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DarkBASIC (The Ultimate 3D Game Creator)
FastTrak (
30 March, 2001 )
Software |
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£
17.99 |
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List
Price
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£
39.99
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You save £22 (55% off) |
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subject to change. |
usually dispatched within 24 hours. |
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It does just what it says on the box  |
I purchased this program because my nephew, 12 years old, wanted to write a 3D RPG game. I am a professional programmer and here are my opinions:-The negative vibes first:- The editor stinks (but there is a half decent Freeware replacement out there called DarkEdit). You have to use the naff editor for context-sensitive help. Bummer! The printed manual is not much more than the on-line help available in the demo version. I expected more! Now the good bit:- Wow! If you want to get a 3D graphics program up and running in no time at all, this is for you. It is VERY EASY to learn the basics. There is an excellent series of tutorials with the commercial version. My nephew is doing 3D stuff that already! There are free 3D terrain editor out there that make life easier. You can load and use loads of 3D models from the web without having to be an expert. Makes 2D and 3D graphics really are easy. Forget the moans about slow. It depends on your machine. On my PC (1Ghz PIII, 390Mb, 32Mb Gfx) DarkBasic executables fly. On my laptop they are slower, but still acceptable. On an old PC (233Mhz, 64Mb total, 8Mb shared Gfx) the executables run too slow for comfort, but so do most MS Office applications. If the authors bring out a compiler in the near future then this will go from an AWESOME product to one of the best of its genere for any platform (AMOS, eat your heart out) to date. The rating would have been five star, but the supplied editor really is that bad!
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mutimedia programming for the masses |
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Ever programmed in BASIC? Ever wanted to design and write a multimedia application or game but didnt have time to climb the technology learning curve required for professional graphics and sound. Well this product makes it quite feasable for anyone. Dont be fooled, you will need to program in BASIC to use DarkBasic but the commands available do much of the highly technical work associated with 2D/3D graphics, sound and the control of input devices like mice, joysticks and even VR glasses! So if you can program or are willing to learn a beginners language you will be easily controling audio and sophisticated graphics in one tenth of the time required by traditional programming tools like C++, Pascal etc. A decent 3D graphics card is recomended for complex 3D games.
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Good fun programming with quality end results!  |
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This software lets you have fun! If like me you were getting fed-up with your PC and find youre using it for nothing more than games and the Internet then DarkBASIC is ideal. If you were one of those people who used to own an Atari ST/Amiga then you probably miss being able to be so creative with it, just programing your own games and demos and basically having fun with the machine. To me, DarkBASIC lets me re-live those feelings again. Within minutes of installing it youll have 3D objects flying around the screen. Dedicate a little more time to it and you may want to start re-creating some classics (Pacman, Tetris, etc) and spend even longer and youll move onto bigger and better things! The DarkBASIC web site is a fantastic place to meet other people doing the same and you can often collaborate on projects and learn a great deal as well as download tons of games and source code to rip apart and use. This product really does let you hark back to the days of bedroom coding and for me its that enjoyment and fun factor that makes it worthwhile. The way in which I can pick up DarkBASIC and within an hour or so crank out a decent little product and feel like Ive done something worthwhile with my PC. Excellent!..
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