3DEL: API: All

3D Engines List
API: All

This list contains 90 engines with programming API.

Texture-mapping Engines

12.04.2000 !3D Morfit 3D Engine SDK 15.01.1999

The !3D Morfit 3D Engine SDK is a free SDK for Windows 95 from Morfit Ltd that allows to build 3D games and applications.

Perspective, shaded texture mapping
Transparency
Lens-Flares
Fogging
Support for OpenGL, Direct3D and Glide
Landscape rendering
Mirrors
Hierarchical objects
Converter for 3D Studio Max 3.1 and Quake MD2
Support for Borland C++ and Visual C++ 6
World and Terrain builder

More information, screenshots, demos and the SDK can be found on the Morfit Homepage.

04.04.2000 JavaGL 04.04.2000

JavaGL is a pure Java implementation of a subset of OpenGL from Robin Bing-Yu Chen ( robin@nis-lab.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp ).

Shaded, perspective texture mapping
Support for glaux
Display list support

More information, the library and documentaion can be found on the JavaGL Homepage.

02.02.2000 OpenGL 06.09.1995

OpenGLŽ is a software interface for applications to generate interactive 2D and 3D computer graphics. OpenGL is designed to be independent of operating system, window system, and hardware operations, and it is supported by many vendors. OpenGL is available on PCs, Macintosh and workstations.
OpenGL provides a wide range of graphics functions: from rendering a simple geometric point, line, or filled polygon, to texture mapping NURBS curved surfaces.

Geometric primitives (points, lines, and polygons)
Raster primitives (bitmaps and pixel rectangles)
RGBA or color index mode
Display list or immediate mode
Viewing and modeling transformations
Hidden Surface Removal (depth buffer)
Alpha Blending (transparency)
Antialiasing
Texture Mapping
Atmospheric Effects (fog, smoke, and haze)
Polynomial Evaluators (to support Non-uniform rational B-splines)
Pixel Operations (storing, transforming, mapping, zooming)
Accumulation Buffer
Stencil Planes
Feedback, Selection, and Picking
OpenSource

The OpenGL functions described are provided on every OpenGL implementation to make applications written with OpenGL easily portable between platforms. All licensed OpenGL implementations are required to pass the Conformance Tests, and come from a single specification and language binding document.
More information and the source of the sample implementation can be found on the OpenGL Sample Implementation Homepage.

22.12.1999 Power Render 09.09.1996

PR is a high performance 32-bit rendering engine for PC's by Chris Egerter (egerter@egerter.com), the author of the WordUp Graphics Toolkit.

Perspective texture mapping with gouraud and phong shading.
Environment mapping for all texture rendering modes.
Support for hardware bump-mapping
Multiple light sources.
Real-time shadows
3D Sprites, with smoke, glow, translucency, shading and other lighting effects.
32 bit radix sort with Painter's sorting.
Span buffering.
Portal engine with realtime rotating mirrors and TV screens.
Support for stencil buffer
Motion blur and anti-aliasing.
Supports linear 320x200x256 (0x13) and all SVGA modes.
High Level C API with low level hand optimized assembly.
Hierarchical object management with real-time object morphing and bending.
Character animation and particle scripting system.
Particle systems.
Viewport control allows for multiple views and changing the viewport size on the fly.
Import for 3D Studio 3DS,Lightwave LWO and LWS files.
Keyframe animation playback of both 3DS and Lightwave scenes.
Support for 3DS Character Studio.
Assign materials and texture data for each individual polygon.
MIP-mapping and material changes based on polygon distance.
Polytype collision detection.
Landscape Studio editor now has support for alpha fogging, sky boxes, and animated character or particle placement.
Compiler Support: Watcom C/C++ and MSVC.
Uses WGT 5.1/WGT95 for basic graphics functions. Support for DosGlide, DirectDraw software rendering, WinGlide, Direct3D (7.0 ) and OpenGL.
Native 3Dfx support through Glide and 3Dfx Voodoo Rush support.
3D MAX glasses support.

More information and a demo on the Power Render Homepage.

22.12.1999 Quesa 22.12.1999

Quesa is a high level 3D graphics library, released as Open Source under the LGPL, which implements Apple's QuickDraw 3D API on top of OpenGL. Quesa was started by Dair Grant (dair@webthing.net), although substantial amounts of code have since been contributed by other developers.

Support for retained and immediate mode rendering
Extensible file format
Hierarchical models
Objectoriented API
Support for MacOS, Linux and Windows - ports to Be and Mac Mac OS X are in progress
Portable ANSI C source

More information, screenshots and links to download the source can be found on the Quesa Homepage

09.11.1999 Heidi 09.11.1999

Hidi is a 3D rendering archicture for PCs from Autodesc Inc.

Gouraud shaded, texture mapping
Support for OpenGL, D3D and often direct hardware-driver support from 3D card vendors
Transparency
Dynamically loaded renderers
Point, directional, spot and ambient lights
Multiple views
Support for Visual C++

More information and the SDK can be found on the Heidi SDK Homepage. The Heide documentation is at www.autodesk.com/heididg/index.html.

29.10.1999 Exist 29.10.1999

Exist is a 3D Game Engine for Windows from Mike Fricker (mfricker@sprint.ca).

Direct3D and OpenGL support
Color lightmapped, perspective texture mapping
Detail mapping
Advanced material system with powerful multi-texture blending and animation capabilities
Curved surfaces with collision detection, and dynamically tessellated via current framerate and level-of-detail
32-bit textures, and support for textures larger than 256x256
Dynamic lighting
Level editor
Physics simulator
Advanced client / server based networking engine, with client-side prediction and server-side extrapolation
Support for 3D Studio MAX R2 models and animations
Volumetric fog
Hybrid BSP / portal rendering, with dynamic PVS
3D sound support via DirectSound3D
Real-time mesh vertex interpolation or morphing
Hierarchy-based model animation

More information and screenshots can be found on the Exist Homepage.

18.10.1999 NBFB 13.10.1999

The NBFB Engine is a full 3D engine for DOS and Windows from Marcus Lynn ( Marcusl@CSL.COM ).

Full API with over 300 modular functions
Perspective correct, fullz assemblz pipelined software renderers with mid scanline mipmapping
Support for OpenGL and 3DFX rendering
BSP rendering
Lightmap rendering, chrome mapping
Z-Buffer rendering
Dynamic lightmap lights
Spherical volumetric fog
Hierarchical models
Skeletal skinned mesh and skeletal animation system
Pixel perfect ray cast collision for BSP and objects
Sperical collision functionality for BSPs
Realtime level of detail on objects using Garland approach
Multiple camera support
Morphing system
Cartoon rendering

More information and screenshots can be found on the Homepage of Marcus Lynn.

18.10.1999 DDJ: RaveKit 15.07.1997

RaveKit is a portable 3D framework by Mark Carolan presented in Dr. Dobb's Journal July 1997 .

Uses QuickDraw 3D RAVE library.
Support for Windows 95 (DirectDraw) and Mac.
Perspective texture mapping.
MIP-mapping
Z-buffer and z-sort rendering.
C++ source.

The source (for Mac and Windows including the RAVE library) can be found on ftp.ddj.com.

28.09.1999 Gizmo3D 28.09.1999

Gizmo3D is a high performance 3D scene graph and visualisation toolkit for Linux, Win32 and Irix from Anders Moden ( anders@linux3d.net ).

Lightmapped, perspective texture mapping
Scene graph API which features most nodes of Performer and Cosmo3D
Multipass rendering (lightmapping, projective textures)
Mirrors
Parametric surfaces
Collision detection
Script control with an implemented java interpreter or phyton intepreter to control behaviours (brains) and motion with scripts.
Animation control to provide animation built into the scene graph
Support for WIN32 HWND windows, Unix Xt Widgets and QT QWidgets on both WIN32,Linux and Irix
Image toolkit, DB toolkit and System toolkit
Written in C++

More information, screenshots and the source can be found on the Gizmo3D Homepage.

17.07.1999 Open Media Toolkit 17.07.1999

The OMT is an 3D engine and application framework for Mac, PowerPC, Windows 95/NT from Pacific Media WorX.

