• Register
Post news Report RSS NeoAxis Engine 1.2 Released

NeoAxis Group is pleased to announce that new version of its all-purpose 3D game engine NeoAxis 1.2 was released. New version features numerous enhancements in different areas, including new tools in Map Editor and Resource Editor, extended localization support, ability to directly import new 3D file formats, full support for Intel HD Graphics integrated videocards, new post-processing effects (Depth of Field, God Rays and other), performance optimizations, bug fixes and more.

Posted by on

Expanded support for almost all popular 3D file formats simplified the import process of 3D content into the engine. Updated Resource Editor has new built-in tool that supports import of almost all popular 3D file formats, including Collada, 3DS, X, OBJ, partially Blender format and a number of other ones. Collada and X format supports importing of skeletal animation.

NeoAxis 1.2 rendering system received new and exciting features. Depth of Field, Volumetric Light Scattering (God Rays) and Vignetting post-effects will make your environments more vivid and appealing. Post effects now can be set and tweaked from inside the Map Editor.

Updated Map Editor received new tools and features that made it even more complete and powerful than it was before. Automatic resource update mode has been added. This mode allows detecting external changes and updating resources that were changed from outside the editor. Mode supported for textures, materials and meshes. So, for example, with this mode enabled when you add changes to some texture in Photoshop, the Resource Editor can refresh it automatically for you. New add-on system was integrated into the Resource Editor that allows creating and plugging-in of special add-ons via standardized ways.
New tool in Map Editor called Step Movement Tool enables the discreet movement, rotation and scaling of objects, providing the developers with precise and more accurate control over those attributes. Another new tool, the Move Selected Objects to Camera allows to instantly move selected objects to camera position, and the Lock Selected Objects to Camera tool can "lock" and temporarily attach selected objects to the camera, and they will move with the camera. Details about these new tools available in NeoAxis Development Blog.

The Resource Editor received some enhancements as well. Edit mode has new Free Camera mode available, which can be activated from the Toolbar. The Resource Editor camera received new attributes — Near Clip Distance, Far Clip Distance, Field Of View (FOV), which can be changed through Options dialog. The new Refresh button was added to the resource trees. Much like the Map Editor, the Resource Editor also supports new add-on system. Lastly, stability of all tools with invalid textures, meshes and materials was improved.

In NeoAxis 1.2 localization system was significantly improved. The new Localization Server service allows centralizing the translation of the engine and its toolset to the new languages. The service consists of localization server, web-interface and special add-on for the Resource Editor. Localization Server was already used in practice - NeoAxis 1.2 has new languages added: Chinese, Ukranian, Belarusian and French.

Among the other new features it is possible to highlight:

  • Full support for Intel HD Graphics integrated videocards.
  • Physics System: Ability to use dynamic bodies with triangle mesh shapes. In addition to convex-hull support, now usual triangle meshes can be used as a collision mesh. Internally mesh automatically divided to many convex-hulls. Developers can configure decomposition parameters in Physics Model Editor.
  • The official support of new texture file formats, including JPEG 2000, TIFF, GIF, ICO.
  • Numerous internal improvements for better performance and loading speed.
  • ...many other improvements and bug fixes.

Full list of changes since NeoAxis 1.1 is available in official Changelog section.

Note that starting from NeoAxis 1.2 Team License (Team Indie and Team Commercial) terms have been changed. Now such licenses are limited to 5 developers. If there is a need to use it with more than 5 developers — you should buy two or more licenses. Important: new license terms are used only for new customers, existing owners of Team licenses are covered by the old license terms.

During the development of NeoAxis 1.2 several events took place that we'd like to highlight. First, the NeoAxis Engine was used as the main 3D engine in the staff training simulator for chemical factory in Russia. More details about such usage available in the following Success Story. Second, a new game that was created using NeoAxis Engine recently was released. Elementary My Dear Majesty! is a beautiful casual 3D game in Hidden Object genre. Finally, talented game developers from Japan released a very interesting anime inspired game called Homura Combat, which also was created using NeoAxis Engine. Homura Combat is a third-person shooter game with the ability to freeze time and destructible environments.

Future plans of NeoAxis Group for the engine is to implement support for mobile platforms, such as Android and iOS in first place. NeoAxis Engine already is running well on Android using internal development builds of the engine, so support for this platform can be expected in next update - NeoAxis 1.3. Stay tuned for news and interesting announcements!

Official NeoAxis Engine website
Download NeoAxis Engine SDK 1.2 with included demo maps

About NeoAxis Engine

NeoAxis Game Engine is an all-purpose, modern 3D graphics development tool for 3D simulations, visualizations and games.

About NeoAxis Group

NeoAxis Group Ltd is a company focused on modern real-time 3D solutions. The main activity of NeoAxis Group is the development of NeoAxis Engine, a cross-platform engine for 3D simulations, visualizations and games.


Post comment Comments
SinKing
SinKing

I would have enjoyed this demo more with a persistant framerate. My overall impression is positive. Would be a great engine for mobile development. Are you planning on a mobile version?

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
MisfitVillage
MisfitVillage

The demo has some overly complex physics on the dynamic objects that take the framerate down considerably. You can get the same results with a higher framerate if you work a bit on it.
Cheers!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
SimplySerenity
SimplySerenity

I've got to agree with sin king. The demo has framerate issues. Along with that some of the graphical effects don't work the way they should. Like depth of field doesn't change dynamically and the god rays only show up if the sun is within your camera view. When it is the bloom from it blinds you so much you can barely see them. :P

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
MisfitVillage
MisfitVillage

Well as a NeoAxis developer I can say that you can change the settings of all those effects to your liking. You can make the depth of filed work like a macro on a digital camera if you want, and the godrays can make amazing results with just a few minutes of tinkering. Cheers!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
HappyTriggerBot
HappyTriggerBot

I working with this engine and can elaborate a little.

The framerate stuttering is most certainly due to the HD of the system this was recorded on not being able to keep up. In normal situation there is no stuttering.

Both DOF and Light Scattering effects have lots of parameters that can be adjusted.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
Magrathean
Magrathean

Future plans of NeoAxis Group for the engine is to implement support for mobile platforms, such as Android and iOS in first place. NeoAxis Engine already is running well on Android using internal development builds of the engine, so support for this platform can be expected in next update - NeoAxis 1.3. Stay tuned for news and interesting announcements!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account: