MV3D Multiplayer Game Framework Version 0.60 Released!

[SirGolan]

MV3D is an open source virtual world and multiplayer game framework written in Python. It was designed with scalability in mind and is able to distribute a world across as many servers as needed while dynamically balancing the load. The simulation framework is not specifically slanted towards any one genre of online game, and can just as easily be used for a space game as a fantasy setting. Objects on an MV3D server are simulated using the ODE physics engine. A single server can host thousands of simulated objects. MV3D supports either Python-Ogre or Panda3D on the client for visuals.

We are pleased to announce the release of MV3D version 0.60! This release focused on scalability of worlds and includes support for splitting a single area across multiple server processes with automatic load balancing and redundancy. Areas can now be connected together using gateways to build worlds limited in size only by the amount of available hardware. The Overseer Cluster Management tool was upgraded in order to better handle many processes across multiple physical servers. Camera controls across all content tools have been unified. Better support for Panda3D clients was added as well.

For more information on MV3D and this or future releases, please visit the website. The full release notes for version 0.6 are available online as well. For further inquiries, feel free to stop by our IRC channel on irc.freenode.net #MV3D.

Screenshots of our new Demo World, the Town of Wellston:

[qubodup]

Hi,

Server, Client and Tools seem to be windows-only(?). Is the plan to be cross-(mac/win/linux)-plattform?

MV3D currently hosts a repository of assets available in games linked to MV3D's network. These assets are free to use how you like and are completely set up and ready to use. Soon, we will launch a site for users to add their own free assets

http://www.mv3d.com/trac/wiki/AssetRepository

Are these models available for use in projects not linked to MV3D?

[SirGolan]

Server, Client and Tools seem to be windows-only(?). Is the plan to be cross-(mac/win/linux)-plattform?

Currently Windows + Panda3D or Ogre3D and Linux + Panda3D (and probably any other Panda3D supported platform) are officially supported for the client. The server officially supports Windows and Linux, but you can probably get it running just about anywhere that Python and Twisted support. Currently there's only binary releases for Windows though. Some people have had a bit of luck with Linux + Ogre3D, but Python-Ogre can be really tricky to compile and they don't release binary packages for Linux, so it isn't an officially supported platform.

Are these models available for use in projects not linked to MV3D?

The models and textures from the old demo world were all under an open license (or public domain). The current demo world models are under the MIT license like the rest of MV3D, but we still have to do a bit of checking on the textures to make sure all of them can be released under an open license. So to answer your question, more or less, yes. Only the Ogre3D / Panda3D format meshes are currently available.

Thanks!

Mike

[qubodup]

Glad to hear it's cross-platform!

Glad to hear you're going to clear up the license questions too!

Will the model source files be available? (not sure ogre3d/panda3d is well-importable into blender/wings3d or well-convertable to .obj)

[SirGolan]

Will the model source files be available? (not sure ogre3d/panda3d is well-importable into blender/wings3d or well-convertable to .obj)

That's a good question! The current plan was to write a public web interface that let you browse and upload / download assets that were imported into MV3D (which would mean only Ogre3D or Panda3D format meshes). I think there's an exporter for Panda meshes (or maybe it was a 3ds max importer for them, I forget). Ogre3D meshes can be turned into xml files. I don't (after a quick google search) see anything to directly convert them to anything else, but it should be easy to write such a converter. Hope that helps!

Thanks,

Mike