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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
DarkBASIC 3-D Game Creator Kit gives you the chance to create a rival if you're hooked on Quake III, Gran Turismo or Star Wars and can't wait for the next instalment to come out. If you're an experienced programmer then you will be making games in a matter of minutes, but don't worry if you're not: this utility will guide even novices through the basics of game making, allowing you to have fun creating while expanding your knowledge.
Its simple-to-use interface allows you to go from command-line programming to game-play testing in one easy function-key press. The 25 in-programme tutorials guide you through all the different elements of the programme, using 45 demos to show you line by line how to make your creation. You will be playing your own first-person shooter or flight simulator in a matter of hours.
The package includes many features to make your games even better, such as the ability to add music and import your own graphics for use within games. Included within the DarkBASIC package is Microsoft's Direct X: this powerful utility handles all the hardware in your PC, such as the graphics card and sound card, allowing you more time to concentrate on creating the game. Also included are tools for making music and animating graphics, so everything that you need to get going is here on the two-disk set.
There are more than 45 demos included on the disk so you can see how some working programmes operate. Also included are 600 textures, 120 sound effects and 900 3-D models to bring your games to life. Games can be saved as single, executable files so you don't need DarkBASIC to run them, allowing you to share them with your friends and give the professionals a good run for their money. --Robert Hyde
Find out more in our Games Programming Buying Guide
Manufacturer's Description
DarkBASIC harnesses the almighty power of DirectX with the remarkable ease of BASIC. Prepare yourself for a language that gives both absolute beginners and experienced coders unprecedented power to create professional results.
DarkBASIC is a programming language that allows you to write games with the speed and power of DirectX & Direct3D. What makes this product so fantastic is that it provides beginners with the best opportunity to learn how to program! The interface has been designed to get you going immediately. So friendly is DarkBASIC, the learning curve alone will provide hours of enjoyment. Imagine your very first program running in less than five minutes!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
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Those negative reviews here seem to be from people misunderstanding what DarkBASIC is, and what it isn't.
DarkBASIC will not allow you to create games which will be of commercial saleable quality, i.e. you will not see Quake 4 or H&D2 programmed in DarkBASIC. Similarly DarkBASIC, while much easier than programming C++, will not do all the work for you - you still have to program and you still have to have an idea worth programming.
But DarkBASIC is a lot of fun - you CAN create worthwhile games which play well and look great, games of near-commerical quality. ...In addition there is a thriving on-line community where you can pick up useful tips and share code. But you do need a decent system to run your games on - I wouldn't consider running a decent DB game with multiple 3D objects on screen on less than a P500.
Don't listen to the doubters but do understand you're not buying something which will make you the next Eidos. Then just have fun!
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Something that a lot of people don't understand about DarkBasic is that it's a programming language.
Read that again.
In some of these reviews, people have said that they have found other "languages" faster and better. Unfortunately, most of these aren't programming languages, so all your programs look exactly like everyone elses. DarkBasic allows you to make an *individual* game, which is the only thing that will stand a chance of getting published in the market today.
Additionally, although this is a perfect language for beginners, only advanced programmers will be able to make a good game. Luckily, because of the ease of use, a beginner can easily turn into an advanced programmer by using DarkBasic for a while! As with all programming languages, an tight and fast core loop is extremely important and there are many optimisations you can carry out in your code to make your game run lighting fast.
It is not as fast as C++. But a beginner (or many advanced programmers) are going to find it very hard to make a game in C++, not least because of the unfriendliness of the DX API.
The only reason I have not given this program 5 stars is because of the slow 2D support (but it is a 3D language, not 2D), and because there are 1 or 2 language quirks. These are minor things, but it is useful to know about them before making your perfect game!
DB recently won the isodor software award for best development tool. I think that it really deserved this.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Mark
I purchased this program because my nephew, 12 years old, wanted to write a 3D RPG game. I am a professional programmer and here are my opinions:-
The negative vibes first:-
The editor stinks (but there is a half decent Freeware replacement out there called DarkEdit). You have to use the naff editor for context-sensitive help. Bummer! The printed manual is not much more than the on-line help available in the demo version. I expected more!
