From GPWiki
The game engine is generally the library of core functions used in the game, usually related to graphics, input, networking and other systems. Another way to understand what a game engine is would be considering them as the non game-specific part of the game, so we can have several games ranging from RPGs to FPSs using the same engine.
In small projects, it's sometimes common for the game engine to get messed up with the game itself, but having them separated allows the engine to be re-used more easily. World of Warcraft, for instance, used the same (but improved) engine of Warcraft3.
Engine Overview
Game engines
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| 3DCakeWalk
| Python
| Windows/Linux
| commercial
| 2D/3D via DirectX and OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| Python scripting with 3DCW helpers
| Many
|
|
|
| A6 Game Engine
| C-script like language/C++/Delphi
| Windows
| Commercial
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| Yes
| Custom C-Script scripting language
| Physics
|
|
|
| AgateLib
| .NET
| Windows / Mono
| Free
| 2D via Direct3D or OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
|
|
| AGen
| C++
| Windows
| Indie/Commercial
| Hardware accelerated 2D via Direct3D or OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
| Physics
| Scene management, high-level framework, automatic memory management
| Not cross platform yet
|
| AGL Engine
| C++
| Windows
| Commercial
| 2D via DirectDraw, Direct3D or OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| No
| High-level game states framework
| Easy to start, several layers of abstraction, automatic resources management, custom filesystems support
|
|
| Allegro
| C
| DOS, Unix, Windows, BeOS, QNX, MacOS
| Free (Open Source)
| 2D and 3D
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
|
|
| Artificial Engines
| .NET
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Asphyre
| Delphi / Delphi .NET
| Windows
| Free
| 2D/3D via DirectX
| No
| Yes
| No
| GUI Editor
|
| Versions later than v3.1 are only for BDS and Turbo Delphi
|
| Axiom website
| .NET
| Windows / Linux / MacOS
| LGPL
| 3D via OpenGL/DirectX/XNA
| No
| No
| No
|
| Based on the very popular OGRE rendering engine.
|
|
| Baja Engine
| C++/Lua
| Windows, Mac Os X
| Free
| 3D via OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
| Professional Results, Includes all tools
| Shaders, Shipped a Commercial game, Easy to use, Flexible
| As far as I can see, the site does not indicate source is included with the download (or for that matter, is available) Hard to use art pipeline, no community.
|
| Blitz3D
| Basic
| Windows
| Commercial
| 2d/3D via DirectX7
| Yes
| Yes
| BlitzBasic
| Big community, a lot games
| Easy to start, support BSP, 3DS, better for shareware games
| No OOP, basic syntax
|
| BlitzMax
| Object Basic
| Windows, Linux, MacOS
| Commercial
| 2d via OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| BlitzMAX Script
| Has many modules (GUI, 3D, Sound, Physics, etc ). Easy to start
| Fast 2D engine, better for casual games(Arcanoids, Puzzles etc.), OOP, LUA Bind
| Has no 3D module
|
| Blox Game Engine
| C++
| Windows
| Free
| 2D via Direct3D
| Yes
| No
| No
| Color Blending, Alpha Blending, and many more.
| Free. Easy to use. Fully object-oriented. Includes basic collision detection. Choose between 2 different rendering systems(Software, Hardware).
|
|
| [http:// chrisk.free.fr/cariboost2/ Brume Game Engine]
| .NET 2.0 (C#)
| Windows (XP/Vista)
| Free
| 3D via DirectX 9
| Yes
| No
| No
| Have more modules (GUI, Sound, Physics, Collisions, Animations, Effects, Terrains, etc ). Easy to start
| Easy to use, object oriented, animation system, integrated physics
|
|
| C4 Engine
| C++
| Windows, Mac, PS3
| Commercial
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| Visual Scripting
| Voxel terrain, shader editor, more
| Active development, good support, clean architecture
| Incomplete physics
|
| Cipher Game Engine
| C/C++
| Windows
| Commercial
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Collision Detection, AI
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| ClanLib
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOSX
| Free (Open Source)
| Accelerated 2D
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Open Source. Excellent lightweight networking
|
| Clockwork (Unfinished)
| None needed
| Windows 2000-Vista
| Indie/Commercial
| 3D via OGRE (OpenGL render system)
| via OpenAL
| Planned. May use RakNet.
