![Image](http://www.ca3d-engine.de/images/forum/getting-hotter.png)
We've long and carefully considered this step, and we're very happy now to have reached a conclusion!
Why was the change necessary, and what are the goals?
Over the years, it turned out that the current name "Ca3D-Engine" and it's most common abbreviation "Ca3DE" had a big potential to confuse people. We frequently get questions such as:
- "Now, what is the proper, real name of your software?"
- "How is it spoken?" (in English, German, Chinese, French, ...)
- "Is it related to CAD?" (Computer Aided Design),
- "Oh my, this name is difficult to type and to remember!"
- "Why is the 'E' missing from your favicon?"
- ...
Moreover, there has always been an issue with "CA3D", being a registered trademark of Walter-B. Zegenhagen. We were using our very similar term with Walters kind permission (a thousand thanks to him for his understanding!), but this as always been another source of confusion.
So we were looking for a new name that is is short, concise (prägnant), timeless (zeitlos), attractive and fashionable, and possibly allows the introduction of a mascot at a later time (e.g. like the penguin for Linux).
The solution
Iterating through dozens of suggestions, we finally came up with the obvious: Cafu Engine
The new name meets all the above requirements, plus we can much simplify our future texts: no more "-" dash is required, and we can even omit the additional word "Engine" in most cases.
The rename will be implemented with the version following the upcoming 9.06 release, and we will globally replace the related strings in our website contents, documentation, forum posts, etc.
More News
Well, the Ca3D/Cafu Engine is getting hotter inherently as well!
![WOW :wohow:](./images/smilies/wohow.gif)
We've just finished a new, small tutorial "Using ASE models" that explains how ASE models are prepared for use with Cafu (or still: the Ca3D-Engine
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Even better, planning has begun for the release following 9.06: See http://www.ca3d-engine.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=662 for more details.