Quest3D

Infobox Software
name = Quest3D


caption = Audiosurf is one of the most noted games to be made with Quest3D.
developer = Act-3D B.V.
latest_release_version = 4.1
latest_release_date = June 16 2008
latest_preview_version =
latest_preview_date =
operating_system = Microsoft Windows
platform = DirectX
genre = Game Engine
license = Commercial, Educational license available.
website = [http://www.quest3d.com Official Quest3D product page]

Quest3D is a 3D engine and a development platform. It is generally used for architecture, product and design visuals, computer games, training software and simulations. Data from 3D animation and CAD packages, such as Maya, 3D Studio Max and AutoCAD can be exported to Quest3D and used to create interactive real-time 3D applications. Quest3D is developed by Act-3D B.V. in the Netherlands. It was initially released in September 2001.

Development environment

One of the most important characteristics of Quest3D is the method of programming. Different from to the usual way of programming code in programming languages such as C++ the development environment of Quest3D is almost entirely graphical. Another remarkable characteristic is the fact that the developer can program the application while it is running. This means that there is no code compilation, as opposed to common programming environments.

Application logic

Quest3D applications are developed by linking functional components called 'Channels' to one another. The linked components form a tree that represents the actual program structure. The engine runs through the tree each frame, invoking each channel. This results in a running real-time 3D application.

There is no compilation step or script interpretation because the channels consist of compiled code. Because of that, there is almost no performance difference with compiled code. When interpreting script or running an application in a virtual machine this is usually not the case.

Editors

The Quest3D environment consists of editors for creating the channel graph, for editing 3D objects, animations, programming HLSL shaders and LUA Scripting

Publishing

Finished applications can be published to a stand-alone Windows executable file or be exposed on a web-page. Supported browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox.

System requirements

Some functionality of the engine requires other hardware specifications.

* Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista (64 or 32 bit) andDirectX 9
* 256 MB system memory
* 1 GHz Processor
* DirectX compatibele video card
* 32 MB graphics memory
* 400MB harddisk space

License

There are Quest3D license for commercial and educational usage.

Applications

Computer games, architecture visualizations, Serious games, simulations, TV and Film productions.

Game titles

*Audiosurf is an IGF Award winning puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar.
*Ship simulator is a Ship Simulation game developed by VSTEP
* [http://www.leo-dasspiel.at Leo der Hase] is a kids game, developed by [http://www.ovos.at Ovos real-time 3D]
* [http://www.chickenfootball.com Chicken Football] a game, developed by [http://www.paladinstudios.com Paladin Studios] for humanitarian organisations.
* [http://endlessforest.org/community The Endless Forest] An on-line game and social screensaver, developed by [http://tale-of-tales.com Tale of Tales]
* [http://www.twinners.com Twinners] An interactive television game. [http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=sgrmk-ftpOU Spanish demo]

References

* [http://www.devmaster.net/engines/list.php?search_id=327a4470492779db51b5319eca124643 DevMaster.net] Quest3D specifications
* [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16549 Gamasutra] "Rapid gameplay iterations are crucial to me, so I use Quest3D for everything else.", Dylan Fitterer in "The road to IGF"

External links

* [http://www.quest3d.com Quest3D website]
* [http://www.rgb255.nl/questlog Quest3D blog]