| Lua
| Will include physics engine, GLSL shaders (and editor), OGRE material editor.
| Self-contained system (one multi-purpose application for nearly all tasks). Only requires 3rd party applications for game resource creation (levels, models, audio, etc). Uses OpenGL 2.x.x, and GLSL for shaders. Will have physics engine, using PhysX. Editor written in C#(.NET 2), engine written in C++.
| Still in beta; not finished.
|
| CRM32Pro
| C++
| Windows, Linux (Port to MacOS X x86 in 2007 aprox.)
| Closed Source; LGPL announced on site
| 2D via SDL/glSDL and optimized MMX blitters
| API built on top of SDL_mixer
| API built on top of SDL_Net
| No
| XML parser, Log, propietary file system to package your resources with full protection and useful EditorDPF to manage them, graphics primitives, cursors, tiles, sprites, fonts, several FX effects, GUI system, accurate timer, MPEG-I video, full support of OGG,modules,WAV and VOC, useful network API and more...
| Full documentation (english and spanish). Cross-platform. Heavily optimized for each current CPU (MMX and SSE). Available as a DLL or static library(only Win32). EditorDPF, a resources manager. SetupProyect, a customizable config system. Everything is free!
|
| Crystal Space
| C/C++
| Linux, Windows, MacOS X
| Free (LGPL)
| 3D via OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| Python, Perl or Java
|
| DaBooda Turbo Engine
| VB(COM)/FreeBASIC(VTable)
| Windows
|
| 2D via DirectX8
| Yes
| Yes -dp p2p and winsock as of v1.5.2a
| No
|
| AutoMove(ala Zelda1),Sprites,Overlays,Maps,Audio,Network,Counters,Key,Joy, (NetVoice, AI, Debug, SemiSourceRecovery, and Multi-Audio engine pending) FreeBASIC supported through IDispatch, DBFE, or Vtable Documentation in chm, plenty of tutorials and examples..
| Need beta testers.. ask at the forums ^_^ Also see DBOS coming soon...
|
| Daimonin
| C (server), C++ (client), java (editor)
| Linux, Windows, MacOSX
| GPL
| 2d/3d via SDL and OGRE3D
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
| complete MMORPG engine
|
| Delta3D
| C++
| Linux, Windows, MacOSX
| Free(LGPL)
| 3D via OpenSceneGraph (OpenGL)
| Yes
| Yes - Client/Server and HLA
| Python
| ODE Physics, STAGE Game Editor, Much More
| A well-supported open source project. Built upon other open source projects (OSG, ODE, OpenAL, etc.). Great for games, simulations, or other graphical applications. Supports massive terrains. Used by many large scale companies (e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc.), educational institutions, and small developers.
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| DarkbasicPro
| Basic
| Windows
| Shareware
| 2d/3D via DirectX9
| Yes
| Yes
| Darkbasic
| Big community, a lot games
| Easy to start, support BSP, 3DS, better for shareware games
| No OOP, basic syntax
|
| DizzyAGE
| C++
| Windows
| Free
| 2D via DirectX
| Yes
| No
| GS9 scripting language
| Tool used to create Dizzy games, in the classic adventure style
|
| DXGame Engine
| VB6
| Windows
| Free
| 2D+ via Direct3D
| Yes
| No
| No
| Automated Sprites, 2D Tile Map (Unlimited Layers), Collision Checking, Explosions, Basic Particle Engine, High Level
|
| dx_lib32 2.0
| VB 6.0 (also VB.NET)
| Windows
| Free
| 2D hardware via DirectGraphics (D3D8)
| Via DirectAudio (DSound8) for sound effects and DirectShow for music playback
| No
| No
| Draw 2D textures with isometric or caballera perspective in one call, support movie playback (include DivX formats), easy imput handling class, PAK File format support (Quake/Half-Life format), basic Timers counters, support for Timers Events for multithreaing routines (like Timer control of VB but without control interface and instance of this) and more...