Now the good bit:-
Wow! If you want to get a 3D graphics program up and running in no time at all, this is for you. It is VERY EASY to learn the basics. There is an excellent series of tutorials with the commercial version. My nephew is doing 3D stuff that already! There are free 3D terrain editor out there that make life easier. You can load and use loads of 3D models from the web without having to be an expert. Makes 2D and 3D graphics really are easy. Forget the moans about slow. It depends on your machine. On my PC (1Ghz PIII, 390Mb, 32Mb Gfx) DarkBasic executables fly. On my laptop they are slower, but still acceptable. On an old PC (233Mhz, 64Mb total, 8Mb shared Gfx) the executables run too slow for comfort, but so do most MS Office applications. If the authors bring out a compiler in the near future then this will go from an AWESOME product to one of the best of its genere for any platform (AMOS, eat your heart out) to date.
The rating would have been five star, but the supplied editor really is that bad!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
This software let's you have fun! If like me you were getting fed-up with your PC and find you're using it for nothing more than games and the Internet then DarkBASIC is ideal. If you were one of those people who used to own an Atari ST/Amiga then you probably miss being able to be so creative with it, just programing your own games and demos and basically having fun with the machine. To me, DarkBASIC let's me re-live those feelings again. Within minutes of installing it you'll have 3D objects flying around the screen. Dedicate a little more time to it and you may want to start re-creating some classics (Pacman, Tetris, etc) and spend even longer and you'll move onto bigger and better things! The DarkBASIC web site is a fantastic place to meet other people doing the same and you can often collaborate on projects and learn a great deal as well as download tons of games and source code to rip apart and use. This product really does let you hark back to the days of bedroom coding and for me it's that enjoyment and fun factor that makes it worthwhile. The way in which I can pick up DarkBASIC and within an hour or so crank out a decent little product and feel like I've done something worthwhile with my PC. Excellent!..
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
I been around darkbasic since it was in beta back in 99. I must say the program is one of the easiest programming languges out there. But not only is it easy it is also powerfull. Yes it does have issues with speed and poor IDE, but those can all be fixed and will be fixed over time. If your a beginner its a great starting place, I used to suggest beginners start with qbasic but now I recommend Darkbasic. Advance programmers can also use if they just want to whip something out real fast and to make prototypes or what have you. Dont listen to these people who bash it, most the time there programs are slow because they cant program worth a tiddlely lick.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Basic
I have used dark basic off and on for some time.
If you wish to create reasonable games then be prepared to have to learn to program. Read more
If you wish to create reasonable games then be prepared to have to learn to program. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2011 by mSw
4.0 out of 5 stars
DarkBasic...The Ultimate 3D Game Creator?
The answer to that question depends on whether you have programming experience. If you do, you'll probably find that the tutorials and help files included will give you a good... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2004
2.0 out of 5 stars
not for beginners
We got this thinking it would be an easy way into games programming. It isn't. As a professional programmer, I found the old fashioned Basic frustrating. Read more
Published on 7 May 2004 by MR PETER M PARSLOW
4.0 out of 5 stars
The review that would help me when I was looking
I was trying to figure out if spending money for DBClasic would worth the trouble. I found reviews that seemed to be very much around the edges, empathy, for or against, was like... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2003 by A. Venediktou
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Basic, Easy AND Powerful
Dark Basic, it's right ther in the name, the language is basic. At first the tutorials take you through very basic things and you upload the 'cave runner' demo. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2003 by "gamerx10"
2.0 out of 5 stars
Well, its good and its bad (and its mostly bad)
For beginners, this is quite a good package, though this means doing a lot of reading over things in that half-baked manual. Read more
Published on 6 July 2002 by "ferretgames"
5.0 out of 5 stars
True but...............
Yes its true you do write a programme in 5 minutes and it is a game but a not very good one. You build a game that you fly around a cave with annoying music. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
dark or what
this is a simple games creator that is very easy to use for people starting off building games
Published on 26 May 2002 by robert
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of dark basic
I first used this a few months ago when i downloaded a demo of it after which I immediately ordered it. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2002 by Dino.hog@btopenworld.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Basic Review
Stunning graphics, and so easy to make. I think this is the best 3d game making tool I've ever used. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2002
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