Horde3D
Next-Generation Graphics Engine
Documentation
for Version 0.10.x
Overview
Horde3D is a small open source 3D rendering engine. It is written in an effort to create a
graphics engine that offers the stunning visual effects expected in next-generation games while at
the same time being as lightweight and conceptually clean as possible. Horde3D has a simple and intuitive
interface accessible from virtually any programming language and is particularly suitable for
rendering large crowds of animated characters in next-generation quality.
Many other engines out there are offering a plenty of more or less complex ways to
achieve one goal. Horde3D is usually trying to provide you with one preferably simple way
that fits best to the majority of application needs. This helps to keep the engine's code
pretty simple and clean and decreases the learning curve for people using the engine.
Although we are trying to keep everything as intuitive and easily comprehensible as possible the
engine isn't intended for absolute novices in game or graphics programming. Horde3D is heavily
based on shaders and some experience in this area is from great advantage to exploit the full power
of the engine.
License
Horde3D is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
You can receive a copy of the license from this link.
Versions
Horde3D uses a versioning scheme with three numbers, like the following:
0.7.4
The first number is the major release. Currently everything here is in Beta state so the version is still
zero. When the engine is considered to be fully productive this will be changed to one.
The second number describes the release version. Whenever important new features are added or changes to the
programming interface or data formats are made this number will be increased.
Finally the last number indicates the service release. These releases are fully downwards compatible with the
current release and fix primarily bugs or improve performance.
Tutorial
The best way to demonstrate how easy it is to use the Horde3D API is by showing a small example. The following sample initializes the engine, loads a character model with animation and makes it play the loaded walk cycle.
Small tutorial
Using Horde3D
For information on how to use Horde, see the following link:
Usage Guide
References
The API references and content creation guides are available here.