| Single light DLL (VB6 Runtime and DirectX API only dependency), simple interface, easy to start, several layers of abstraction, automatic resources management, full documentation of all functions
| No full OOP interface, ActiveX DLL (need register in the system), all documentation and web site are in spanish (this a problem? maybe... if you aren't
spanish ;-) )
|
| E76 game engine
| 100% lua scriptdriven
| Windows
| shareware
| 2D/3D via OpenGL/DirectX
| DirectAudio/Software
| UDP/TCP support
| 100% scriptable
| Includes 2D/3D graphics, newtonian physics, 3D sound, cryptography, threading, world management, gui controls, gui skins, event management, key-mapping, special fx, dynamic lighting, 3D animation, E76 world editor, multi-language support.
| 100% scriptable - No compilers required!, Completely extensible and flexible, Can create any type of program
|
|
| EasyWay Game Engine
| Java
| Windows, Linux, Mac OS
| opensource GPL
| 2D/3D via OpenGL
| OpenAL
| coming soon
| No
| Easily extendible, perfect pixel collision, PathFinding, special effects, automatic engine that don't draw what you don't see, engine anti bug
| very simple: you can write a game in very few lines of code; You can extend simply the game engine with your function
| the API documentation isn't completed yet
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| Epee Engine
| C++
| Windows,Linux,Mac,homebrew console planned
| zlib/libpng
| 2D SDL but 3D planned using OpenGL
| Yes
| Not yet but planned
| Not yet but planned
| see web site
| Very easy to use and fast rendering
| Engine is still in the early stages
|
| Entropia Engine
| VB6/C
| Windows, and works perfectly with Wine on Linux (tested version 0.9.44)
| LGPL
| 2D using DirectX 8.1
| Yes (Via DirectSound or FMod, or DirectShow for music/video)
| No
| No
| See Web Site (or the SDK)
| Very easy to use, fast, lots of utilities for a rapid game development, particle engine, sprite engine, map engine and dynamic lights engine (in development but works, see SDK), tiler, console, PAK file format (Quake PAK's), compression , MD5, and much more!
| Web site in Spanish (engine 95 % in English, will fix this soon)
|
| ephLib
| C++/Io
| OS X (Others in progress)
| GPL/Other
| 2D/3D via OpenGL
| Soon, via OpenAL
| High level soon, sockets available
| Fully scriptable with the IoLanguage
| Constrained particle and rigid body physics, scalable polygonal and continuous collision detection
| Easily modifiable, suitable for prototypical development
| Under development, not yet feature-complete
|
| Espresso3D
| Java
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free and Commercial
| 3D via LWJGL
| 2D and 3D via OpenAL
| Soon
| No
| Many
|
| Fenix Project (beta)
| language hibrid between Pascal and C
| Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, BeOs, DreamCast, GP32X
| Open Source
| 2D via SDL
| Via MikMod
| Via SDL_Net
| No
| Perfect Pixel collision, path finding routine, music modules and Ogg Vorbis Support, cross plataform, very similitudes with Div Game Studio: compatibility with more of file formats (FPG, MAP, PAL, etc...) and a few compatibility with the syntax and other functions of the Div language
| Very easy syntax, documentation and web site in english and spanish, a complete game of functions, easy for newbies, the evolution of Div Game Studio!
| No oficial IDE (but exists alternatives), 2D via software, no OPP language, few bugs
|
| FIFE - the Flexible Isometric Free Engine
| C++, Python
| Win32, Linux, MacOS X, BSD
| Free of charge / open source (LGPL 2.1)
| 2D software renderer via SDL, hw-accelerated mode via OpenGL
| Yes (OpenAL audio backend)
| No (Might be added later)
| Yes: Python support out of the box, Lua and a couple of other languages supported in theory via SWIG.