High performance C++ mix-in architecture
Perspective, shaded texture mapping
Flat and gouraud shading
Multiple colored lights
Translucidity
3D sprites
Three polygon sorting methods and two polygon software rasterizers
2D engine
Network support
Collision detection

More information and documentation can be found on the Pacific Media WorX Homepage.

23.06.1999 ExcalibVR 23.06.1999

ExcalibVR is a commercial 3D API with cross-platform support from Realidad Virtual Ltda (ccorrea@rvltda.com) .

Based on OpenGL
Object Oriented API written in C++ (Visual C++ 5.0)
Optimized Scene Hierarchy
Extensible model
Cross-platform support (although the actual version only supports Windows)
VR devices support
File format import options

More information can be found on the ExcalibVR Homepage

28.05.1999 6DX 28.05.1999

6DX is a commercial 3D game engine for Windows from Eldermage Entertainment Inc.

Shaded, perspective texture mapping
Transparent textures and overlays
Hardware acceleration through Direct3D
Support for 16 bit / true color rendering
Dynamic lighting
Particle systems
Multiple cloud/fog planes, fogging
Coronas/Halos on lights
Shadows (like Heretic 2)
Available as ActiveX and Delphi VCL
Support for Quake scenes and editors
Support for polygonal actors (MDL)

More information, screenshots and demos can be found on the Eldermage Homepage

27.05.1999 Architect III 15.07.1996

Architect III (former Geometry Box and even former Model 3DD) is a commercial Real-Time 3D development kit from Geometric Computing ( gb2@geometricom.com ).

Lighting system including chromatic or achromatic lights, with Gouraud shading and two-pass lighting (light mapping)
Hierarchical, dynamic lighting
MIP-mapping
Detail pass rendering
Support for 3DFX Glide and Microsoft Direct3D (16, 24 and 32-bit)
Mirrors
Portal culling, view volume culling and hierarchical view volume culling
Fogging
Hierarchical objects
Collision detection
Physics system
Alpha blending
3D Modeler with splines, csg, lathing, lofting and sweeping
Bezier patches and height field support, real-time terrain generation.
Texture import (Microsoft .BMP, Targa .TGA, Silicon Graphics .RGB, .RGBA, .INT and .A)
Support for MultiGen OpenFlight .FLT, Kinetix .3DS and DirectX .X objects
C++ API with documentation, lots of sample code
Full c++ source code for renderer supplied (in full version)

More information and screenshots can be found on the Geometry Computing Homepage.

22.04.1999 Mesa 01.01.1995

Mesa is a 3-D graphics library with an API which is very similar to that of OpenGL by Brian Paul (brianp@ssec.wisc.edu).

Mesa works on X11-Windows based systems, Windows, Linux SVGA, NeXT, Macintosh, DOS, Amiga, VMS and OS/2. Mesa was written with portability in mind.
Support for PC 3D hardware (3DFX chip).
Smooth shading, accumulation buffer.
Dithering
Fog/depth cuing.
Shaded perspective texture mapping.
Gouraud shading .
Support for NURBS patches.

More info and links to download the source can be found on the Mesa Homepage

18.01.1999 libCON 18.01.1999

libCON is a 3D game programming library for Windows 95/98 from Amir Geva aka 'Photon' ( __Photon__@yahoo.com ). libCON provides an easy to use API to programmers who don't want to mess around with Windows/DirectX.

Perspective, shaded texture mapping
Multiple colored lights
Support for DirecX 6.0, uses hardware acceleration, if available
Sound support
Collision detection using RAPID package
Written in MS Visual C++ 4.2
C++ API

More information, screenshots, the library and a demo ( a 3D modeller using the library) can be found on the Photon2038 Game Programming Homepage.

15.01.1999 SurRender 01.01.1995

SR is a commercial visualization class library from Hybrit Ltd (surrender@hybrid.org).

Open architecture, with source code supplied.
Scene graph support.
Cross-platform compatibility, fully portable across various operating systems and hardware platforms. Support for proprietary software rendering, Direct3D, OpenGL, 3Dfx Glide, NEC PowerSGL, P3D HAL, Rendition RRedline and Matrox MSI95.
Support for Windows 95/98/NT,older ports exist for Linux and Irix.
Material support.
Multiple light sources with a realistic lighting model.
Advanced rendering with automatic multi-pass operation where required.
LOD support.
Complete hierarchy support for all objects, cameras and lights.
MIP-mapping.
Various 8/15/16/24/32 bit image formats supported.
Easy mesh animation and morphing.
Easy bitmap/billboard objects and 3D sprites.
Sub-pixel accuracy for texture mapping.
Lens-flare, lens reflection, smoke and glow special effects.
Z-buffer rendering.
Filtering and real-time image post-processing.
Motion blur and anti-aliasing.
Stereoscopic rendering.
Support for 3D Studio .max and Lightwave .lwo objects.
Support for multithreading and multiprocessor systems
C++ API.

More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the SurRender Homepage

12.01.1999 Java3D 12.01.1999

The Java 3DTM 1.1 API is a set of classes for writing three-dimensional graphics applications and 3D applets from Sun Microsystems.

Uses OpenGL as rendering core, DirectX and QuickDraw3D versions will be available
2 and 3D textures, MIP-mapping
Scene graph management
Collision detection
Interpolators
Support for geometry compression
LOD management
Hierarchical objects
3D audio support
6 DOF input device support
Behavior modeling
Network support
Support for Windows NT/95 or Solaris SPARC.
Java API

More information, the library and documentaion can be found on the Java 3D Homepage.

18.12.1998 VD/Eclipse 02.09.1997

VD/Eclipse is a commercial Windows 3D graphics engine from Vulpine Design.

Front-to-back zero-overdraw BSP-based rendering.
PVS system.
Lightmapped perspective texture mapping.
Bump-mapping.
Environment mapping.
MIP-mapping.
Very fast dynamic multiple-lightsource multiple-object realtime shadowing, combined with light-mapping. Shadows from multiple lightsources are additive. Shadowing is completely accurate.
Radiosity lightmap calculations.
Infinite moving dynamic-intensity lightsources.
Real, arbitrary-sized and -shaped mirrors and glass.
Colored ambient/point/directed/spot lightsources.
Projected Lights - for effects like 35mm slides.
Specularity Mapping
Color key transparency and alpha/stipple translucency.
Material support and specular highlights.
Lens Flares and coronas around bright lightsources
Advanced Particle System, including support for opaque/alpha/shaded particles
Volumetric Lighting/Localized fog - even dynamic, with any color you want, and dynamic density.
Sky effects, both spherical and planar.
Water effect.
Hierarchical collision detection/prediction routines.
Tools for conversion of MAP, BSP, MDL, ASC objects/3d worlds.
Interpolated keyframed vector object animations and morphing, including a convenient animation system.
Virtually unlimited rendering resolution.
Supports n-edged polygons, sprites and pixels as drawing primitives.
Support for PC 3D cards via OpenGL.
8bpp and 16bpp Renderers in Software, 16bpp/24bpp/32bpp in Hardware.
Sophisticated, well-designed Game Development System with C++ API.

More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the Vulpine Design Homepage.

27.10.1998 VisKit 27.10.1998

VisKit is a commercial real-time 3D scene graph rendering engine for Windows from Paradigm Entertainment.

Layered on top of OpenGL
Perspective texture mapping
Lightmap rendering
Texture filtering
Mip mapping.
Hierarchical state management
Intersection tests
Particle systems
Multiple cameras
Primitive objects
3D positional audio layered on DirectSound.
3D Studio import
Collision detection
C++ API.
Support for Multithreading
Support for Windows 95/98 and NT 4.0
Support for PC 3D cards

More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the VisKit Homepage .

07.08.1998 Direct3D 29.10.1996

D3D is part of Microsofts DirectX Programming API (DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectPlay, Direct3D, DirectInput).

Windows 95 / NT support.
Support for PC 3D cards, software emulation for PCs without 3D card.
Gouraud shaded, perspective and linear texure mapping.
Bump mapping.
Multiple texture mapping, lightmapping.
Depth cueing, fogging.
Multiple, movable, colored light sources.
Spot, point, ambient, and directional light sources.
Ramp and true color red, green, and blue (RGB) model.
Color depths of 8, 16, 24, or 32 bits.
Dithering.
Vertex colors.
Multiple viewports, devices, and cameras.
Materials support.
Bilinear, trilinear, anisotropic, MIP-mapped texture filtering.
Full transparency, including alpha maps for texture.
Environment (reflection) and motion video mapping.
Texture compression.
Real-time object deformation.
Animated backgrounds with optional depth information.
Full picking support for user interaction.
Optional z-buffer rendering.
Lens-Flares.
2D sprites.
Projected shadows in retained mode.
Complex-spline interpolated motion in retained mode.
High-level API for manipulating 3D objects and managing 3D scenes.
Low-level API with direct access to features of 3D hardware in a device-independent manner.
Support for 3D sound.
Support for Microsoft Visual C++ and Watcom C/C++.

You find lot more information, sample code and the DirectX 6 SDK (91 MB!) and enduser packages (4 MB) on the Microsoft DirectX Homepage.

23.07.1998 JawMD2 16.02.1998

JawMD2 is a Quake2 Model Viewer by Jawed Karim ( jkarim@students.uiuc.edu ).

Unshaded, perspective texture mapping.
Antiliased wireframe, gouraud and textured rendering modes.
Full frame animation support
Uses OpenGL for 3D rendering.
Support for Windows 95/NT and Linux (using MesaGL).

More information, screenshots, the executables and the source can be found on the JawMD2 Homepage.

21.07.1998 Magician 12.03.1998

Magician is a commercial set of Java classes from Arcane Technologies Ltd. that implement a Java interface to OpenGL

Support for all OpenGL 1.1 GL and GLU calls. Many features of Aux and GLUT have also been translated to work within a Java environment
Built-in, easy-to-use multiple simultaneous view support.
Multi-threaded rendering.
Support for direct OpenGL calls or polymorphic methods.
Built-in OpenGL tracing and profiling support that is runtime switchable.
Native library (that interfaces the OpenGL-driver) available for Linux, Sgi, Windows 95/NT, Solaris and AIX.
Support for the Apple Macintosh, BeOS and OS/2 is currently undergoing testing.
Over 70 demos available with full source code.
Free runtime license, commercial runtime licens available.

Free evaluation downloads are available. Personal and commercial runtime and source licences are available for purchasing.

More information, screenshots, demos and the libraries can be found on the Magician Homepage.

21.07.1998 Jaw3D 16.12.1996

Jaw3D is a 3d engine by Jawed Karim ( jaw3d@jawed.com ).

Shaded texture mapping.
Lambert flat, gouraud and (fake) phong shading.
Wireframe rendering.
Environment mapping.
Movable light source.
Painter's algorithm: qsorted polygons.
Support for 3 resolutions: 320x200, 640x480, 800x600 .
Converter for POVray smooth trinagles and 3D Studio 3DS to j3d format, direkt support for Quake MDL.
DOS and ix86 linux elf version.
C API.

More information and a demo can be found on the Jaw3D Homepage.

08.06.1998 HAWK 12.03.1998

The HAWK game engine is a Windows 95/NT 4.0 library from Hawk Software.

Support for OpenGL and Mesa.
Perspective, lightmapped texture mapping.
Multipass colored dynamic lighting.
Fullscreen color blending effect.
Translucent textures.
MIP-mapping.
Visibility lists.
Z-buffer rendering.
Multiple views.
Frustum culling.
Collision detection.
Sprite objects.
Particle system for explosions, smoke trains etc.
Support for Quake2 level files.
Support for 3D Studio 3DS and Alias files.
OpenGL rendered mouse pointer.
Library or DLL interface.

More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the HAWK Homepage.

08.06.1998 3D Game Machine 01.01.1995

3DGM is a professional 3D game development framework for Windows 95/NT and MacOS from Virtually Unlimited Corporation that aims to reduce time-to-market.

Easy to use, high-level API.
Fast free-form texture mapping with MIP-mapping.
Smooth shading and alpha blending.
Multiple directional, positional and cut-off, colored light sources.
Polygon-precise collision detection.
Convex/cave polygons with unlimited number of vertices.
3D sprites.
Color fog and haze simulation.
Material and light properties.
Explosion simulation.
Very large world management.
World/level editor.
Support for 3D Studio 3DS, 3D Studio MAX, AutoCad DFX, Mac 3DMF and MiniCad scene files.
Fast rendering on 486, Pentium, 680x0 and PowerPC. Support for PC 3D cards (Glide and Direct3D)

Demos and more information can be found on the Virtually Unlimited Homepage .

06.05.1998 LithTech 03.11.1997

The LT (former DirectEngine) is a commercial game development tool for Windows 95 developed from Monolith Productions.

Support for Direct3D, own renderer or 3DFX/Glide.
Dynamic colored lighting.
Lightmap rendering.
3D sprites.
Hierarchical key-framed animation (with interpolation).
Translucency/transparency for water/glass effects.
Level of Detail support.
Particle systems.
Customizable physics.
Real-time shadows.
Multi-server networking

More information, screenshots, a demo and licensing information can be found on the LithTech Homepage.

19.03.1998 Amp Game Development System 13.05.1997

The AGDS (formerly Diamond 3D Game Development System) is a complete game development system for Windows 95 from Slam Software.

Perspective shaded, texture mapping.
BSP rendering.
Gouraud shaded, hierarchical 3D characters.
Realistic light sourcing with shadows.
Movable Mirrors.
3D editor.
Collision detection.
Physics model / Particle Model.
Advanced animation system with animation blending
Direct-Sound based audio system.
Client/Server game architecture
8 bit color support, variable resolution.
Coming Soon: Multiplayer support and 3DFx Acceleration.

More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the Slam Software Homepage.

04.03.1998 NetImmerse 21.07.1997

NetImmerse is a commercial object oriented Game Engine for PCs from Numerical Design, Ltd. (NDL).

Full C++ Source Code, no royalties.
Drivers for Direct3D Immediate Mode, OpenGL and Glide
Level of Detail (LOD) management.
Portals Module
Continuous LOD Terrain Module
Support for BSP and ZBuffer rendering.
RSX based spatialized 3D sound support
Collision detection (Oriented Bounding Box technology)
Support for 3D Studio MAX R2 (Integrated MAX Plugin support for animation, paths and particles) and 3DS, Multigen OpenFlight, and VRML 1.0.

NetImmerse is currently being used for upcoming games from Broderbund Red Orb Entertainment, FASA Interactive, Greystone and Media Station.
More information, screenshots and a demo can be found on the NetImmerse Homepage.

12.02.1998 Torch 12.02.1998

Torch is a commercial 3D engine for Windows 95/NT from Newfire.

Lightmapped, perspective correct texture mapping.
Z-Buffer and bsp support.
Level of Detail (LOD) management.
Arbitrary texture map sizes.
Support for JPEG, PNG and GIF texture files.
Texture and geometry cache.
Texture transparency.
MIP-mapping.
Fogging and depth cueing.
Pre-computed lighting with soft-edge shadows.
Dynamic lighting on non-textured objects.
Collision detection.
Support for VRML 2.0.
Support for Direct3D, OpenGL and 3Dfx Glide and software rendering.
Multichannel sound and and stereo midi support.
C and Java API, JavaScript support in WWW browser.
Standalone and WWW browser plugin.
Development Environment for Torch is called Catalyst.

More information, screenshots and the browser plugin (for software developers only) can be found on the Newfire Homepage.

12.02.1998 CyberGL 12.02.1998

CyberGL is a subset of the OpenGL API for Amiga computers by CyberGraphX.

Gouraud shaded, linear texture mapping.
Z-buffer rendering.
Environment mapping.
Fogging and depth cueing.
User clipping planes.
Support for 68030/68040 and 68060 processors.
Support for 8, 15,16 and 24 bits per pixel.

More information, screenshots, demos and the library can be found on the CyberGL Homepage.

