Questions about the engine

Get help with installing and running the Cafu Engine here. This forum is also for general questions and discussion of all aspects regarding the Cafu Engine.
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Carsten
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Questions about the engine

Post by Carsten » 2009-07-07, 16:04

We just got a nice email full of questions :smartass: , and as our answers might also help others, we reproduce the relevant facts here:

1) How does the map design system work? Traditional CSG/Brush or something similar to Cry Engine Sandbox, with meshes?
Mapping is based on CSG/brushes, but for terrain surfaces (meshes) we additionally use a very effective continuous LOD system.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cafu.de/wiki/mapping:cawe:intro
http://www.cafu.de/wiki/mapping:cawe:yourfirstmap (Flash tutorial)
http://www.cafu.de/wiki/mapping:cawe:ed ... ditterrain
http://www.cafu.de/wiki/#mapping ("Getting started")
2) Which model formats are supported? COLLADA and FBX are supported?
3) How's the asset pipeline between Cinema 4D, 3DS Max, and other industry-standard applications?
Currently, we can directly import ase, mdl (Half-Life 1), lwo (Lightwave Object) and md5 (Doom 3) models.
However, note that right now we're working on a much better workflow solution that comes as a "model editor" as part of CaWE. It will allow to import more model file formats, assign Cafu specific attributes and features, and then save the result as an optimized model for use with the Cafu engine.
4) Aside from graphics and physics, which we don't care much, how does the engine handle Networking, AI and general single-player experience?
Network-code is built-in, ready to use. In fact, every Cafu engine game, including local single-player games, really run over a (real or loopback) network connection. That is, the networking code is always active.

Implementation of AI is up to the game DLL / MOD.
5) How customizable the engine is? Will i get limited by lack of features, or i can go ahead and implement them myself?
Of course you can implement additional features yourself!
6) How's the engine performance?
Cafu engine performance is generally considered very good.
We have very good data structures (BSP tree computation and very effective PVS, potentially visibility set), great algorithms e.g. for terrain simplification / continuous LOD, and use very nice lightmaps that are created from Radiosity computations.
Lightmaps give very good performance, and can in Cafu be combined with dynamic, per-pixel lighting and shadows, which is in fact the default mode of operation.
7) Can we compile cross-platform games?
Yes, Cafu is very standards conforming, uses only cross-platform libraries (that btw. are all free for and comply with commercial, closed-source use), and works on Windows and Linux right now. We're planing a port to Mac and consoles as soon as possible.
8) Can we customize game logic? (create scripted sequences, change the way weapons work, change the way the player moves, etc.)
Of course!
You can directly modify the C++ game code, which is cleanly designed to exist in a separate DLL module, you can create map and entity script code, and you can create GUIs in a graphical editor and/or script them.
9) What's your refund policy?
Our commercial licenses are non-refundable, but we currently offer custom, very attractive solutions for testing and evaluation - contact us for details!
10) Why should we buy your engine, instead of other mainstream solutions like Unity and Torque?
Well, we would like to let our engine speak for itself:
Check out Hope this helps. :wohow:
If you have any more questions, please contact us at any time. :up:
Best regards,
Carsten
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