Visual3D Game Engine is a 3D

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

and game development tool written entirely in C# and built for the

.NET Framework The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...

, with development of its 3D rendering engine first beginning in 2003. Visual3D was founded by '' PowerAccess for Microsoft Access'' founder, Dan Moorehead, after its

free and open-source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

predecessor, RealmForge Game Engine, was featured as the cover story and namesake for ''Software Developer's Journal'' July 2015 issue titled ''3D Games in .NET'', for first proving that C#, .NET Framework, and managed languages were feasible for mainstream 3D game and simulation development. Visual3D (formerly known as ''Visual3D.NET'') is built on the

Microsoft XNA Microsoft XNA (a recursive acronym for XNA's not acronymed) is a freeware set of tools with a managed runtime environment that Microsoft developed to facilitate video game development. XNA is based on .NET Framework, with versions that run on Win ...

, as the first major XNA-based engine and game development tool. However, Visual3D predates XNA and XNA's successor,

MonoGame MonoGame is a free and open source C# framework used by game developers to make games for multiple platforms and other systems. It is also used to make Windows and Windows Phone games run on other systems. It supports iOS, Android, macOS, tvOS ...

, with it first being built upon managed wrappers for

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware a ...

and

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...

. Visual3D is also notable for providing its game development tools as integrated or hosted within whatever game is being developed with it, for live, real-time world building, terrain editing, game development, scripting and mission/level/scenario editing, as well as allowing end-users to redistribute its development tools to End-Users as a Mission/Level/Scenario Editor and Modding Toolkit.

History

''Visual3D Game Engine'' is the commercial successor to the open-source RealmForge Game Engine with roots going back to the OGRE 3D

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

engine. Visual3D is the flagship product of PowerAccess predecessor Realmware Corporation, based in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. Visual3D was founded by Dan Moorehead, who, in addition to founding PowerAccess and RealmForge, had also lead development of the Axiom Engine (a C# port of OGRE) and CEGUI# (a C# port of

CEGUI Crazy Eddie's GUI (CEGUI) is a graphical user interface (GUI) Library (computing), library for the programming language C++. It was designed for the needs of video games, but is usable for non-game tasks, such as applications and tools. It is des ...

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

). Visual3D has 30,000 registered users, and, as of July 2008, ''Visual3D Game Engine'' has been employed for multiple private business projects and by the

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

for

military simulation Military simulations, also known informally as war games, are simulations in which theories of warfare can be tested and refined without the need for actual hostilities. Military simulations are seen as a useful way to develop tactical, strategi ...

and training. Also in 2008, ''Visual3D Game Engine'' has begun to permeate education and Indie sectors as a part of the recent XNA trends. Visual3D license editions included Indie, Professional, Enterprise, Enterprise Source, as well as Free editions for Open-Source and Educational use.

Migration of game development to managed languages with C#, Microsoft XNA and MonoGame

Following Visual3D predecessor RealmForge Game Engine's success as the first 3D game engine and integrated development toolset for C# and .NET, and it features as the cover story for ''Software Developer's Journal'' July 2015 ''3D Games in .NET'' issue,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

announced the first public release of its Microsoft XNA Framework and XNA Game Studio products in the August 2006 keynote speech at Microsoft Gamefest conference, confirming the viability of C# and .NET for game development and opening up

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

and PC for game development by Indies and students with C# and .NET. This announcement set into motion the rise of many new XNA-based game engines, such as Torque X, a rewrite of

GarageGames GarageGames was a game technology and software developer. GarageGames was the parent company of GG Interactive, developers of educational technology in the areas of computer science, video game development and programming. In addition, the compa ...

's popular

Torque Game Engine Torque Game Engine, or TGE, is an open-source cross-platform 3D computer game engine, developed by GarageGames and actively maintained under the current versions Torque 3D as well as Torque 2D. It was originally developed by Dynamix for the 2001 ...

in C# using the XNA Framework.

's XNA initiative is a part of the larger trend for gaming technology migrating from traditional C++ to higher level managed languages, such as

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, C#, and

VB.NET Visual Basic, originally called Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), is a multi-paradigm, object-oriented programming language, implemented on .NET, Mono, and the .NET Framework. Microsoft launched VB.NET in 2002 as the successor to its original Visua ...

, which is a continuation of the historic trends for the migration of software development from lower level languages such as

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

and C to higher level languages such as C++.

References

External links

Visual3D Game Engine

PowerAccess for Microsoft Access
{{Video game engines , state=autocollapse Video game engines Video game level editors XNA game engines .NET game engines Video game IDE