Soya3D

Infobox Software
name = Soya3D



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author = Jean-Baptiste "Jiba" Lamy
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programming language = Python
operating system = Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows
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genre = Game engine
license = GNU General Public License
website = http://home.gna.org/oomadness/en/soya3d/

Soya3D is a high-level Python module for creating 3D computer and video games. Soya is free software, licensed under the GPL. As a multi-platform game engine, it is known to run under Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

Creator Jean-Baptiste "Jiba" Lamy describes Soya as a game engine focused on rapid development and ease of use. Its goal is to enable amateur developers to create sophisticated 3D games entirely in the Python language.

Features and Implementation

Soya3D aims to provide all that is needed to support a modern 3D game. Rendering, sound, input, physical simulation, and networking are all provided via simple Python interfaces. Soya is provided with a detailed - though incomplete - user guide which describes its architecture, operation, and interfaces. Also included are over sixty tutorial scripts which provide working examples of the engine's features.

Computationally demanding components of Soya are written with Pyrex, which helps it to stay competitive in performance against more conventional game engines. The engine also relies heavily upon open-source libraries such as Cal3D, OpenAL, ODE, among others.

PySoy

In June 2006, due to dissatisfaction with Lamy's leadership approach and technical decisions, some developers launched a fork of Soya3D called [http://www.pysoy.org/ PySoy] . [http://arcriley.blogspot.com/2006/12/pysoy-historical-perspective.html] The project promises a more inclusive, community-oriented development environment.

PySoy Beta-1 was released in July 2007 [http://www.pysoy.org/milestone/beta1] and development remains active with further releases planned for early 2008.

History

* Soya was originally a Java 3d game system called Opale. Soya.

* 2003: The authors of Opale. Soya rewrote it in Python and C
* 2003: Opale. Soya renamed Soya3d with its version 0.3 release
* July, 12th 2004: Version 0.7 released as a complete rewrite in Pyrex
* October, 16th 2004: Version 0.8.1 release added Open Dynamics Engine support
* December, 12 2004: Version 0.9 released added support for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X exporters for 3D Studio Max and Maya.
* July, 9th 2005: Version 0.10, released including a new widget system called "Pudding" and support for Cal3d 0.10 (Soya previously used Cal3D 0.9.2)
* June 11th 2006 : Version 0.11 This release allows to use Cerealizer instead of cPickle. See on website for more information
* July 19th 2006 : Version 0.12 This new version proposes a new sound API, a new automatic system for optimizing static object
* January 24th 2007: Version 0.13 ODE integration, Blender exporter, BSP system (work in progress), bugfixesThe most recent version (as of February 18, 2008) is 0.14rc1.

Sources

* [http://home.gna.org/oomadness/en/soya3d/ Soya3D Home Page]

References

* [http://home.gna.org/oomadness/en/soya3d/ Soya3D Home Page]
* [http://www.pysoy.org/ PySoy Homepage]