| Planned support for complex rulesets
| One of the few open source 2D isometric game engines available
| Work in progress, not fully usable yet
|
| FlatRedBall 2.5D
| .NET
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| Soon
| No
| Template, Collision Detection, Physics, Skeletons
|
|
|
| G3D
| C++
| Linux, Windows, MacOS X
| Free (BSD)
| 3D via OpenGL
| No
| No
| No
|
|
| G3DRuby
| Ruby
| Windows, Linux
| Free
| 3D via OpenGL
| No
| No
| No
|
|
| GameBrix
| No Programming
| Web-Based
| Free
| 2D
| Yes
| Some
| Script Editor for Action Script 2.0
| No programming required for making quick 2D web-based Games and Animations
|
| Game Maker
| Delphi
| Windows
| Free and Commercial
| 2D/3D
| Yes
| Some
| Its own scripting language(GML)
| Terrific for making quick 2d tile-based games with easy scripting interface, slow 3D support(via DirectX)
|
| Genesis3D
| C++
| Windows
| Free/Commercial
| 3D via DirectX
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| GhostEngine
| C++
| Windows (Mac and Linux support is on the works)
| Engine code is Zlib/libPNG-licensed
| 3D via OpenGL/DirectX, with DirectX support in the works
| Not (in progress)
| Yes (UDP)
| Lua and Pawn support on the works
| None in particular
|
| Still under heavy development, not completely ready for use yet
|
| Goblin 2D+
| C/C++
| Windows
| Freeware, Shareware and Commercial
| Mainly 2D via D3D but has support for .X and .MD2 3D models
| Yes - Own
| No
| No
| Many. Small footprint and able to make standalone execuables. (no DLL)
| Active development - stable
| Windows platform only
|
| Golden T Game Engine
| Java
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes
|
|
| Gosu
| C++, Ruby
| Windows, Mac, iPhone, Linux
| Free (MIT licensed itself, but relies on FMOD or SDL_mixer)
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes, via FMOD or SDL_mixer
| Yes (C++)
| No
| Integration with many Ruby libraries
| Modern C++, rather minimalistic
|
| HGE (Haaf's Game Engine) HGE at SourceForge HGE
| C++
| Windows
| Open Source (Zlib/libpng license)
| 2D via DirectX
| Yes, via BASS
| No
| No
| Authoring tools, lightweight
| Easy to start, good engine structure
| No multiplatform
|
| Horde3D
| C++, C DLL interface
| Windows
| Free (LGPL)
| 3D via OpenGL
| No
| No
| GLSL Shaders
| Shader based design, skeletal animation, animation blending, morph targets, post processing effects like HDR or DOF, COLLADA support
| Lightweight next-generation engine with clean design
|
| Irmo
| C
| Linux
| Free
|
|
| Yes
| Ruby
|
|
| Irrlicht
| C++/.NET
| Windows, Linux, Mac OSX
| Free (zlib/pnglib)
| 3D via DirectX(8,9), OpenGL or various software renderers
| No
| No
| Lua script
| Collision Detection, HDR, PARALLAX
| Big Community, a lot examples and tutorials
| Active development - Stable
|
| ika
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free (GPL)
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| Python
| very low overhead...
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| Jad Engine - C# + MDX Game Engine
| C#
| Windows
| LGPL
| 3D via Managed DirectX
| MDSound? And Vorbis .NET
| No
| No
| Focused to graphics cards that support shaders 2.0 or better, It uses Newton Physics Engine to generate realistic movements and responses, HDR support (the graphic card must support floating point blending), FirstPerson and SelfDriven (exported from 3D Studio Max) cameras support, Animation Skeletal animation using channels, Imports directly MD5 files..., Postproduction system integrated in the engine, AI Engine: Genetic Programming Framework
| Very more easy and intuitive interface, documentation and support are in english, a simple DLL
| No full documentation
|
| Jamagic 1.2
| Jamascript
| Windows
| Commercial(Withdrawn from sale)
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Inbuilt editors
| Easy to Learn, online games like flash
| No longer supported
|
| JEngine SSE
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free (GPL)
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
| Collision detection,Cg&GLS effects,GUI,etc. Contains full 2D open source framework with editor.
|
| Jet3D
| C/C++
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
|
| Yes
|
|
|
| JGame
| Java
| Windows, Unix, MacOSX
| Free (BSD)
| 2D
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
| jMonkey Engine
| Java
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (BSD)
| 3D via LWJGL
| Yes - OpenAL Sound
| Yes - JGN and jme-networking
| Yes - jMonkey Scripting Framework
| A Java scene graph based 3D game engine. See the latest release notes
|
| Joge
| Java
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (Creative Commons License)
| 2D via LWJGL
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
| JOGRE Engine
| Java
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (BSD)
| 2D
| ?
