Account/showuser.php?id=9289

I'd have to agree with that. Click and play solutions would pretty much defeat the whole purpose of a coding course. Ya gotsta get down to the nitty and the gritty of it.

What about using TrueVision3D?

- Free version available (with a watermark)
- Can be used with free industry standard basic language development environment (Microsoft Visual Basic Express Edition)
- Is easy to use, like Blitz3D

Another vote for the free blitz3d demo. An excellent demo :o)

Is the demo a very old version, though?

Hmm shouldn't a registerered user of Blitz3D already know that a code limited version exists?

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the many great responses. The actual module itself is not a programming module even though it is named such! There are many other tasks involved and the creation of the game is a small part. Click and create would be ok but I agree its not ideal.

I think GL4Basic is a little bit more advanced than the students need.

Taumel I do not know what you may be implying but it has been 5 years since I last used the blitz3d demo and from my vague memory I thought it was limited to 30 uses?

Is this true, has it changed? have I lost my memory.

If the blitz3d demo is only limited to a code length then that seems the most ideal solution!

Thanks for all the help guys

I just was wondering because if i would have pointed out that i'm a registered user and already talked to the developers about this, that the fact, that such a possibility exists, didn't came up already before.

I think it would be great for Bliz3D to be used within an educational environment - considering the demo may simply have a code limit on it and not a 30 uses only restriction, why noy email blitz basic to clarify the demo limitations...? Even if only 10 percent of students each were exposed to the flexibility of Blitz3D they may go onto buying the full version themselves.

Looking at the demo page BlitzMax states a 30 day limit but the rest are unclear. Hope you get a resolution.

Why not do Python? It has extremely simple syntax, is fairly powerful, and is entirely free.

And you can get Pygame (for 2D games) and Panda3d (for 3D games) entirely free.

The only problem is that Python is fairly slow, but I doubt an introductory programming class will really feel the consequences.

I'm in a class right now that's using Python... after using Blitz for a while I learned Python (at least the basics) in two weeks. I'm in a class right now for computer game programming (snooze) and that's what we use.

Processing also is free, easy to use and offers rudimentary 3d options (JOGL, *urks*)

-> http://www.processing.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Soup_Processor

If I were you I would go with the blitz3d demo because it doesnt have a time or run limit and you already know blitz3d so you could answer any questions they have... I have tried a programming course in which the instructor just learned the language himself and it didnt work out like it was supposed to... :/

Given that you are familiar with Blitz3D and that the Blitz3D Demo version was updated a year or so ago to have an unlimited number of runs and now only a code limit of 1000 lines (iirc) then I think that is the ideal solution for your course.

I think I will.

Thanks for all your help guys.

The answer was right under my nose!

This is the latest information on it I could find, it's a 16k filesize limit and no compile to executable mode.
http://www.blitzbasic.com/newsletter/newsletter.php?issue=5#25

It was and it is why I never bought it. I used up those 30 uses within an hour of trying stuff out.

GLBasic, is free for school and about to get iPhone support soon too.

I honestly think Unity + Java would be really friendly for college courses, however far beyond your price point.

Blitz3D Demo is free.