Xith3D vs. jME?

[victorwang]

Hey! My first post.  

Could someone please explain to me which one is more suitable for what?  They both look very full featured and have good support.  It seems that Xith3D is more standard/official since it has a spot in the java-gaming.org forums... but jME has a bunch of cool features missing from Xith3D such as lens flares and prebuilt particle systems...

Right now, I'm basically deciding which one I should devote my time to learning, and I am leaning towards Xith3D because it seems more standard and shares many commonalities with Java3D, which means time spent learning Xith3D is transferrable in case I ever decide to use the Java3D standard.

I realize that "which one is better" is probably a dumb question, but could somebody who has actually used both please compare the two and help me decide which one to learn?  I don't want to "waste" time with an API that will just fade away in a couple of years or that won't provide the functionality I will need eventually to make my supergame once I am uberjavaman.  Thanks.  

BTW, I've already done a lot of research and have basically narrowed it down to these two.  And yes, I have tried to look for a good comparison of the two, but so far nobody has really done a good, unbiased job of that.   :-/

[kevglass]

Unfortunately you're unlikely to get an unbiased view. I've seen very few people that have tried both in earnest.

For instance, I used Xith mostly simply because I heard about it first. Its pretty good but seems to be having a fair lag in development now. It supports some great stuff but you do have to do a fair bit of work to get towards gaming.

I did have a look at jME quite recently and I loved the fact that you got lots of game related stuff for free. However, I wasn't particular keen on the sort of scenegraph thats used as its base. Performance seems good but documentation was close to non existent when I last checked.

So, unbiased it isn't, but if you're just starting out with some basic game Xith will be fine. If you want the engine to do alot of the work for you and have the time to learn in jME is your cookie.

Why are coding? Fun or Money? Hobby or Commerical? How much time have you got?

Kev

[Mojomonkey]

jME... definately... without a doubt.  

But in all seriousness, all I can suggest is build two "HelloWorld" type apps, one in jME and one in Xith3D. See which you felt most comfortable working in. Xith3D has a tutorial page that will help with that, and there's a first draft "Beginner's Guide" at http://www.mojomonkeycoding.com/beginner/Starter.pdf for the jME side.

You aren't going to get an unbiased answer unless you find someone who hated both equally.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[victorwang]

Haha trust Mojomonkey himself to give an unbiased answer..   But yea, thanks, I'll try out both to test them out a bit.

I'm basically just doing this as a hobby, but in a couple of years I hope to have something quite exceptional that might be able get me some money  .  Timewise.. several hours a day right now... but in a couple of week's time probably closer to an hour a day on average?

Danke sirs.

[cep21]

Documentation in jME is pretty good IMHO currently.

Almost the entire jME package is javadoc'd in CVS

There is a starter guide as well that goes step by step over introduction programs, and jME uses it's own forum to answer questions.

I started with Java3d extensivly.  I built a few games with it as well as model loaders.  I later transfered to Xith3d for a speed boost and was with Xith for over a month.  When I hit jME i was impressed with how easy it is to do easy things and havn't used anything else then on.


I suggest you look at the sample code in the starter guide for jME and the sample code in xith3d's starter guide.  Get a feel for how each does different things, and go from there.

[whome]

jME uses it's own forum to answer questions.

I've always liked java-gaming.org forums as it represents Java3D, xith, lwjgl and Jogl folders. All in one place.

[kevglass]

Fraid I'll have to take back some of my comments about Jme, certainly seems to have improved documentation since I last looked!

Nice one guys!

Now, to think of game to use Jme for.

Kev

[darkprophet]

you could help out in my game?  

Kev, why dont you try and recreate one of your games in jME? Martian Madness is a good one.

Id love to be able to compare a game from both sides.

DP

[kevglass]

Actually, I have a completely seperate game planned for jME now, but I think I'll wait til its just a bit more of known quanitity (few more experts to bugs with questions )

Just trying to secure the models for the game now actually, jME happily supports Milkshape models?

Kev

[darkprophet]

yup, both kinds. ms3d and ASCII

DP