Editing Crystal Space

{{Short description|Framework for developing 3D applications written in C++}}
{{Notability|Product|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Crystal Space
| logo = Crystal Space logo.svg
| logo size = 200px
| screenshot =
| caption =
| developer = Jorrit Tyberghein et al.
| released = {{Start date and age|1997|08|26}}<ref name=firstrelease>{{Cite web |url=http://gothapedia.com/manual/root/home/user/development/cs-SVN/trunk-old/docs/history.old |title=History |website=gothapedia.com |access-date=October 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021012040/http://gothapedia.com/manual/root/home/user/development/cs-SVN/trunk-old/docs/history.old |archive-date=October 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
| discontinued = yes
| latest_release_version = 2.0
| latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|2012|07|03}}
| latest_preview_version =
| latest_preview_date =
| operating_system =
| programming_language = [[C++]]
| platform = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[game engine|3D engine]]
| license = [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.0-or-later]]
| website = {{URL|https://sourceforge.net/projects/crystal/}}
}}
'''Crystal Space''' is an [[Software maintenance|unmaintained]]<ref name="unmaintained" /> framework for developing [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[software|applications]] written in [[C++]] by [[Jorrit Tyberghein]] and others.  The first public release was on August 26, 1997.<ref name=firstrelease />  It is typically used as a [[game engine]] but the framework is more general and can be used for any kind of 3D visualization. It is very portable and runs on [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Linux]], [[Unix|UNIX]], and [[macOS|Mac OS X]].  It is also [[free and open-source software]], licensed under the [[GNU Lesser General Public License|GNU LGPL-2.0-or-later]], and was [[SourceForge.net]]'s Project of the Month for February 2003.<ref name="potm">{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/potm/potm-2003-02.php |title=Project of the Month, February 2003 |publisher=[[SourceForge.net]] |access-date=2012-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728062832/http://sourceforge.net/potm/potm-2003-02.php |archive-date=2012-07-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2019, one of the project's main developers described it as "effectively dead and has been for a good number of years".<ref name="unmaintained">{{cite web|url=https://sourceforge.net/p/crystal/discussion/2007/thread/c699124e08/#c552|title=Crystal Space 3D SDK / Discussion|last=Sunshine|first=Eric|date=31 January 2019|website=[[SourceForge]]|access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref>

== Engine design ==
Crystal Space is programmed in [[object oriented]] C++. It is very modularly built with a number of more or less independent plugins. The [[Client (computing)|client programs]] use the [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]], such as the OpenGL 3D renderer, by registering them via Crystal Space's [[Shared Class Facility]] (SCF).

==Features==
Crystal Space has modules for 2D and 3D graphics, sound, collision detection and physics through [[Open Dynamics Engine|ODE]] and [[Bullet (software)|Bullet]].
*Graphics:
**[[OpenGL]] rendering
**Supports [[hardware acceleration]] from all major card vendors
**Allows use of [[shader]]s
**Library of common shaders like [[normal mapping]], [[parallax mapping]] and hardware skinning
**Supports [[software rendering]] with limited features
*Mesh objects:
**Plugin-based mesh system
**Triangle-based meshes with frame and bone animation support
*Collision detection and dynamics:
**[[Open Dynamics Engine|ODE]] and [[Bullet (software)|Bullet]] dynamics
**Simplified collision detection when full dynamic simulation is not needed

== Reception and usage ==
The engine was, for instance, used for the Open[[Outcast (video game)|Outcast]] and ''[[PlaneShift (video game)|PlaneShift]]'' projects.<ref>[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/crystal-space-1-2-released/ Crystal Space 1.2 Released] by Corvus Elrod on [[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]] (8 October 2007)</ref> It was the Project of the Month on [[SourceForge]] in February 2003.<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Macworld]]|first=Peter|last=Cohen|url=https://www.macworld.com/article/157821/crystal.html|title=SourceForge highlights Crystal Space 3D game engine|date=2003-02-03|access-date=2023-02-20}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* {{Official website|https://sourceforge.net/projects/crystal/}} at [[SourceForge]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180111053638/http://devmaster.net/devdb/engines/crystal-space Crystal Space engine details and reviews] at the [[Internet Archive]]

{{Video game engines}}

[[Category:1997 software]]
[[Category:Cross-platform software]]
[[Category:Free game engines]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C++]]
[[Category:Game engines for Linux]]
[[Category:Python (programming language)-scriptable game engines]]