This is a new open source project under the BSD License which has been released by Funtrench. Eden is a framework that makes programming 3D games easier and uses Panda 3D as its back-end.
The currently available version supports Panda 1.5.2/1.5.3 and can be found at this SourceForge repository.
Eden provides several superclasses that allow for access to Panda’s rich set of features - physics, particle generation, and makes things such as gripping and walking much easier. Games are required to conform to an MVC (Model-View-Controller) structure that eliminates the need for paths and uses XML for defining almost everything about the game.
The project has nine sample projects and a full-featured sample game - Eden Maze.
Please try it out and comment. I’ve been using Panda for a while and I must admit I’m new to this forum. It’s a very practical and impressive engine.
I’ve had trouble installing this in Ubuntu. It somehow depended on the python2.5 header files (while I use python 2.6, the default in Jaunty.)
Also when corrected it seems to want to download the win32 build. :S
As long as Panda3D 1.5.3 is able to work on that platform then Eden should have no problem. You can even download the source and place it in site-packages/ manually, then create the Eden.pth file if the installer has issues on that platform. But thanks for that, we’ll look into it and give you a more specific reply soon.
Eden version 0.1.1 fully supports Panda 1.6.2 and will be available at our repository this week. All the feature tests work with Panda 1.6.2 (including the terrain generator which for Eden 0.1.0 was not working as from Panda 1.5.4).
For version 0.2.0 of Eden we are including Panda’s ODE inclusion as the default physics engine though the Panda physics engine will still be available for those who wish to use it.
The checkerboard class has been completed and allows the development of a full-featured 3D checkers game. A feature test sample will be included in Eden 0.2.0. A chessboard class is still under development. Some screenshots from the CheckerBoard feature test are shown below:
Eden 0.1.2 which is due at the end of next week will finally get rid of the necessity of manually configuring Panda. This way, Eden will be able to work with the default Config.prc set up.
We made this vital improvement to make Eden friendlier to everyone. Editing configuration files isn’t really a thrill.
Eden is a framework that gives you the tools necessary to make a 3D application rapidly and is fully able to support development of:
First-Person Shooters
Real-Time Strategy
CheckerBoard Games
Adventure Games
Other 3D or even 2D games.
The wiki for Funtrench’s website is up and growing daily in information. Read about installing and using Eden at Funtrench Wiki
Due to the number of changes made to Eden since 0.1.0 and the readiness of Eden 0.1.2 it has become necessary to skip the release of Eden 0.1.1 and release 0.1.2 instead. The release is undergoing final testing for Ubuntu where the installer has had issues.
Cool! Installation was flawless on my Ubuntu Jaunty box with Python 2.6, using the tar.gz.
Where can I get the mentioned sample programs though? I could only find the eden_games package containing eden_maze, but I get this error when running main.py:
:pnmtext(error): Unable to find font file aachenBT.egg
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "main.py", line 17, in <module>
main()
File "main.py", line 13, in main
EdenEvolves = EdenMaze()
File "/tmp/eden_games/eden_maze/scripts/EdenMaze.py", line 31, in __init__
self.textPlay = Text2D(90)
File "build/bdist.linux-x86_64/egg/Eden/Eden2D/Text2D.py", line 32, in __init__
File "/usr/local/panda/lib/direct/showbase/Loader.py", line 436, in loadFont
raise IOError, message
IOError: Could not load font file: aachenBT.egg
Exception AttributeError: "Text2D instance has no attribute 'virginFlag'" in <bound method Text2D.__del__ of <Eden.Eden2D.Text2D.Text2D instance at 0x27dd050>> ignored
PS. You’ve stated on the wiki page that Panda depends on Python 2.5, even on Linux. That’s not true. Panda depends on whatever version is the default version of Python for that distribution - for some it is 2.4, for some 2.5, for some 2.6.
Add the following line:
model-path /usr//site-packages/Eden/Eden2D/fontLib
Replace with the path to your Python installation from /usr/.
That should clear things up. This is a quick fix that won’t be needed in Eden 0.2.0. If possible, the 0.1.2 installer will be updated by Monday to fix this.
About the wiki, good point. I’ll change that.
For the Eden SDK samples, they are currently being uploaded to SourceForge and will be available as soon as the upload is completed.
Eden does not specifically support OSX yet, but yes we are intending to have that provision. Very likely Eden 0.2.0. Right now just download the tar.gz and install it manually in Python. Then you’ll probably have to direct Panda to the Eden fontLib directory manually too.
ya that is what im doing i just had to read your documentation to figure out how to get it running and didnt see any mention of OS X in it. so i just wanted to mention it just to make sure you were thinking about it.
The revised version of Eden 0.1.2 is finally out. Get that here.
The Eden SDK is also available for download at the same location. Feel free to download and start using Eden in your 3D development. Download the appropriate Eden installer for your platform and then download eden_sdk.tar.gz which contains the sample programs. The eden_games.tar.gz file contains the Eden Maze sample game.
This version works on most major Linux distributions. The Eden Development Team apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the problems of the first release.
I’d like to know about everyone’s first impressions. Either here or at info@funtrench.com. Thank you.
For latest information about developing in Eden, be sure to look at the wiki pages here. A tutorial on the Creation feature test is already up here and more are being worked on.
The wiki is updated constantly as Eden evolves. For any questions please register at our forums or ask here.
In other news the TrenchCube browser plugin is still very much on schedule and we will be releasing more information soon.
. Download for free at 
