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November 27, 2013

alternates to unity and new fps programmer tutorials?

sorry I have two questions
are there any decent alternatives to unity I am a student and cant really afford pro.

I am actually just looking to program simple controls similar to the tuscany demo right now. But I am a bit new to programming.

    4 replies

    Up and Coming
    November 27, 2013
    There's Jolly Roger edition of Unity, it's free and fully-featured. :lol:

    You can try Torque engine. It's good, it's flexible, it's open source - all you need. Maybe not as fast as CryEngine3, but besides this it's really neat.

    If you're new to programming, you should start with some basic tutorials, that's far off the scope of VR forums.
    Up and Coming
    November 27, 2013
    "raidho36" wrote:
    There's Jolly Roger edition of Unity, it's free and fully-featured. :lol:

    You can try Torque engine. It's good, it's flexible, it's open source - all you need. Maybe not as fast as CryEngine3, but besides this it's really neat.

    If you're new to programming, you should start with some basic tutorials, that's far off the scope of VR forums.

    Jolly Roger? :o

    I would not run executable code outside of a disposable VM sandbox, when downloaded from unknown sources. I always prefer downloading directly from the author's website when possible. Beware installing apps from sources like this:


    Playable media may be safer than executables, but to be fair to the content creators, please do this only if you already own a DRM edition and you are downloading for fair use or device portability reasons. Time-shifting broadcast media for personal use may be another reason for using such sites. How else can the spouse watch episodes of American Idol that she missed when they were publicly broadcast while she was not able to watch them?

    But Unity? Yes, it is very expensive, but you can use the free version, or even the pro version for awhile using the deal you get from OculusVR when you purchase a Rift. There is also a significant student discount available for Unity (half price), but that can still be a bit expensive compared to free alternatives like Torque or Ogre and Ogrekit. Ogrekit is an Ogre-specific version of Gamekit. There is also an Irrlicht-specific version of Gamekit for those who prefer to work with Irrlicht (claimed to be easier than Ogre for beginners).

    Or for deep and lasting educational purposes, you could always roll your own DIY simple game engine, starting with the OculusVR SDK sample demo source code as a base. Personally, I started with the signal11 hidapi and opengl ES 2.0 (with angle for desktop GL ES 2.0), and I am building from there.

    However, I will be activating my Unity trial period soon so I can create VR experiences at both the highest and lowest levels. And I have half the cost of a Unity Pro license in my Unity fund so far. Good times ahead!
    :D
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
    Up and Coming
    November 29, 2013
    I suggest Torque 3D it's free and no payments to GarageGames if you sell it as well :)

    Torque 3D can make any type of game but it's setup for FPS shooting game by default all you need to do is design your environment and you can run around and shoot and they have some great 3d models for that stuff on their store :)

    Also they have a tutorial on getting FPS up and running but in general you already can shoot and kill AI by default (You will have to script to add ai and movement for them but there are tutorials around)

    Check it out http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-3d/fps#/1-setup/1
    Inspiring
    December 5, 2013
    OGRE is pretty good, they just released the 1.9 version. It does require a lot more skills and experience than Unity, but it's free and open-source. Torque may be a better bet for you has it's fully featured w/ sound and physics and everything. OGRE is rendering only.
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