Hi! I’m new to the forums, and discovered Panda3D a few months ago. I’m not new to programming, I’ve been doing it since I was 10(I’m 13 now).
As far as I can tell, there hasn’t been an update to Panda3D since 2008. So, is it a dead project? Should I use it for any 3D projects in the future? Do you recommend anything else? This forum seems to be pretty active though.
To give you the scope of my project(s), the biggest project would be a Minecraft clone. I don’t want to make a GTA clone or COD clone, though I do wonder if it would be possible to do so with Panda3D. I wouldn’t do that though. Like I said, the biggest project I would make would be Minecraft clone.
Why would you say it is dead? Where did you get the 2008 figure from? (Just wondering if theres an outdated page somewhere?)
On launchpad, you can see the versions panda has gone though, with the latest bug release in April this year: launchpad.net/panda3d/+series
Theres quite a bit of activity, if you take a look at the features in development forum: viewforum.php?f=9
Although I’m not sure what the roadmap is longterm is for releasing 1.9 or 2.0.
In regards to Minecraft, I’d say it’d be a fairly big challenge, but there are some code examples throughout that other people have done that might be a good starting point.
Eg: mInicraft (work in progress)
No, Panda3D is still being actively developed. Last commit was earlier this week. I recently developed a bunch of new features as can be seen in the Panda Features in Development forum. What is it with everyone these days saying Panda is dead?
As wezu said, the blog was last updated in 2011. For some reason I thought it said 2008
Oh! A development forum! I’ll have to visit there
I take it that 1.9/2.0 is the next planned version?
Yes, I know Minecraft would be a big challenge(believe me, I’ve tried xD). I meant would it be possible? Is Panda3D actually capable of making a game like it?
As I said, the blog hasn’t been updated, and there isn’t really a good way of telling it’s active from the homepage.
So, as a side question, do you think Panda3D would be a good starting point for getting into 3D game development? Or should I have knowledge on 3D game development before starting? I have made 1 finished 2D game(and about 3 unreleased, game jam ones, and some test ones for no reason), and I’d just like to kind of mess around with 3D game development, and I think Python would be the perfect place to start!
EDIT: I’d like to point out that the “Video Lessons By Disney” take you to Google Videos… Google Videos has been gone for a few years now. Just pointing it out xD
Not sure the status on 2.0, but the 1.9 branch for me had some extra stuff that was useful, and seems just as stable as 1.8.x.
Without knowing what sort of roadblocks you’d get, I’d say its quite possible. Python I’d say is easier to get into then C++, and I think Panda3d was kinda of built as a way for students at various colleges to start working in 3d, so its probably a good way to go.
Yes… I must say I wondered since the blog was looking abandoned…
I am just considering to get into Panda, and little things can easily scare off new users, since there are many choices to go thru out there.
I hate to say it, but even the site looks dated, compared to Unity etc…
The real problem behind the question that sometimes someone raise a post with: “but panda3d is dead?”
(i think so too, everytime i come here)
is because there is a bunch of code hidden in panda3d development that doesn’t have the dedicated section in the manual and can seem dead.
