Atlas City Project

I've been looking around for free 3d rendering engines suitable for game development. I've heard some great things about jMonkey, however if you don't know Java as a developer, writing code for the project wouldn't be a good idea.

Josh Aurich, I would love for you to head up this project, here are my recommendations for 3d engines:

Cube Engine - Windows & Linux
jMonkey - Windows, Max & Linux
NeoAxis Engine - Windows
OGRE 3d - Windows, Max & Linux

I've been looking at the Cube engine the most, typically at the game "Assault Cube". The game AssaultCube is a FPS game, however the simple modification of the weapons to everyday item and adding the Atlas City map (removing all the others) would seem like the most simplistic choice.

jMonkey is Java Rendering, basically if you don't know Java you are screwed when it comes to development, unlike the Cube engine where basically you load up their game, create a map, save it then go into the resource files and copy it. You can then load it on any Cube game and play it.

NeoAxis is a beautiful engine, and I believe its free for non-commercial uses. Its perfect for simulations, whole worlds and is real time, this would allow us to have network interactions and allow people to visit Atlas City online. However, its only for Windows. I have no idea how well it will work in Wine, however I'm willing to give people product keys for Windows 7 and the Windows 7 disk so they can install Windows on Linux inside VirtualBox to play it.

OGRE 3d Engine is free and multiplatform. It supports OpenGL and can be programmed in Code::Blocks for Linux or Visual Studio/C++ for Windows. It supports nearly every picture format for texturing, special effects and more. I have no taken much of a look at this engine, but from the testimonials I've read, its apparent that is a great engine.

To tell you the truth, all I have developed with is JMonkey, so I am technically biased.

I would be willing to try out OGRE3D, however, I would have to learn to program in c++ (correct?) and the learning curve to even get a small test out the door would be sort of steep.

Now.. I would want to stay away from mods such as the Cube Engine because when you arent building something from scratch you have less control over the end results.

These are just my opinions on this topic however.

All it really matters to me is that you and I can develop in it and get a good end result.

Edit:
In regards to the Cube engine, they already have network / multiplayer capabilities integrated, which is a HUGE step that Atlas Initiative Group wouldn't have to take. I would love if you could review the NeoAxis engine and tell me what you think about that!

It looks like the neo-axis engine is feature rich, but it seems to detach the user from the source.

To get access to the source code, it costs $9800. To get indie licenses, it is $95 per. This, to me, seems to make this engine not worth our time when there are free,open source options out there.

From what I read, the NeoAxis was free for non-commercial projects, guess that was quite misleading wasn't it.

But yes, there are plenty of open source options out there to take advantage of.

I have a simplistic way of showing what a city can look like. Why not use a game such as the Sims 2 or 3 to make a video? I have made videos of the types of house concepts that could work. In sims 3 you can create a whole world with their live create a world.
I know it is not as accurate as imaging tools but it could be a start. Once some general ideas are formed than we can have someone who is good with architecture and math work on the actual plans.
I am horrible horrible at math. When I saw the term crohn's alpha in my psychology stats class I thought it was some sort of psychological disorder. I am sure you need to math to truly understand city planning and design so in reality the whole city does not crumble because it is not strucally sound.
Usually when I create a soceity in the sims 3 I create many parks, nice public buildings like bookstores and an open city hall. In one of my worlds I created I made a musuem underneath the city hall.
When I create for the sims 3 I create it just like i was creating a real soceity. I think about what would be my ideal world. I am more of a hippy so I often think of utlizing nature. In the sims 2 I always had community garderns and people had their own personal gardens.
I may put a video up of some of my ideas through sims 3. I also used Sweet Home 3D which is ok but it is not as detailed as I like.

that is definitely something you could do, however, I do not think it is something the entire conceptualization team should be working on. Give it a shot and show us what you can make up for some general ideas, That would be great!!

The only issues with using a game such as Sim 3 as the platform for a simulator is:
1. Sims 3 is only for Mac and Windows.
2. Sims 3 costs money
3. Sims 3 is not open source

We would not be able to control any patches that the Sims 3 platform would release, nor would we able to allow Linux users to use it. I don't think anyone would want to pay to walk through the virtual city (since Sims costs money), and a video (although a decent idea) does not simulate the living environment nor allows the user to interact with it.

Dictionary definition of simulator:


I'm looking at example coding of jMonkey, Eggsworth, I'm starting to agree that this would be the best software (jMonkey) to use if we want to make a City Simulator. We would be able to control the code, make updates we need and constantly integrate features that the Atlas community wants.

I know for me that is how I come up with a lot of ideas. I am just going to show what I have done through sims 3. I like to see ideas in the form of a video.
I guess it would not make sense if you knew how to do all the rendering etc. I am not good with that.
You are right techically speaking it would not work for a project. It can just be away of showing ideas. It does simulate the living environment because you have characters in the game and can show how they would interact with the environment.
I am not sure what to use for actual coding. I know you have to use codes and math; that is too fancy for me. For someone who wants to tackle that I am all for it.

If you are merely making a video in Sims 3 (probably using Fraps), to simulate what the city would look like, that's fine, I was simply stating for a simulation platform, it wouldn't be a wise decision.

Looking at the Sims 3 video you posted, it looks pretty good for a basic representation. I've never played it, is it limited on architectural design?

yeah it is more like a game and does give you dimesions. It is great for showing basic ideas. I don't think it is designed for architecture but it does not allow to build anything that architectually unsound; for example it will say you need support if you try to build a floor without anything underneath.
It would be great for multimedia presentations or ads; to illustrate the idea to people.
There is a create a world tool that let's you use to with the game.
I know it is easier for to use than any other programs but I have no real archtectual knowledge. I just create basic ideas.