The Drag[en]gine is an free software project with a highly modular structure based on the GLEM System. Its design is similar to an operating system. The entire functionality is provided by Modules comparable to device drivers. The engine itself acts like a system kernel managing modules, resources and abstracting the underlying system. Due to the loose coupling of the modules with the system and other modules it is very easy to exchange or improve them without interfering with the rest of the engine. As a result the modularity extends from the developer to the end user who can now choose the optimal module combination for his personal computer even down to per game setups ( and even while running a game ) if required. Developers do not have to worry anymore about low level concerns keeping them concentrated on their game. In contrary to other engines (including high-end commercial ones) the Drag[en]gine provides true 0-Day portability of games with no extra costs and no troubles neither for the developer nor the end user.
Legal Information
The Drag[en]gine Game Engine is dual licensed under L-GPL (for commercial projects and proprietary use like on consoles) and GPL (for free game project). This affects only game engine modules, launchers and IGDE editors. Game projects do not link against the game engine and thus are not affected by the license.
In short: By using Drag[en]gine you do not have to worry about licensing at all.
Advantages of the Drag[en]gine
... for the Game Designer:
- Use your Scripting Language of choice.
- Hardware is fully abstracted. You only have to know how your chosen Scripting Language works
- Updating the engine and modules is handled by the respective teams. You only have to worry about updating your game
- No need to write specific content for specific systems. The users choice of modules takes care of this for you
... for the Module Coder:
- Play around with individual parts of the engine without disturbing any other part. Test easy and fast new algorithms or features
- Various debugging features help to debug fast and easy modules even during run-time
- Loose coupling and high encapsulation yields in a more stable game engine
- Platform specific code is only handled in modules increasing portability
... for the Customer:
- Choose the optimal combination of modules for your system. The Drag[en]gine adapts to match your system not the other way 'round!
- Open standards and free file formats ensure unrestricted and easy modding using free software applications
- Various Launchers allow you to use the Drag[en]gine for more than just gaming
- The Crash Recovery System prevents a game from crashing to desktop. While CRS is running change parameters or entire modules and continue your game from where it went out for lunch.
For more information check out the Drag[en]gine Wiki.
Features
Due to the modular nature a fixed list of engine features as other engines provide is not possible since it all depends on the customer's choices. To avoid cluttering the summary find the features list in this article:
Articles
Drag[en]gine Game Engine Release 1.13
Some of the changes:
- Drag[en]gine: Added "invert blend factor" parameter to animator rules.
- DragonScript: Added slider widget and widget title to improve handling styled titled borders.
- DragonScript: Added support for AnimatorDefinition deep copy and loading animation as AnimatorDefinition or Animator.
- DragonScript: Added conversation gesture fade-in and fade-out controller support.
- IGDE: Added support for Edit Path Widget to switch between relative/absolute path, browse directory in operating system file browser and select files keeping relative/absolute path.
- IGDE: Added support for modules to process command line arguments for Game Continuous Integration. See Game CI Wiki Page.
- Conversation Editor: Added support to set default duration on gestures.
See the full changelog here: Changelog Release 1.13.
Drag[en]gine Network Library 1.0
The Drag[en]gine game engine network module uses DNP (Drag[en]gine Network Protocol) to communicate with other game engine instances. For certain use cases you do not need a full fledged game engine. For these situations the Drag[en]gine Network Library has been created. These are static libraries to include into existing applications to speak DNP. Supported right now are:
- Static Library for C++ applications.
- JAR library for Java/Android applications.
- More to come (Python, C#...)
Typical use case are:
- Game servers hosting one or more games.
- Persistency support like database access, leader boards or spectator mode.
- Game development support like UnrealEditor plugins (LiveLink for DEMoCap for example).
- Administrator/Debug access.
The video below shows the example clients included in the release which synchronizes a simple float value.
See the source code in the Github Repository for how to use these libraries.
Drag[en]gine Distribution 1.13
To help distribute your games find here also the updated distribution files for Steam and Microsoft App Store.
![Drag[en]gine 1.12 with Super Sponza](https://media.indiedb.com/cache/images/articles/1/306/305846/crop_120x90/dragengine-release-1-12.png)
Drag[en]gine 1.12 with Super Sponza
NewsDrag[en]gine reached 1.12 and has a new demo project: Super Sponza.
DEMoCap Blender Tools
NewsReleased the first version of the DEMoCap Blender Tools simplifying the process of importing motion capture into Blender and post processing.
DEMoCap Steam Release
NewsDEMoCap made its appearance on the Steam Store. Also available now the Delga Distribution files for your projects.
![Drag[en]gine Game Engine 1.11 and DEMoCap 0.6 Release](https://media.indiedb.com/cache/images/articles/1/304/303900/crop_120x90/dragengine-release-1-11.png)
Drag[en]gine Game Engine 1.11 and DEMoCap 0.6 Release
NewsAnother release ready of Drag[en]gine and DEMoCap. Also working on getting DEMoCap onto Steam.
Games
Epsylon
AdventureEpsylon - The Guardians of Xendron takes the player on a journey to a futuristic world investigating a very special Science-Fiction setup. With a team...
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Mod SDK & Community
Built a game for Drag[en]gine and want to support mods? Try mod.io, a cross-platform mod SDK created by Indie DB which makes it easy to get a mod community up and running in-game. Currently seeking games to integrate and promote
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Hey, I'd like to ask, I remember a feature that randomizes textures so that vast open space doesn't look artificial. Really useful for oceans or deserts and something that plagues many AAA games.
What was the name of said feature again?
This can be done using the "variation.u" and "variation.v" texture properties: Developer.dragondreams.ch .
If enabled you can use layered textures (3D textures) for individual texture properties (like color). Right now *.png3d is supported or using constructed textures: Developer.dragondreams.ch .
*.png3d is by the way just a *.tar file with "zX.png" files inside where X is the layer/depth (0,1,...).
I have been looking forward to seeing this engine working and downloadable but after all these years I do not see this happening. On a number of occasions you have stated you only have to clean up a few things and finalize before release, that was nearly 2 years ago.
Don't worry. The release is slated for within 2-3 weeks from now. What's left currently is brushing up the example project so people get a grasp of what can be done as well as brushing up the documentation (Wiki side). Then the public GIT repo will be set up with an initial cast of builds (linux and windows for the time being).
Thanks for the great news looking forward!
Hello. Can someone point me, where can I download Drag[en]gine? I can not find it on theyr website, can't find on their Wiki, nor could I find it here. No prebuilt engine, no modules, no sources, nothing. How can I try it?
It's not available to the public yet. There are a few things I need to clean up and finalize first before I open up the repository. I prefer a solid first release than endless patchwork.
wow, this engine looks really promising. Sadly I use a mac and can't run it, Is there any plans for a mac version? It wouldn't be to hard to port it if it runs on Linux.
The engine is POSIX based. Only thing that has to be ported is the launcher as the rest would work out of the box. Only problem: I've no access to a mac. If anybody donates a mac strong enough to run advanced graphics it could be done. Otherwise I'm afraid not for the near future.
Darn, the problem is that macs are fairly pricy, It would be hard to find a person willing to donate a up to date mac.
Also just wondering, what is the launcher written in?
They are written in C++. This is though not mandatory. Every language able to link to a C++ library can be used to write a launcher.