The Open 3D Foundation has presented the release of Open 3D Engine (O3DE) 11/21. The inconspicuous version number conceals the first major release of the open source engine for 3D content. Windows users will thus receive the first stable version. Under Linux, the 3D engine goes from the developer preview to the preview phase, and a simplified installation option is available for both operating systems.
Open 3D Engine
Just a few months ago, the Linux Foundation announced the establishment of the Open 3D Foundation, of which more than 20 members include Adobe, AWS and Red Hat. In this context, AWS donated an updated version of Amazon Lumberyard as the basis for the new Open 3D Engine (O3DE), which was initially released as a developer preview. The first major version that has now been published was created with the participation of more than 250 developers.
It should accelerate the installation on Linux and Windows: Both a native version of the 3D engine as a Debian package as well as a verified windows installer are ready. In addition, interested parties can try out nightly development builds.
Expandable features
The 3D engine should be suitable for the development of demanding games, so-called AAA games, as well as for high-fidelity simulations and 3D worlds in cinema quality. For this, O3DE relies on a real-time physics engine, an expandable, visual 3D content editor and an expandable multi-threaded renderer. If you want to get started with 3D development, can be found in the Learning Guide (video) tutorials.
Since O3DE has a modular structure – the individual components are called Gems – the required components can be specifically selected. Community-driven gems can be used, for example, to add AI and robotics functions, and a connection to the cloud is also possible through existing gems or by creating your own.
All further information on O3DE 21.11 are recorded in the official blog. The source code of the Apache 2.0 licensed 3D engine under the administration of the Linux Foundation can be found on GitHub.
(May)