30.01.1998 HiRender 29.10.1996

HiRender is a PC 3D rendering API by Mark Grocki (mgrocki@umd.umich.edu) from Hirise Software.

Gouraud shaded perspective texture mapping.
Bilinear texture mapping.
Depth cueing.
Z-sorting.
Hither and yon clipping.
Load and display 320x200x256 PCX files.
3D objects: load, translate, rotate and display with only a few function calls.
3D entities: use as characters in a game, simulation, etc.
Timing functions: get FPS, lock frame rate, get elapsed time in seconds and 1/100th seconds.
Mouse functions.
Support for Jaw3D files.
Used with DJGPP compiler.

More information, an SDK and a demo are available via the Hirise Homepage.

29.01.1998 Screaming Cabala 16.07.1996

The SC is a graphics library for the Macintosh by Andrew Meggs (meggs@virginia.edu).

Linear and quadratic shaded texture mapping.
Depth cueing.
Transparent and translucent sections on textures.
Support for 8- and 16-bit screens.
Full sprite package.
Freely available for development.
Minimum CPU is a 68040LC (without FPU)

The library and more information can be found on the Screaming Cabala Homepage.

27.10.1997 XGL 21.05.1996

The Solaris XGL Graphics Library is a mature graphics interface, providing foundation-level geometry graphics support for Solaris-based applications from Sun Microsystems.
The XGL Graphics Library is both an Application Program Interface (API) and a geometry foundation library and is just one part of the powerful graphics environment provided as standard with the SUN Solaris 2.x operating system.

Shaded, perspective texture mapping.
Transparency.
Accumulation buffer.
Antialiasing.
Nurbs, meshes, polygons, triangle lists, lines.
Dynamic loadable devices, hardware acelleration.
Support for SPARC and x86 microprocessor architectures.
C++ API.

More information on the XGL Homepage.

16.09.1997 Project SpandeX 01.01.1995

Project SpandeX (previously known as Latex) is a 3D engine from Paul Nettle (midnight@www.grafix3d.tzo.com).

Commercial quality engine, written by commercial game developer.
Open-GL like
Texture-mapping, environment-mapping, bump-mapping, solid-color polygons, Phong shading, Gouraud shading, Lambert.
Perspective correct, and affine texture mapping both supported
Sub-pixel, sub-texel accuracy
Z-buffering and sorting.
Triangles, lines, points, text (mono or proportional).
Up to 100 dynamic light sources.
Material support with Ka, Kd and Ks variables (may change on the fly).
Support for any resolution.
Multiple cameras that can act JUST like 3DS cameras.
Hierarchical database design with forward kinematics and inheritance.
100% Pure C for portability with small inline ASM parts.
Over 250 API calls for maximum flexibility.
Support for DOS and Linux/X11.
Latest version is completely true-color.

More information, screenshots, the source and demos can be found on the Project SpandeX Homepage.

02.09.1997 CyberGL 02.09.1997

CyberGL is a 2D/3D graphics AMIGA shared library whose API is a subset of the OpenGL API from Phase 5 Digital Product.

Shaded perspective texture mapping.
MIP-mapping.
Gouraud and flat shading.
Wireframe rendering.
Anti-aliasing.
Material support.
Spot, point and directional lights.
Support for 8bit or less and 15,16 and 24 bit color.
Support for 68020/30/40/60 and FPU.

More information, screenshots, demos and the library can be found on the CyberGL Homepage.

08.07.1997 Player Project 08.07.1997

The Player Project is a C++ class wrapper to Direct 3D and OpenGL from Eric Victor Powers ( powerg@deltanet.com ).

Simple collision detection.
Hierarchical objects.
Multiple lights.
Material support.

More information and the source can be found on the Player Project Homepage.

16.06.1997 Engine Zero 16.06.1997

EZ is a commercial 3D engine for PCs from Engine Studio.

Perspective texture mapping.
Flat shading using surface cache.
Animated textures.
Depth cueing and fogging.
BSP rendering.
SVGA support.
Script based behavior model.
Collision detection.
Sprites.
Network support, client/server system.
Sound support.
BSP compiler with support for 3D Studio 3DS import.

More information and a demo can be found on the Engine Zero Homepage.

09.06.1997 J3D SpaceCrafter 09.06.1997

J3D SpaceCrafter is a high level 3D Graphics and Virtual Reality API for Java from InWorld VR, Inc.

Shaded, perspective texture mapping.
Tested on Intel, Macintosh, Solaris, Javastation, JavaOS and SGI.
Hierarchical objects.
ZSorting and z-buffer.
Collision detection.
Multiple 3D clipping choices.
3D sprites.
Standard 3D objects.
Built in terrain generation and terrain following functions.
Support for 8 bit indexed and 24 bit color modes.
Java API.

More information and screenshots can be found on the J3D SpaceCrafter Homepage .

09.06.1997 IMAA 09.06.1997

The IMAA (Integrated Modeling, Animation & Analysis) toolkits by Hee S. Chung ( Hee@cyberkorea.com ) contain a 3D rendering engine. The IMAA toolkits are available for Windows, DOS and Silicon Graphics IRIX.
IMAGE, IMAA Graphics Environment

Texture mapping.
Gouraud shading.
Z-buffer rendering.

IMAML, IMAA Modeling Library

Low level ( Euler ) level modeling
Sweeping,
3D primitive objects.
Boolean set operation.
NURBS.

More information and demos can be found on the IMAA Homepage.

06.06.1997 3D Reality Rendering System 06.06.1997

3DRS is a 3D rendering library for PCs by TS Group Entertainment.

Shaded, perspective texture mapping.
Support for DOS, Windows 95/NT, Direct3D and PC 3D cards.
Z-buffer and z-sort rendering.
Transparent textures, arbitrarily sized texture maps.
Material management.
Multiple cameras.
Multiple light sources. Directional, point, spot and coloured lights using special built shading tables or hardware acceleration layer.
Scene and model picking.
Billboard objects and 3D sprites.
Support for 8 bit indexed and 16 bit true color modes.
Support for 3D Studio 3DS object files.
Support for BMP, GIF, CEL and TGA texture files.
C++ API.

More information and a demo can be found on the TS Group Entertainment Homepage.

05.06.1997 SimStudio 05.06.1997

SimStudio is a commercial 3D simulation environment by NDimension Simulations Pty Ltd.

Perspective texture mapping.
Support for DirectX and PC3D cards under Windows 95 and NT.
Hierarchical objects.
Behavior simulation.
Collision detection.
Support for 3D Studio 3DS, 3D Studio MAX and MultiGen OpenFlight scene files.
C++ API.

More information and screenshots can be found on the NDimension Homepage.

06.05.1997 World Toolkit 01.01.1995

WTK is a commercial, portable, cross-platform software development system for building high-performance, real-time, integrated 3D applications for scientific and commercial use from Sense 8 Corporation.

Shaded, perspective texture mapping.
Z-buffer rendering.
Multiple viewport and lightsources, 3D paths, portals, 2D texts and shapes, object animations.
Supports user-defined drawing routines
Multi-processing/multi-pipeline support
Support for Windows 95 (Direct 3D), Windows NT (OpenGL), Sun, Silicon Graphics, Evans & Sutherland Freedom Series, Hewlett-Packard, and DEC.
High level scene management such as hierarchical object culling, efficient use of transform information and level-of-detail switching.
Support for many I/O devices like HMDs, shutter glasses, 3D trackers, gloves and 3D audio systems.
Support for VRML, 3D Studio, Pro Engineer, Multigen and Wavefront files.
Network support.
C/C++ API.
Sense 8 also provides a 3D Editor (World Up) based on WTK.

More information on the Sense 8.

30.04.1997 MindRender 26.02.1996

BR is a high performance programmer's API for PCs from Themekit Ltd.

DOS and Windows 95 support (planned).
SVGA support.
Support for 3D input and output devices, like gloves and HMDs.
Z-buffer rendering.
BSP support.
Stereo rendering.
Perspective texture mapping.
Wireframe/solid, gouraud shading and optional phong highlights.
Transparent and shaded textures.
Light and shadow mapping.
Unlimited number of colored lights. Spot, point and directional lights.
Movable lightsources, dynamic light parameters, distance cueing, fogging.
Pre-Rendering of static scenes.
Collision detection.
Keyframe animation, morphing.
Sound support.
API interface to high- and low-level routines.

