I have always been interested in 3D programming, but thought it would be far too difficult for an independent developer like me to build actual 3D applications. Until now...

A month or so ago, I stumbled upon Unity 3D - an amazingly powerful integrated mac 3D development environment with a built in physics engine and distributable cross platform web player. I have been learning Unity with the idea of using it for interactive 3D visualization and mechanical simulation purposes, and in the course of doing so made a fairly fun 3D driving simulator currently titled Mars Explorer.

Because my focus has always been to build projects that educate and empower people, I was initially highly adverse to the idea of "writing games". Seriously, I have a battle enough to keep myself from wasting small portions of time every once in a while on dumb games someone released into the world, so why would I want to spend my time contributing to the problem?

I recently watched Vision Forum's "From Script to Cinema" videos on conveying a distinctly christian worldview through film, and although I'm not currently targeted towards film, the idea of culture impacting multimedia thrills me!

After reconsidering the idea of creating games, it seems to me that since people in our culture currently waste inordinate amounts of time on video games, it would be a good thing to produce distinctly Christian, didactic games that educate as well as entertain the players, and hopefully motivate them to do something more productive instead.

Visualize an immersive, 3D version of phase 2 of the Jamestown 400 that motivated players to study world history, an interactive archeological and geological exploration simulator that hilights how well observable evidence fits the Bible's model of history, or a "sim" earth type game that illustrates the symbiotic relationships in nature and the impossibility of evolution through random mutations and natural selection.

I don't think I am interested in full time game design, but it does seem like a worthwhile concept to pursue.

Another exciting aspect of game design is that there are many channels for releasing games for free and then profiting off of advertising, which means that you have a huge audience who wants to play games that don't even have to pay anything before being presented with your message.

I look forward to everyone's thoughts, suggestions and comments!
Especially regarding some way to make Mars Explorer educational :-)

And if anyone else is interested in 3D programming, I would highly recommend Unity 3D

-Aubrey

 Sounds really cool, Robur!

I've often wondered  what the Plymouth treasure hunt will look like 13 (or is it 12?) years from now.  Technology wise, it will be far far far far better than the Jamestown one.  I mean, think about it. 

 Could you picture VF planning out the technology of this hunt back in 1994?  Back when email was, like, really cool?  And dial-up was cutting edge?  No way!

 13 years from now we'll look back on our "cheesy" computers and "technologically simple" treasure hunt and chuckle. 

Maybe 3D technology will even be the basis for a future treasure hunt!   Who knows?

Anyway, go get-em Robur!
 

I sure would love to know what "special ops" team inside VF made the jt400!
...And where I sign up

Now that would be a fun job.

I started programming when I was 9 or 10 on the Apple IIGS, writing extremely simple programs in "Applesoft Basic". Technology has come so far since then it is just amazing! Now, with Unity, anyone can create stunning 3D applications without even knowing OpenGL... I am still blown away :-)

Wow, that sounds really neat! :)

 I'm going to have to show my brother your game, and see what he thinks of it. He loves video games, but is not allowed to play them much at all. They tend to a bit destructive to some people's moods. :)

We can not wait to see what the Plymouth hunt will be like! It is just such a long time away. Our lives will be totally different by then. :/  But, y'all are right. I am sure it will be a lot different, and a lot more complex. And such fun!!

Really though, the JT400 was impressively advanced!

When I found the first SW I ran a reverse IP check on it's domain, and was surprised it didn't return any results. As I later discovered by examining the other SWs once I found them, Vision Forum used a separate ip address for each site so they couldn't be matched by server IP.
The only security vulnerabilities I ever found were that VF used the same Google analytics account for tracking all the SWs (which allowed me to verify if each website I found was indeed a SW by matching the analytics ID), and that they did the entire Vera site in a single Flash file, which was trivial to "reverse compile" into all the text it contained without even knowing the password (I didn't try it until after I was in anyway though) :-)

On second thought, what was up with banning electronics on phase III? I sure hope they abandon such troglodyte incoherencies before Plymouth ~ assuming we have to wait that long :-)

robur:

Really though, the JT400 was impressively advanced!

For it's time, yeah!  And, consider the fact that it was probably created just by VF's web team!

Not only were they seperate IP addresses, the IP's didn't even resemble other VF sites!    I don't remember much about it now (and I didn't know much what I was doing - kind of bumbling about), but somehow I found out that all VF sites are within a 200 digit range.  So, before I was even close to finding the SW, I simply started plugging IPs - xx.xxx.xxx.1, xx.xxx.xxx.2, xx.xxx.xxx3, etc.

I stopped before finishing all 200, but I was pulling up VF sites all over the place!  Film festival, VF ministries, other lesser known sites, and even what looked to be a webmail login (for VF employees I assume).  But no SW!  That was smart on their part.