| No
| No
| Java Online Gaming Real-time Engine.
|
| Lightfeather 3d engine
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (zlib/libpng)
| 3D via OpenGL
| No
| Yes
| No
|
GLSL and Cg shaders,
HDR rendering,
MRT , Portals, occlusion culling, PVS,
Skeletal and Morphing Animation,
Exporter for Blender to lfm format,
Post-Processing Framework,
Paging terrain with splatting,
Built-in GUI,
Particlesystem-editor,
Terrain-editor,
Terrain-generator
|more..
|
| LÖVE
| Lua
| Windows / Linux
| zlib/libpng
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes
| No
| Yes
|
|
|
|
| Multimedia Fusion 2
| Custom - none scripting
| Windows
| Commercial
| 2D
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
| ActiveX, Dll, many plug-ins, movement extensions
| Easy to Learn, a favourite with younger developers, online games like flash
|
|
| neabEngine
| PHP
| Windows, Linux
| Free / Commercial
| 2D (AJAX)
| No
| Yes
| Yes
| Comes with the full source code, allows to add/edit modules.
|
| NeL
| C/C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free/Commercial
| 3D via DirectX or OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
|
| CEGUI Integration
|
| NemoX 3D Engine
| VB/Delphi/.NET
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
| DirectX
| Yes
| easy to use
|
|
| NeoEngine
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free (MPL)
| 3D via DirectX or OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
|
|
| Novashell Game Creation
| Lua
| Windows, Linux, OS X
| zlib/libpng
| ClanLib (OpenGL)
| OpenAL
| No
| Lua
| Fast Game Creation with Lua
| sector based partitioning, easy editing files, level editor
| Beta
|
| OGE - Open Game Engine
| C++
| Windows (VC, mingw), Linux (gcc)
| Free (LGPL) / Commercial
| 3D (OGRE hence DX + OpenGL)
| Yes OpenAL
| Soon RakNet
| Yes Lua (later Squirrel)
| Multithread and pluggable design, MyGUI, Physics (Bullet), Unicode, OGEd - Game Editor
| Multithread, Plugin-based, Clean OO, Early stage of development
| Early stage of development
|
| OGRE
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (LGPL) / Commercial
| 3D via DirectX or OpenGL
| No
| No
| No
| Super 3D Engine, Support All HighEnd 3D Technologies, Plugin structure
| Big Community, A lot examples and tutorials, made severals big games (like as air simulation, 3d adventure, 3d action), Open Source
| too big source code
|
| ORE
| VB6
| Windows
| Free
| 2d via DirectX7 / DirectX8
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| Orx: Portable Game Engine
| C/C++
| Windows (mingw/vc), Linux, MacOS X, GP2X (WIP)
| Free (LGPL)
| 2.5D, hardware accelerated
| Yes
| No, planned
| No, planned
| Plugins. Portable. Data driven. Very easy to use.
| Extended unique features (animation graph, hierarchical config files, independent clocks, hierarchical objects, differential scrolling, ...).