More information and a demo is available on the ThemeKit Homepage.

15.04.1997 TAG 01.10.1996

The TAG (TBA Advanced Graphics engine) is a commercial 3D engine for the Acorn Archimedes from TBA software (tba@tbalond.demon.co.uk).

Gouraud shaded, perspective texture mapping.
2D sprites.
Sound and music support.
Collision detection.
3D editor.
Multiplayer support.
'Virtual machine' for running compiled P-code linked to each object .

More information can be found on the TBA Software Index Homepage. There was also a news from TBA Software in rec.games.programmer that contained a perspective texture mapping scanliner using the TAG library.

08.04.1997 TGMP V2 08.04.1997

TGMP V2 is a commercial real-time rendering system for PCs written in Delphi 2.0 from Graphical Magick Productions Ltd, written by Peter Dove (peterd@graphicalmagick.com).

Shaded linear texture mapping.
Gouraud and flat shading, wireframe and point rendering.
Z-buffer rendering.
Uses DirectX 3 for rendering.
BMP and PPM texture file support.
Cylindrical and spherical texture wrapping.
Loads DirectX X format, convertor available for 3DS to X .
Written in Object Pascal / Delphi 2 (also the api).

More information and a demo can be found on the TGMP V2 Homepage.

07.04.1997 QuickDraw 3D 01.01.1995

QD3D is a cross-platform application program interface (API) for creating and rendering real-time, workstation-class 3D graphics from Apple.

Support for hardware acceleration boards.
3DMF meta file format, with free available parser.
Support for Level of Detail switching.
Plug-in renders.
Support for Power Macintosh hardware and Windows 95/NT on Pentium PCs.

More info and a demo can be found on the Quickdraw 3D Homepage.

17.03.1997 ZEUS (Link Problems!) 11.11.1996

ZEUS is a PC 3D commercial game engine by BRAINSTORM ( brainstorm@ndirect.co.uk).

Gouraud-shaded perspective texture mapping.
MIP-mapping and MIP-texture calculation routines.
Multiple levels of semi transparency.
Wireframe and flatshading.
RGB and RAMP color models, 8 and 16 bit colors.
Multiple colored light sources.
Z clipping , back face culling and polygon sub-division routines.
Depth cueing and fogging.
Multiple level parallaxing routines.
Supports fast spherical blitting (Special sphere primitives that render just as fast as a polygon primitive)
Collision detection.
Direct 3d studio 3DS file support.
LBM/GIF support.
Watcom C, hand optimized for Pentium.
SVGA (VESA 2.0) support, Windows 95 Direct Draw Primitive version.
Map editor and palette remapper utility.
Low level access to primitives.
Cross compatible with Playstation low level libraries allowing games to be converted in virtually no time at all.
High level API, including a system for creating orbital planetery systems.
GUI which supports many comman features such as windows, dlg boxes, requesters, list boxes etc.
8/16 bit MONO/STERO 64 channel DMA support (for in game sound fx).
MIDI music support (for background music).
Multiplayer IPX networking support.
In development: full 3D game editor for worlds, characters etc.

More information and a demo can be found on the BRAINSTORM - ZEUS Homepage.

11.03.1997 Virtual Reality Toolkit Lightning Eagle 08.07.1997

VLE is a OpenGL / CosmoGL C++ / Mesa class wrapper from Martin Faust (faust@informatik.uni-bremen.de ).

Support for Windows 95/NT, PC 3D cards, Sun (Mesa), Linux (Mesa) and SGI computers.
Object hierarchies.
Animated backdrops.
Primitve objects.

More information, the source, libraries and documentation can be found on the (german!) VLE Homepage.

19.11.1996 Cancun 15.07.1996

Cancun is a commercial 3D engine from Michael Case (mcase@digitald.com), Digital Dialect.

Perspective texture mapping with gouraud shading.
Sloping walls, full 6-degrees of freedom.
MIP-mapping.
Polygonal objects.
Direct3D support, Windows 95/NT.
Environment building tool.
3DS scene and animation support.

More information and a demo on the Digit Dialect Homepage.

12.11.1996 GRAFICA NATURA 20.09.1996

GRAFICA NATURA is a 3-D realtime rendering system which was primarily designed for realistic visualization of natural objects and phenomena, e.g. plants, landscapes, clouds and water. GN is written by Steffen Hauser (stephen@cs.tu-berlin.de).

Linear, shaded polygon texture-mapping.
Support for X11-Windows and DOS.
Primitive objects (e.g. cube, disk, sphere, cone, cylinder, plane, bezier-patch, rotation curve, height field).
Procedural plant models.
Hierarchical object construction.
Lambert and gouraud shaded surfaces.
Unlimited number of light sources.
Wireframe or solid rendering (gouraud shaded and textured surfaces).
Z-buffer rendering.
Transparent surfaces.
Import:
- Objects: 3DS, GEM, NFF, PLG, TRI
- Textures: PPM, TGA
Output:
- Objects: VRML (no materials and textures yet)
- Images: PPM, TGA
Color specification with RGB-, HSV-, HLS- or CMY-format.
Atmospheric effects (e.g. fog, haze).
C++ source.
Simple but powerful stack-based programming language with more than 150 build-in commands for definition of objects, surfaces, textures, camera movements and lightning effects.

The source and more information can be found on the GRAFICA NATURA Homepage.

05.11.1996 Reality Lab 01.01.1995

RL is a commercial 3D library by Microsoft RenderMorphics. The version 2.0 has the following features:

Wire Frame, Flat, Gourad and Phong shading models.
Perspective corrected texture mapping in any shading model.
Environment and motion video mapping.
Full transparency, including alpha maps for textures.
Z-buffering.
Animated backgrounds with optional depth information.
Multiple, movable, coloured lightsources.
4, 8, 16, 24 bit colour depths in both ramp and RGB modes.
SVGA and Windows 3.1/95/NT, X11-Windows on RS6000/SunSparc/SGI, System7 on Mac and PowerMac (both planned, no port yet), Sony PSX support.
Multiple instancing of objects and hierarchies.
Multiple viewports, devices and cameras.
Bezier patches with subdivision on the fly.
Depth cueing with atmospheric effects (e.g. fog, haze).
Projected shadows.
Stereoscopic capability.
Free form deformation toolkit.
Complex spline interpolated motion.
Collision detection toolkit.
Immediate mode allows low-level control over polygon lighting and rendering through direct access to vertices and normals.
70 pages documentation
C-based API.
Supports hardware accelerators like GLiNT, Matrox MGA Impression and 3D device standards like Intel 3DR, Microsoft 3DDDI.

Contact: Servan@Render.com (Servan Keondjian) or morph@microsoft.com.
The old RealityLab Homepage is currently not available - i already did a search on AltaVista and at MicroSoft to find a new homepage - there are recent microsoft products that use the RealityLab engine, but no reference to the engine itself.
There is a free Windows 3.1/95/NT VRML viewer from InterVista Software Inc, using the RealityLab libraries available at the WorldView Homepage.
Information about WIRL (another Windows 3.1/95/NT VRML viewer that combines the VR capabilties of the VREAM package with the Reality Lab rendering engine) is available via the VREAM Homepage.

28.10.1996 3DR 01.01.1995

3DR is Intel's scalable, real-time 3D graphics library which has been optimized for the Pentium(R) processor.

Up to 16 light sources.
Texture mapping, environment mapping, modulated textures.
Sprites and bitmaps.
Atmospheric effects.
Optional z-buffering, antialiasing, transparency, alpha blending.
Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT support.
Free of charge, no royalty fee.

Intel announced on the 23 october 1996, that 3DR is no longer supported.

01.10.1996 Virtual laboratory 01.10.1996

The project "Virtual laboratory" is a virtual reality simulation system that implements the concept of a virtual laboratory. It was developped by Marc Bernatchez (mbernat@gel.ulaval.ca) at the Université Laval.