Yeah, the Flash file was kind of cheesy - but effective.  With all that was going on that evening, I simply did not have time to learn about de-compilers (even though I knew they must be out there) and download one.

It was smart to ban most electronics in phase 3.  They didn't want it to be a battle between who has the best gadgets.  For instance - if laptops were allowed, some families could probably solve most of the clues sitting in their wifi-enabled hotel rooms.

 Walter

 

Check out Blender. I am making a 3D animated short film right now just to get the feel for it. It's free, and it works great.

http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/

Yep! I use Blender. I haven't become familiar enough with it's totally unconventional interface to actually be productive in it yet though, so right now I am doing all my heavy modeling in SolidWorks :-)

I would love to start using Blender more! Guess i'll have to dedicate some time to learning it.
And I am sure everyone would love to see your film - if it isn't classified :-)

knight of rook:

Check out Blender. I am making a 3D animated short film right now just to get the feel for it. It's free, and it works great.

http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/

I tried out Blender on a lark a year ago.  I was (and still am), an absolute 3D newbie - and I couldn't figure out blender AT ALL.  Even if it is unconventional, there should be at least a little user friendliness....  :)  That said, I'm sure its a great program!

Of course, that's what I said about the Gimp until a friend bought me photoshop...

Speaking of open source media programs, anyone here try jahshaka?  It's an open source video editing/effects program.  The concept of a quality, non-linear, open source video editor and effects processor is great, but jahshaka's workflow is pathetic.  I think the designers tried for something new and unconventional - but they ended up with a product that is an absolute pain to use.  Sigh....  I'm unwilling (at least at this point), to shell out dough for quality stuff like Vegas, Premier, etc.

Movie Maker, anyone?   :D
 

Okay - I admit it - Blender is beyond "unconventional". "Bizarre" may be a better word

I have to say though that it has been invaluable to me for converting between 3D file formats, and if I can figure out how to model in it I definitley will be useful! I regularly use lots of other open source software in my main development workflows - such as Jedit and FireFox with FireBug, and I am sure looking forward to the day when I can use open source for everything I do.

I never heard of jahshaka before, but I just tried it out and your description fits perfectly. At least I am a Mac user so I have iMovie instead of Movie Maker
{though I have to admit that the new iMovie - with it's super cool interface - is actually far less powerful than the previous version}

But anyway, to get our discussion back on track, anyone have ideas for Mars Explorer - or other projects?
...And speaking of Mars Explorer, I would love to get feedback on the networking system! Although it works perfectly for me on all the computers on my local network, I would be very interested to hear if everyone else has equal success with different firewall, router, etc. settings.

"Blender is beyond "unconventional""

What! Maybe if you've never used it before, but anything is "unconventional" if you've never used it! And there are hundreds of tutorials to help you with it.

This is a good one

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro#Beginner_Tutorials

This one is also very good 

http://www.gryllus.net/Blender/3D.html

And here's another

http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/

And here 

http://www.blendernation.com/tutorials/

and here

http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Blender-3d/1

and here

http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/Blender_3D/All/

and here

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Tutorials

And here is a link to one of my websites, it has pictures of 3d lego models I made (and rendered) in Blender 3D.

http://avitw.myvnc.com/legosite/index.html 

Also I highly recommend this book

http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=96&PHPSESSID=9fef264fb95addf1a2beeef726a3e72a&currency=USD

(I just got it)

I also have heard of jahshaka, but I though that the project was over (it seamed to be dead about 6 months ago) BUT after just visiting there website it looks like it is still going! And if have any suggestions for it then let them KNOW by posting it on there forum http://jahshaka.org/forum/

Remember it's Open Source, which usually means that they are very open to ideas, and will take your suggestions seriously. (I only mean that in comparison to say like Adobe, jahshaka would be a million times more likely to implement your suggestion(s)/idea(s))

I am also interested in "Claiming the Video Game industry for Christ".

Blender also has a built in Game engine, which (after looking at some demos of what people have done with it) is very good.

 
C@RL 

I have an eleven-year old son that is very imaginative, works well spatially (with clay and such) and would love to start this as a hobby. He's told me several times that he really wants to make video games. I need something free with plenty of documentation. Should we start with Jahshaka and Blender?

Well I think that it would be a good idea to use Blender, but not Jahshaka, (not because there is anything wrong with it, but because it's a video editor (well basically) so unless you want to edit videos there is no need to use it)

I have done very little with the Blender game engine but (as I said before) it looks like it is very good. However if you do go with Blender then I would suggest buying this e-book. http://www.blender3d.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=83

It's only $10 and would help a lot in getting started.

I hope this helps 

C@RL

Oh and there are TONS of tutorials and documentation on Blender.
And please remember, if you install it on a windows XP machine, you need to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86)
first.