|
|
| Ovorp Engine
| .NET
| Windows
| Free
| 2D via DirectX
|
| Yes
|
| PAB game engine
| VB
| Windows
|
| Panda3D
| C++, Python
| Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iPhone
| Free
| 3D via OpenGL, DirectX or TinyGL
| Yes (FMod or OpenAL)
| Yes
| Python, C++
| Free models, documentation, simple installation
| Used by Disney to make ToonTown, easy learning, very stable
|
| Photon
| C++
| Linux, Windows
| zlib
| 2D via OpenGL
| Yes, with OpenAL
| No
| No
| State, Resource Management, Math Routines
| Good License, Great C++ API, Good Documentation
| Early in development, uncertain future
|
| PLib
| C++
| Linux, UNIX, Windows, MacOSX, MacOS9
| Free (LGPL)
| 2D and 3D via OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
| Popcap Framework
| c ++
| Windows
| Free
| 2D
| Yes
| N/A
| N/A
| Super Game Engine for developing super games like as Zuma
| have great game ZUMA
| Not 3D
|
| PowerRender
| C++
| Windows, XBox
| Commercial
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| No
| Custom C++ Script scripting language
| Physics, Collision Detection, HDR
| Easy to start, flexible engine
| Bad working with shadowing
|
| PTK Engine
| C++
| Windows, Mac
| Free and Commercial
| 2D
| Yes
| No
| No
| Font, TTF, Spline, Tar files
| Lightweight and Crossplatform
|
| PPTactical Engine For RTS games
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free (LGPL)
| 2D
|
| PureBasic
| Basic
| Mac OS X, Linux, Windows
| Commercial
|
|
| PySoy
| Python
| Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
| Free (GPLv3)
| 3D via OpenGL
| Yes, with OpenAL and Ogg
| Yes
| Yes
| Integrated Physics
| No proprietary dependencies
| Still in Beta (lacks features)
|
|
| Quake Engine
| C
| DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
| GPL, Commercial
| Software, OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| QuakeC
|
|
| Quake II Engine
| C
| Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
| GPL, Commercial
| OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
|
| Quake III Arena Engine
| C
| Windows, Linux, Mac OS
| GPL, Commercial
| OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| Raydium 3D
| C
| Windows, Linux
| Free (GPL)
| 3D via OpenGL
| Yes, via OpenAL
| Yes
| embedded PHP, Python bindings
| Physics via ODE
|
| Ray Game Designer 2
| None needed
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via OpenGL or Direct3D
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| Collision Detection, Translucency, Lighting
| Requires no programming, very easy to use, includes most needed tools
| Very limited gameplay options, outdated graphics engine, very small community
|
| The RealFeel Engine
| VB6
| Windows XP/Vista
| Free (Closed Source)
| 2D
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Powerful 2D MMORPG Engine
|
|
| Reality Factory
| None needed
| Windows
|
| 3D via Genesis3D (DirectX)
| Yes
| Yes?
| Yes
|
|
| RealmForge
| .NET
|
|
| 3D via Axiom (OpenGL)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| RetinaX
| Completelty .NET 2.0 (C#). No wrapped C++ Libraries.
|
| Free (BSD)
| 3D via Managed DirectX
| Yes
| No
| No
| User Interface
| Easy to start programming DirectX. Framework is well structured and you can modify it to your liking.
|
| Revolution3D
| VB/C++/.NET
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
| RPG Maker 2003
| C/Delphi
| Windows
| Shareware
| 2D
| Yes via DirectX
| Yes
| Ruby
| Level Editor
| Easy to use
| Not open source
|
| RPG Maker XP
| C/Delphi
| Windows
| Shareware
| 2D
| Yes via DirectX
| Yes
| Ruby
| Level Editor
| Easy to use
| Not open source
|
| PTK Engine
| C++
| Windows, Mac
| Free and Commercial
| 2D
| Yes
| No
| No
| Font, TTF, Spline, Tar files
| Lightweight and Crossplatform
|
| Saq2D
| C#
| Windows
| Free
| 2D engine via XNA
| Soon
| Maybe
| Not Yet
|
|
|
|
| Sprite Craft
| VB/C++/Delphi
| Windows
| Free
| 2D
|
|
| VBScript/JavaScript
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| Source Engine
| C++
| Windows, Linux (server-side)
| Commercial
| Direct3D
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Havok Physics, Valve Faceposer Technology, VGUI, HDR
|
|
| The Nebula Device 2
| C++
| Windows
| Free
| 3D via DirectX
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Thousand Parsec Framework
| Python, C++, others
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Free (GPL)
| 2D/3D
| No
| TP Protocol
| Yes
| Framework for online turn based space strategy games
|
|
| TNT Basic
| Basic
| MacOSX
| Free (GPL)
| 2D
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
| Torque
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Commercial
| 3D via OpenGL
| OpenAL
| Yes
| Custom Torque Script
| Mission Editor, Terrain Editor, Mac and Linux Support, WYSIWYG GUI Editor, Particle Engine, Theora Video, Multiple Language Support
| Source Code Included, Large Community, Many 3D modeling exporters
|
|
| Torque2D
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X
| Commercial
| 2D
| OpenAL
| Yes
| Custom Torque Script
|
| Truevision3D
| VB/Delphi/C++/.NET
| Windows
| Free for learning/Commercial
| 3D via DirectX
| DirectX
| Yes
| VBscript, Python, Java Script
| Physics, Plugins for popular modeling packages, Active user base, Normal Mapping, Relief Mapping, and complex shaders
|
| UnrealEngine2 / 2X / 3
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X, PS2, Xbox, PS3, XBOX 360
| Commercial
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| UnrealScript
| Physics, HDR (UE3)
|
| high cost
|
| UnrealEngine2 Runtime
| C++
| Windows, Linux, MacOS X, PS2, Xbox, PS3, XBOX 360
| Non-Commercial / Educational
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| UnrealScript
|
|
| Need to be a 'serious developer'. Still pricey. No source code.