Flat shaded, perspective texture mapping.
Simulation system.
3D toolboxes.
Windows 95 and NT support.
16 bit color depth.

More information and a demo can be found on the Project Virtual Laboratory Homepage.

09.09.1996 Genesis 19.06.1995

Genesis is a 3D rendering toolkit for Windows from Steven Woodman (spike@silicond.demon.co.uk).

Perspective texturemapping and gouraud shading.
Enhanced spanline algorithm.
Unlimited light sources.
Specular highlights.
Z-buffer rendering.
Underlying geometry engine can be changed to make use of another renderer.
Windows based object editor with spin tool, primitive creators, boolean CSG operations.
Lightwave file support.

More information and a demo on the Genesis Homepage.

20.08.1996 WordUp Graphics Toolkit 14.06.1995

WGT is a graphics library for PCs by Chris Egerter (egerter@egerter.com). Beside a 3D engine, the 10 libraries offers sprite animation, 3d math, drop-down menus, scrolling engine, joystick commands, FLI/FLC animation routines, file selector, serial communications and a 32-bit protected mode digital sound system for playing music and mixing sound effects real-time.

DOS, VESA SVGA, Windows 95 with DirectX and OS/2 support
Perspective texturemapping with gouraud and phong shading.
Translucent polygons.
Motion blur.
No z-buffer or BSP, only polygon sorting.
Direct 3DS file format support.
400 page printed manual.

A demo of the library can be found on x2ftp.oulu.fi . The wgt directory also contains 3 tutorials with source for linear texturemapped polygons and other interesting stuff like landscape rendering and texturemapped phong shading.
More information, demos and tutorials on the Egerter Software Homepage.

20.08.1996 PSpace 20.08.1996

Possibility Space is a complete development system for real-time 3D rendering by Non-Linear Arts (webmaster@nlarts.com).

Support for DOS and Windows (using WinG).
Perspective texture mapping.
Material textures may contain transparent areas and be of arbitrary size.
Gouraud shading.
Integrated collision detection supports variable collision proximity.
Multiple object instancing.
Hierarchical models.
3DS converter for objects and materials.
Full 32-bit code.

More information and demos is available on the Non-Linear Arts Homepage.

25.07.1996 3d Graphic Tools 25.07.1996

3DGT is a graphics software developer's tool for the Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual C++ environments from Micro System Options ( moptions@concentric.net ).

Windows 95 / NT and 3.1 support.
Procedural textures and picture mapping.
Z-buffer and painters sorting.
Sophisticated lighting using multiple, movable color light sources with optional ambient light, depth cueing and special effects.
Flat and Phong shading.
Flexible, color, translucency and other object level attributes for control of objects'appearance.
3d point, line, wireframe drawing and clipping.
Edge anti-aliasing and image post processing .
Extruded, rotated, swept, lofted, spline and arbitrary curves and surfaces.
Object generators (cube, cylinder, sphere, etc.)
DFX, STL and 3GT file format support.
The Windows C/C++ versions include complete source code.

More information on the Micro System Options Homepage .

22.05.1996 OpenGVS 22.05.1996

OpenGVS is a high-level, applications programming interface (API) for professional, real-time, computer graphics software developers from Gemini Technology Corportation.

Support for OpenGL and Direct3D.
Hardware support for SGI, 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics, Intergraph's TDZ, 3DLabs GLINT, Lockheed-Martin's Real3D and DEC/E&S Freedom.
Texture mapping.
Fog model for atmospheric special effects.
Collision detection.
Hierarchical objects.
Import models from MultiGen, GameGen, Wavefront and others.

More information on the Gemini Technology Homepage.

22.05.1996 BRender 01.01.1995

BRender (Blazing Render) is a complete system with an applications interface, graphics libraries and device drivers by Argonaut Software.

Z-buffer and scanline renderer
Hierarchical, linked objects
Gouraud shading
Multiple cameras and lightsources
Collision detection
Sprite scaling and deformation effects
486PC, Apple Mac/PowerMac, OS/2, Windows could very easily be ported to the 3d0, Saturn, FM Towns or Jaguar
BRender is a 32 bit library, there are versions for Watcom or MS Visual C.
Supports hardware accelerators like GLiNT
Planed: fog-effects, depth-cueing, anti-aliasing, and covered light-sources such as spot-lights
140 pages documentation.
Non-commercial evaluation kit may be available if one asks via email.

Contact: Argonaut Software (paul@argonaut.com, rich@argonaut.com)
Information about BRender as taken from news and emails.
Move information and demos on the Brender Homepage .

19.04.1996 TAGL 01.01.1995

TAGL (Threedee Advanced Graphic Libraryis) a portable 3D C++ class library from Bruno Levy (bruno@ensg.u-nancy.fr).

Linear texturemapping in RGB and colormap mode.
Environment mapping.
Support for 8bpp, 15bpp, 16bpp, 24bpp and 32bpp displays.
Z-buffer rendering.
Gouraud shading and dithering, wireframe and flatshading rending.
RGB emulation in 8bpp mode.
Dynamic linking, to load new drivers at run time.
Multiple output windows or rendering ports inside a single window.
Tested with DOS and under X11-Windows with Linux, SunOs, Solaris, HPUX, OSF1 and IRIX.
C++ design with inheritance, C++ inlining, generic scanliners.
3 layer design (GraphicPort for portable framebuffer access, PolygonEngine for rasterization and GeometryManager for 3D transformation and graphic primitives).
GEOM file object viewer.
C++ API with lots of sample programs,

The full source can be found at sunsite.unc.edu. More information in the TAGL Readme.

26.03.1996 Real-Time Animation Toolkit in C++ 31.08.1995

RTAT is a book ( ISBN: 0471121479) from Rex E.Bradford.

Flat-Shading, linear texturemapping.
VGA and SVGA support.
ARTT Rendering Class.

21.03.1996 Citigrade 3D 21.03.1996

CG3D is a 3D API and editor for PCs from Claude Marais (Claude@wwg3.uovs.ac.za).

Linear, shaded texture mapping.
Wireframe, gouraud and flatshaded rendering.
Z-sorting.
PCX texture support.
Uses WordUp Graphics Toolkit for rendering.
3D object editor.
Animation files.
C++ API for the library.
Currently only single objects are supported.

The library and some tutorials can be found on x2ftp.oulu.fi . More info in the Citigrade 3D Readme.

18.01.1996 RenderWare 01.01.1995

RW is a portable 3D API for DOS, Windows, Mac and X11-Windows by Criterion Software Ltd.

Z-buffer and scanline renderer
Multiple colored lightsources (distant, point and spot lights)
Multiple cameras.
Gouraud lighted, dithered, transparent, perspective texturemapping.
Animated textures and environment mapping.
Object picking.
Materials support.
3D sprites.
Backdrop images.
Depth cueing.
Support for graphics accelerator cards like the GLINT chip.
Support for stereo glasses and headsets.
DFX, 3DS and VRML converters.
900 pages documentation

More info on the Criterion Software Ltd Homepage.
RenderWare FTP Some RW-Demos: ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de
A demo of Meme (Multitasking Extensible Messaging Environment) that uses the RenderWare API is available via the Immersive Systems Homepage.

16.11.1995 Amber (Link Problems!) 16.11.1995

Amber is a set of C++ classes from DIVE Laboratories Inc. Amber enable developers to create complex distributed virtual environments on multiple platforms.

Windows 3.1/95 support (using 3DR or RealityLab ), SGI, DOS/Windows with Creative 3DBlaster and Sun running Solaris with X11-Windows.
File support for NFF, WRL and TGA.
Hardware support for 5DT Glove, VIO HMD.
Physical properties and behavior modeling.
Distributed interactive simulation (DIS) and multi-user system support using windows sockets and TCP/IP.
Add on modules like special fx, atmospheric fx, agents, inverse kinematics, morphing...

More infomation, demos and a shareware version can be found on the Amber Homepage.

06.11.1995 Object3D 01.01.1995

Object 3D is a 3D real time graphic library from Thomas Landspurg (tomsoft@worldnet.net).

