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Xash3D is the powerful independent open-sourced 3D-engine, aimed for high compatibility with GoldSource engine formats (maps, models, textures, sounds, entities etc.), but with the intention to be an advanced platform for modmaking or game development. Technically it has been built from a scratch, using as totally original ideas, as some ideas from other 3D-engines. Xash3D overcomes obsolete GoldSource engine's limits and provides for you a new quality of gaming experience and modmaking capabilities, as extended map, model, texture & sound formats with higher limits, possibility to implement custom renderers with dynamic lighting and other modern features. Xash3D is the easy-to-use base to play existing Half-Life mods & create something new, impossible with GoldSource. Years of development & testing allowed to make from Xash3D a perfect mix of high compatibility with common GoldSource standards & high openness to creative modmaking ideas.

Post news Report RSS Pre-release version 0.99 of Xash3D Engine, build 3887 is here!

So the very new build of Xash3D Engine is released and awaits you in 'Files' section. This pre-release version brings many changes, so if you interested in development of the engine, please try it now and comment what do you think, because there are more things to do before final release, and you have some time to test everything and help to make Xash3D better.

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Xash3D Engine has been updated to the version 0.99 with new build 3887, and you can grab it here: Moddb.com

This is pre-release version, which brings many changes, so if you interested in development of the engine, please try it now and comment what do you think, because there are more things to do before final release, and you have some time to test everything and help to make Xash3D better. As always, there are compiled binaries for Windows, full source code for the engine and tools, the list of changes and (a bit outdated) documentation about the engine, plus game dll-files with some additional improvements which should go into 'valve' folder to replace old ones.

This build provides many innovations, improvements and bug fixes. Due to numerous and significant changes, it still may contain some minor bugs and incompatibilities with some of previously tested Half-Life mods, so Unkle Mike decided to share this version on public to make sure, that final release will be rid of most of potential issues.

There are some of most noticeable changes:

  • Better predicting system and different improvenents for multiplayer / network. Please take a notice, that networking protocol has been updated too, so this build will NOT be compatible in multiplayer with servers / clients runned on previous builds.
  • Numerous changes in the engine and rendering system to make different things (like lighting, models, beams, sprites, decals, fog, particles, rendermodes etc.) look as possibly close as they look in GoldSrc (or even better).
  • Compatibility changes for Intel iGPUs (fixing of issues like 'red walls' and such).
  • Implementation of some additional features from Quake and DarkPlaces engines (aguirRe's TxQBSP 'broken' clipnodes, BSP2 format, alias models, external colored lighting, WAD2 format etc.). Some of changes were made for new Unkle Mike's project QWrap (it's a wrapper, which allows to play Quake and its mods directly via Xash3D Engine, without porting of any game content).
  • Implementation of boneweighting on studiomodels (which is intended to be in future a working feature in Paranoia 2: Savior or games / mods based on its code).
  • New mpeglib version to prevent some issues with MP3s.
  • Additional GoldSrc-like changes: software-only gamma, brightness (still called 'Glare reduction' in menu, but now works properly), 'MP3Volume' (instead of 'musicvolume') etc.
  • Different fixes/improvements everywhere (engine, file system, sound system, input, rendering, network, server, client, console, game menu).
  • Fixed compatibility or added a possible solution for previous issues in such Half-Life mods as Azure Sheep, Black Guard, Black Ops, Chemical Existence, Cthulhu, Friendship 2.0, Gunman Chronicles, Heart of Evil, PARANOIA, Poke646, Poke646: Vendetta, Stargate SG-1 Missions, Sweet Half-Life, They Hunger, Visitors etc.

Due to some of compatibility reasons Unkle Mike decided to remove the support of HD textures ('materials') from the engine. If you have some suggestions about that, please comment too.

If you have any troubles with using of Xash3D, please check this manual: Moddb.com

For questions about compatibility with singleplayer Half-Life mods / maps refer there (though the information may be outdated a bit): Moddb.com & Moddb.com

Pay attention, that Xash3D-based mods (such as XashXT, Paranoia 2: Savior, Quake Remake) are not compatible with build 3887 yet, because their game code is closely associated with old features of Xash3D Engine. So please wait until they are properly updated too.

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Magic_Nipples
Magic_Nipples

I can't get the bone weights to work. I used that custom studiomdl from the forums, but the models don't appear in game.

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Qwertyus Author
Qwertyus

This will work in future updates of Paranoia 2. Currently you can only test this in P2 modelviewer, not in game.

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Magic_Nipples
Magic_Nipples

Do you know if he will make it work with base Xash3d, and not specifically Paranoia 2?

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Qwertyus Author
Qwertyus

No, if only in XashXT (but it's very unlikely). But P2 is planned to be a good modding platform too (though with closed source code) - Unkle Mike already added weapon customization into it, and will add monster customization and some parent system features from XashXT, so it will be possible to create different mods even without high level programming skills.

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Magic_Nipples
Magic_Nipples

Well my only problem is I need more than to just customize the guns. I have my own custom ai for monsters, and I can't implement that in a closed source.
After Elber said he would release a source code, this is a let down.

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a1batross
a1batross

Bone weights are implemented in engine studio render already(see gl_studio.c).

Jiggle bones are easy to implement, but Unkle Mike keeps his studio format closed. However I can give some hints about it, mail me if you are interested. Or just wait, until I will finish my jiggle bone implementation for plain HLSDK.

I don't know so much about inverse kinematics, but AFAIK Unkle Mike has taken the idea from Source engine, so it should be similar.

My mail: a1ba (dot) omarov (at) gmail (dot) com.

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maxx.io
maxx.io

can you update us on the progress of .99? I was hoping that it would come out in december because you guys do good **** with this engine but i guess it hasnt happened. talking about the full release by the way

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Qwertyus Author
Qwertyus

Unkle Mike decided to delay final release because he's working on reworking of map compilers for the engine. Currently 2 versions of compilers are planned. The first are Unkle Mike's Half-Life Tools (UMHLT) with some improvements to the map compilers for Xash3D and vanilla Half-Life (based on VHLT). The second are Paranoia 2 compilers, which will be heavily reworked version of common compilers with a lot of new features. They also will mostly support ordinary GoldSrc maps, but will add more capabilities specifically for Xash3D & Paranoia 2. They will use best of possible algorithms of map compilation, with support of very big and complex maps (as maps from Arcane Dimensions for Quake engine) and new methods of lighting's applying and calculation (more correct and detailed shadowmaps). So final version of the engine needs more time for testing because of those changes (and because new compilers also need good testing too).

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