|
| Unigine
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Commercial
| 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| UnigineScript lika C++
| Physics, HDR, PRT, Pixel and Vetex Shaders (3.0) , soft shadows
| Great 3D Engine, image quality like as Doom3, Unreal, small cost, more tools, gui
|
| Unity
| C++
| Mac (development), Windows, web, Nintendo Wii
| Commercial
| 3D via DirectX or OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| .NET based JavaScript, C#, Boo, or C++ DLLs
| Ageia PhysX, terrain engine, extensible shaders, JIT compiled scripts, soft shadows, collaboration tools, realtime networking, friendly community, most file formats supported
| Amazingly smooth workflows, lots of powerful tools, complete documentation
| Source code is a separate license
|
| Verge
| Lua or VergeC
| Windows, Mac, Linux
| Free (BSD license)
| Software 2D
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Friendly community, tile-based map editor tool, fully scriptable game
| Extremely easy to rapidly prototype something, simple-to-use software graphics.
| Requires some knowledge of scripting. Does not have hardware accelerated graphics.
|
| XtremeWorlds
| VB6
| Windows
| Free (Closed Source)
| 2D
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Designed towards ORPG and MMORPG design
|
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| vbGORE
| VB6
| Windows
| Free (Open Source)
| 2D via 3D
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Designed towards ORPG and MMORPG design
|
|
| Name
| Language
| Platform
| License
| Graphics
| Sound
| Networking
| Scripting
| Other features
| Plus
| Minus
|
| [Valve]
| Python
| Windows/Linux
| commercial
| 2D/3D via DirectX and OpenGL
| Yes
| Soon
| Python scripting with 3DCW helpers
| Many
|
| Visual3D.NET
| .NET 2.0 (C#)
| Windows, Xbox 360
| Commercial, Free Student Commercial & Non-commercial
| 3D via DirectX or XNA
| Yes
| Yes
| C#, VB.NET, C++.NET, J# (Java), JScript.NET (JavaScript), IronPython, Visual Programming/Modeling
| Visual Development and Prototyping, Rag-doll Physics, Normal-mapping, Shaders (3.0), HDR, Integrated Runtime Design Toolset, Skinnable Rendered GUI
|
| YAKE Engine
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Free
| 3D via OGRE (OpenGL), Direct3D9
| OpenAL
| Yes
| Lua
| GUI via CEGUI, physics via ODE
|
| Yage
| D
| Windows, Linux
| Free (LGPL)
| 3D via OpenGL
| OpenAL
| No
| No
|
| Zak Engine
| C++
| Windows
| Free
| 2D via DirectX 8.1 and 9.0
| Yes
| Yes
| AngelScript
| Tiles Maps (AnaConda Map Editor), Sprites, Particle Systems, Bitmap Fonts
| Very stable, easy to use, fast games development
|
| ZFX Community Engine
| C++
| Windows, Linux, BSD
| Free (LGPL)
| 3D via DirectX and OpenGL
| Yes
| Yes
| Lua
|
| Edge2d Engine
| C++
| Windows, Linux
| Open Source
| Library independent(both DirectX and OpenGL etc
| Yes
| No
| No
| very object-oriented and plugin-based, you can create your own graphics plugin without modified base library
|
| Phoenix Engine
| C#
| Windows, Mono
| Beta
| SDL.NET
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| IronPython
| Map Editor, Sprite, Plugin system, e.t.c
|
External Links
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