Linear texturemapping, animated texture maps.
Light sourcing and gouraud shading.
Transparency.
Sphere-primitive.
Windows (uses WinG), DOS and maybe soon on X11-Window (Unix).
C++ classes, one can easily add new kind of graphic element by subclassing existing classes.
A Visual Basic VBX allows to add 3D graphics without writing one line of code.

A windows demo is available on x2ftp.oulu.fi , for more information see the Object3D Homepage.

01.01.1995 Virtek 3D Ware 01.01.1995

3D-Ware is a comphrensive 3D graphics library which allows high speed 3D graphics applications to be written using your favourite compiler.

DOS, C++, based on F29 Retaliator engine
Multiple Viewports
Autoscaling sprites
Motion tracker support
Support for HMDs and flicker glasses.

More info and a demo on the Virtek Homepage.
3D Ware demo: ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de

01.01.1995 Dore 01.01.1995

Dore' is a powerful 3D graphics subroutine library, made freely available by the Kubota Graphics Corp. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating graphics applications. It is also easy to use, portable, and extendable. This version has interfaces/drivers to X11-Windows, PEX, IrisGL, OpenGL, Postscript and more. It has been ported onto most Unix systems, including Linux, NetBSD, and FreeBSD. It has also been ported to Windows NT 3.5. Dore is available on the Dore FTP Server

01.01.1995 Cyberspace Development Kit 01.01.1995

The CDK is a library to create VR application under Windows 3.1 or Windows NT. CDK is from Autodesk Inc.

C++ class library.
Color dithering.
Support for many I/O devices.
Support for graphics hardware.
Physical simulation classes.

More info and a demo on the CDK 2.0 Homepage. A newer version of the 3ds/dxf/ast viewer for windows can be found on the Johnny Mnemonic VR Player Homepage.
Some info is found the CDK Viewer Helpfile.

01.01.1995 Purple 01.01.1995

Purple is an evaluation kit for fast 3D engines and virtual reality I/O devices from Karsten Isakovic (ki@cs.tu-berlin.de).

ANSI C, runs on X11-Windows, Mac, Windows, OSF and TOS. There is also a simple C++ interface.
Hierarchical, movable BSP subscenes with level of detail management for the objects, object grouping.
System-primitive rendering for wire/flat shading, z-buffer, framebuffer only or z-only rendering, direct 3D hardware support (for DEC Kubota)
Flat or gouraud shading in combination with dithering, transparency and texture-mapping.
Unlimited colored, movable lightsources (distant, point and spotlights).
Material constants (ambient, diffuse, specular).
File I/O: rib,asc,rwx,plg,fig,geo,geom,scn,tri,ply. Texture I/O: tga,tiff,gif
Multiple cameras with stereo-support that render into windows or textures.
Simulated virtual person, all elements are controllable with I/O devices like Bird-sensor, Logitech 3D mouse, K1 glove, Powerglove, Sega Activator, Flightstick or 2D Mouse.
Internal task concept, all actions run as purple tasks.
2D sprites, 2D and 3D text, overlay and underlay text, backdrop images, fog/distance cueing.
Environment mapping and mirrors.
Portal rendering with 3D frustrum clipping.
Stereo rendering for red/blue glasses or for CyberMaxx HMD.
Work in progress:
- MIP-mapping and animation for textures.
- Fast shadows with shadow mapping.
- Phong and bump-mapping.
- Anti-aliasing, 2D effects like lens-flares and fire.
- Distributes object visualisation, networked worlds.

Gouraud-shading Engines

12.03.1998 MegaGraph Graphics Library 01.01.1995

The MGL is a 3D graphics library for PCs from SciTech.

Flat and gouraud shading.
Support for DOS, Windows 3.1 / 95 / NT.
SVGA support.
BSP sorting and zbuffer rendering
2D and 3D functions.
3D modeling system.
Written in C++ and ASM.
Support for Borland C++, Watcom C++, Delphi, Visual C++.
Support for DirectDraw acceleration functions.
Support for OpenGL for Windows ( Microsoft, Silicon Graphics and Mesa ) API within the MGL framework.
Support for stereo LC shutter glasses (requires hardware stereo support)

More information and source can be found on the MGL Homepage.

30.06.1997 Scorpion 30.06.1997

Scorpion is a 3D engine for the Acorn Platform from Stuart Lovegrove ( stu@scs.leeds.ac.uk ).

Gouraud, flat and wireframe rendering.
Transparency.
Multiple moving point light sources.
Support for 16 and 24 bit color.
3D primtive objects.
Resolution independant.
Motion blurr.
Written in C++/Assembler, C++ api.

More information and a demo can be found on the Scorpion Homepage.

02.05.1997 3D with Hoops: Build Interactive 3D Graphics into your C++ Applications 02.05.1997

3DWH is a book (ISBN: 0-201-87025-8) from Wm Leler and Jim Merry that contains a CD rom with the HOOPS library for all supported platforms ( Windows 3.1/NT, Mac, X11-Windows on Silicon Graphics, HP, IBM RS/6000, Sun Sparc and DEC OSF/1).

07.03.1996 Free3d (Link Problem!) 07.03.1996

F3D is a portable, object-oriented real-time 3d rendering library from Brandon Van Every (vanevery@blarg.net).

Gouraud and flat shading, texture mapping is planned.
Painters sorting.
X11-Windows support.
C++ source code.

More information and the source can be found on the Free3d Homepage.

26.02.1996 Interactive 3D Graphics in Windows 31.08.1995

I3DGW is a book (ISBN: 0-387-94573-3) from Roy Hall and Danielle Forsyth.

Gouraud-shading, dithering, wireframe, flat and unlit.
Z-buffer rendering.
3D metafiles.
Windows output, OLE linking.
JOEY toolkit for 3D rendering (without source), C++ interface.
Support for different rendering subsystems like OpenGL, HEIDI, GDI.
There are calls for texture mapping, but JOEY does not support it.

Move information and a demo can be found on the Crisis in Perspective Homepage .

15.01.1996 LibRaum (Link Problems!) 15.01.1996

LR is a commerical 3D API from Bitblox (hedu@ipn.uni-kiel.de).

X11-Windows running under HPUX and Linux.
Wireframe, flat and gouraud shading.
Multiple camera support.
Multiple lights, point and spotlights.
Painters sorting and z-buffering.
RAD scene language, builtin shapes.
C++ API.

More info and demos on the libRaum Homepage.

11.12.1995 HOOPS 06.11.1995

HOOPS is a commerical 3D API from Ithaca Software, which was bought by Autodesc Inc a few years back.

Windows 3.1/NT, Mac, X11-Windows on Silicon Graphics, HP, IBM RS/6000, Sun Sparc and DEC OSF/1 .
Flat, gouraud, phong and silhoutte mode.
Fast software z-buffer.
Display, printer and plotter support.
Support for hardware acceleration boards.
Object database management.
HDI (Heidi, Hoops Device Interface) is used for 3D Studio Max under Windows NT and in AutoCAD R13c3.
Easy to programm.

Contact:1001 Marina Village Parkway, Alemeda, CA 94501
More info on the Hoops Homepage of Tech Soft.

01.11.1995 Avril 01.01.1995

AVRIL is A Virtual Reality Interface Library, written entirely in ANSI C, except for the very low-level routines that actually write to the display. AVRIL was written by Bernie Roehl (broehl@sunee.uwaterloo.ca).

Support for HMDs and many input devices
Simpler and better API than REND386
Full documentation

Source: Official AVRIL site sunee.uwaterloo.ca or at ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de
More info on the Avril Homepage or in the Avril Readme.
There is also a Internet Virtual Reality project from Lepton Incorporated that uses the AVRIL rendering engine.

Doom/Wolfenstein Engines

02.05.1997 4DX 06.07.1995

The 4DX Rendering Engine is a commercial doom/heretic game engine from Jaimi McEntire (jaimimc@aol.com) from Eldermage Corp.

