and even there's new life in cipher...
http://www.cipherengine.com/

cipher 2.0 is on the way, it has been taken over by a new guy, new editors are on the way along with some other cool features!

Its already spring for engines

I was always marvelled by the C4 engine's performance and looks, but strayed from it because of the heavy programming aspect, but while glancing through the website today, i saw this:

Quote:

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Graphical script editor
Scripts are edited graphically for easy artist/designer access.
Games can easily define custom script components, and these automatically appear in the editor.
Controllers can advertise custom function calls that can be accessed from scripts.

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has anyone tried this?
what do you guys think?

It looks like Channeling from Quest3D.

After read the review in devmaster.net, I stay away from it, although I bought it when it was $100.

C4

scroll down to:
"C4 - The good, the bad , the ugly"

Most of that review is almost a year old, there is much aprovement since.

Sometime ago we talked about LawMaker
Both are excellent engines but C4 is, in my opinion, the direct opposite
It supplies a set of low level abstracted classes and functions .
You can design whatever you want but you must be really a good C++ programmer
That's why I am stll using 3dgs even though I purchased both LawMaker and C4 licences
3DGS is the right compromise between flexibility and ease of use, at least for me
By the way the internal editor is in my opinion a must for a game engine, that's why I did not purchase Truevision even though I like its architecture
Definitly C4 is not dead, there is a release every 2 o 3 monthes
Morover the author is a well known and reputed expert in graphic programming
It is based on opengl,a weak point in my opinion
I like opengl but it is a matter of fact that direct x won the API wars consequently tha graphic cards support direct x better than opengl

While I certainly hear what you are saying, AlbertoT, I have to confess that the C4 engine looks very nice and runs very smoothly here on my PC. In fact, levels seem run faster and more smoothly in C4 then in GameStudio (and, I admit, this is purely a visual test on my part). The thing just feels fluid at virtually any screen resolution and that with dynamic lights, shadows, normal maps, etc. I like that I can instantly see my game, have collision detection, etc, and not have to go through any long build process to get there. The automatic light shadows created look very good and, again, no build process to make you wait to see your creation.

As far as programming goes: I have not tried it yet, but what about the node-based programming that is displayed on their web site? Doesn't that help us overcome the having to be a really "good C++ programmer" to use this engine?

Frankly, I like a lot of what I see. His in-game editor could still use some tweaking, but it has a lot of cool features that are easy to access. I don't like how you texture objects you create in your new world (i.e. you first define/select the texture/material and then any object created will automatically adopt that texture). I am sort of used to creating the object first and then applying the texture to it. Of course, all levels can be created outside of C4 and imported. I have not tried this yet (as I have just recently started to play with C4).

The material viewer/editor is very nice. I like how it allows you to define the use of multiple textures, normal maps and more in order to easily establish the look you want. Some of C4's ideas should really find their way into GameStudio.

Well, I had better sign off. Much to do ... much to do ... I just thought I would chime in and state that I like what I am seeing of C4 thus far.

I definitly agree with you as far as graphic issues are concerned but programming C4 is an other matter
It is not a defect just a characteristic
If an engine is very flexible than it is also hard to program and viceversa
However I must confess that I dont have so much experience with C4 the reason being that it supports Collada file format only
Thre are not so many good exporters for Collada
For example my XSI 5.1 Collada exporter can export to C4 static files only
now it seems that you can export also animated files via an FBX converter

Hiya.

I picked up C4 back in...uh...September of 2005. Haven't really gotten into it much at all...I'm an artist, not a programmer. I picked it up because I had two programmer friends that were interested...and the license is "per programmer"; so, theoretically, I could have used it at the same time as my programmer friend (one of them). Alas, it fell through. I've been a regular C4 forum reader since 2005, and have to say this.

Eric is one of the all time BEST programmers and all-around cool guys I have ever dealt with!.

He knows that C4 is lacking in the art department (tools use and 'eye candy' to show of what C4 can do now)...so 'art' is creeping ever so closely to the top of his to-do list. Trust me when I say that the future of C4 is bright. Very bright. Super-nova bright.

I just had a look at the roadmap of this engine. It reads very impressive:
http://www.terathon.com/wiki/index.php?title=Official_Roadmap

He plans to integrate new terrain / foliage renderer and the ability to load zones in the background. This smells like big Oblivion-like-terrains or really big indoor levels.

Some other interesting features will make it directly into the engine so you can use them easily without the need to script them yourself.
And the blend maps could be used for facial animations.

Fireball is the codename of the next version of this engine.

By the way: He delivers new updates every week, not only bug-fixes, mainly new features. Eric must be a machine of a coder

• New terrain system [Fireball].
  
• Foliage system [Fireball].
  
• New soft shadow solution [Fireball].
  
• Dynamic shadow mapping [Fireball].
  
• High-dynamic range (HDR) rendering [Fireball].
  
• Full physics system [Fireball].
  
• Background zone loading [Fireball].
  
• Script conditional logic.
  
• Skinnable GUI elements.
  
• Transparent warping effects (heat haze, etc.) [Fireball].
  
• Direct support for XInput controls.
  
• Bump-mapped surface markings [Fireball].
  
• Engine-level mover support (elevators, etc.) [Fireball].
  
• Morph targets (blend shapes).
  
• Material import moved to core.