Animated sky mapping.
Non rectangular walls with different height.
Looking up/down is done via y-shearing (as in Heretic, Dark Forces etc).
Animated sprite objects.
Transparent textures.
Interactive level and texture editor.
2D effects like snow.
Sound support.
DOS and Windows libraries available.
4DX is a C++ Library and requires Watcom C++ v 10.0, 4DX is fully 32bit.
Doom WAD file importer.
Available as Delphi 2.0 VCL, as ActiveX control for Visual Basic, as Linkable Library for Visual C++ or as DLL.
Map editor.

More information and a demo can be found on the Eldermage Homepage.
An older demo can be found on x2ftp.oulu.fi . More info in the 4DX Readme.

Flat-shading Engines

21.04.1997 Perspectives 01.10.1996

Perspectives is a virtual reality graphics interface for PCs by Pierre Barthe (pbarthe@www.mns.fr) in association with Un Autre Monde for PBA Softwares.

Flat shaded polygons.
World system build on spheres and not infinite planes.
Windows 3.1/95 and NT support.
Support for VRML 1.0/2.0 (retreives objects geometry).
API for Borland C++4.0 up to Borland C++5.0.

More information and a demo version can be found on the PBA Software Homepage.

24.02.1997 Mirage 22.01.1997

Mirage is a unix port and followup of VR386 from Christophe Maurel ( maurel@electech.polymtl.ca ).

Hierarchical linked figures.
Animation state machine.
Support for WorldToolKit NFF, AutoCad DXF and VR386/Render386 PLG and WLD files.
Support for X11-Windows on SGI, SunOs and Linux.
Tcl/Tk interface.
Portable C source.

More information and the source can be found on the Mirage Homepage.

19.04.1996 WatRend 19.04.1996

WR is portable scanline-based 3D rendering engine from Gavriel State (gav@mag1.magmacom.com).

Support for Macintoshes, SGI machines, X11-Windows, x86 DOS and Linux.
Fixed-point and floating-point math.
Based on Rend386 and Avril.
Active edge table scanlining.
PLG file support.

More information and the source on Gav's Homepage.

21.03.1996 XYZ++ 01.01.1995

XYZ++ is a commercial 3D graphics class library for PCs from Glacier Point Software (gp@glacierpoint.com).

C++ Interface
Output is done via BGI interface
Fixed point and float math

You find some demos and more information on the Glacier Point Software Homepage.

01.09.1995 REND386 01.01.1995

A 3-D Polygon Rendering Package for the 386 and 486 written by Dave Stampe (dstampe@sunee.uwaterloo.ca) and Bernie Roehl (broehl@sunee.uwaterloo.ca).

Hierarchical linked figures
Animation state machine
Support of external io-device and display drivers
No longer supported.

Source: sunee.uwaterloo.ca or at ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de. More info in the REND386 Readme.

10.07.1995 VR386 01.01.1995

VR386 is the other followup to REND386, it was written by Dave Stampe (dstampe@sunee.uwaterloo.ca).

better timebase for timing and control
simplified programmer interface
EMM386 for up to 4 megabytes of memory for object storage

Source: psych.utoronto.ca or at ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de

Wireframe Engines

12.06.1995 VOGLE 12.06.1995

VOGLE (very ordinary graphics learning environment) is a device portable graphics library that is loosely based on the Silicon Graphics Iris GL. VOGL was done by Eric H. Echidna (echidna@munnari.OZ.AU).

C source.
Drivers for postscript, sun workstation, apollo workstations, X11-Windows (R4 & R5), tektronix (401x), hpgl, dxy, and the ibm pc cards: hercules mono, cga, ega, vga and sigma, Windows and HP graphics terminals..
Bezier patches, polygons, arcs, lines and hershey font 2D text support.
Flat and wireframe rendering (no shading!)

The source can be found on munnari.oz.au .

12.06.1995 VOGL 12.06.1995

VOGL (very ordinary GL Like Library) is a device portable graphics library that tries to be Silicon Graphics Iris GL compatible. The intention is that any VOGL program will compile unchanged on a machine running SGI GL (the examples do). VOGL is based entirely on the other graphics library VOGLE. VOGL was done by Eric H. Echidna (echidna@munnari.OZ.AU).

C source.
Drivers for postcript, sun workstation, apollo workstations, X11-Windows (R2, R3 & R4), tektronix (401x), hpgl, dxy, and the ibm pc cards: hercules mono, cga, ega, vga and sigma.
Bezier patches, polygons, arcs, lines and hershey font 2D text support.
Flat and wireframe rendering (no shading!)

The source can be found on munnari.oz.au .

Non-realtime Engines

15.04.1996 NuGraf Developer's 3D Toolkit 15.04.1996

The NG D3DT is a commercial 3D library from Okino Computer Graphics, Inc (sales@okino.com). NuGraf's renderer is designed to create fast, high quality photo-realistic images using software generation methods. NuGraf is a complete development system for creating 3D computer graphics applications, the toolkit handles all aspects of the 3D modeling and rendering process.

High-speed, 32-bit broadcast-quality scanline renderer based on a hybrid Z-scanline/A-buffer algorithm.
Support for third party renderers via a back-end custom rendering interface. NuGraf ships with a full featured OpenGL(tm) interface module.
Hierarchical database management and inquiry system.
650 pages of documentation.
Efficient interfaces provided to allow large quantities of polygonal data to be passed into the database, including a host-based callback mechanism (the "user-defined" primitive). A mathematically stable sub-library of polygon welding and smoothing operations optimize any raw data for rendering (ex: DXF).
Meshed polygon vertices can be assigned a color, normal, (u,v) texture coordinates, and U/V tangent information.
Complex n-sided polygons with recursive holes & islands.
Sphere, cone, and cylinder quadric primitives with implicit texture parameterizations. Box, prism, disc and rectangle primitives with implicit texture parameterizations.
NURB and bicubic patch primitives with selectable basis.
Scenes are created using object instancing and hierarchical attachment.
Omnidirectional, unidirectional or spot light sources with numerous options: intensity, color, decay,fall-off, softness, shadow parameters.
Implementation of PIXAR's soft shadow technique with tiling optimizations.
A wide selection of predefined surface shaders: 2D texture mapping, Perlin and Peachy 3D procedural texture functions, spherical/cubical environment and planar reflectance mapping, mist and fog full-featured atmospheric shaders, flat, gouraud or phong shading models, phong or blinn specular highlight.
State-of-the-art analytic 2D texture filtering algorithms.
Output drivers for images, X11-Windows, SGI, Windows and VGA.
The library is available on a wide range of platforms, including Apple Macintosh, IBM PC 32-bit DOS, Microsoft Windows v3.1 (32-bit), Microsoft Windows NT (32-bit DLL), Linux + X11, SUN workstations, Silicon Graphics workstations and DEC Alpha AXP (Windows NT).

More info on the NuGraf's Homepage.

19.09.1995 RenderLib 19.09.1995

RL is a 3D graphics dynamic link library for Windows 3.0 from buitenhu@cs.rug.nl .

Written 1991 for Windows 3.0 and 386 PCs.
8 bit display support.
Wireframe, no-shading, flat- ,gouraud- and phong-shading.
Polygon and polyline rendering.
Hierarchical transformation matrices, grouping.
NFF file support.
Multiple viewports.
Unlimited number of coloured lightsources. Ambient-, directional-, point- and spot- lights.

The demo can be found on micros.hensa.ac.uk. More info in the RenderLib Readme.

12.06.1995 SIPP 12.06.1995

SIPP (SImple Polygon Processor) is a scanline z-buffer rendering library from Equivalent Software HB. the authors are Jonas Yngvesson (jonas-y@isy.liu.se) and Inge Wallin (ingwa@isy.liu.se).

Phong, gouraud or flat shading.
Texture, opacity and bump mapping.
Bezier patches and polygons and object primitives.
Procedural texure shaders.
Arbitrary number of light sources.
Z-buffer rendering.
Simple anti-aliasing through oversampling.
Output to Portable Pixmap format (ppm) or user-supplied functions.
C source and good documentation.

The source can be found on isy.liu.se . There is also a version with TCL interface available at ftp.uu.net.

3D Engines List API: All

This list contains 90 engines with programming API.