Features

Just Works, Right out of the Box

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No-hassle install:

  • Convenient installer packages for Windows, macOS and Linux

  • Supports Windows versions all the way from Windows XP to Windows 10

  • Supports Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” through macOS 11 “Big Sur”

  • Only one external dependency: working graphics driver

  • Sample programs run right out of Start Menu

  • No compilation step needed

Full Python Integration

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Automatically-generated wrappers expose full functionality of the engine.

  • All Python versions from 2.7 to newest 3.10 supported

  • Highly optimized: all core functionality in C++

  • Thoroughly-tested: two commercial MMOs in Python

  • Panda3D structures garbage collected when using Python

  • Manual and sample programs use Python

Exposes Full Power of Graphics API

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Modern OpenGL/DirectX features exposed directly to Panda3D user:

  • High-level shader languages: GLSL, Cg

  • Powerful interface between shaders and engine

  • Support for render-to-texture, multiple render targets

  • Use of depth/shadow/stencil textures

  • Support for tessellation and compute shaders

Shader Generation

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Many advanced rendering techniques now fully automatic:

  • Special Maps: Normal Map, Gloss Map, Glow Map

  • HDR Rendering: Tone Mapping, Bloom Filter

  • Cel Shading: Threshold Lighting, Inking

  • Shadow Mapping

  • Fullscreen filters such as Bloom, Cartoon Inking, Volumetric Lightning, Blur/Sharpen and Ambient Occlusion, as well as the ability to use your own

  • More to come

3D Pipeline

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Get models from your 3d modeller to Panda3D easily:

  • Powerful EGG/BAM format

  • EGG exporters for Maya, Blender and 3ds Max

  • Support for other 3d formats (collada, x, lwo, obj, dxf, wrl, flt)

  • Converters between different 3d formats and EGG

Audio

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Several options for adding sounds to your game:

  • Support for the OpenAL audio engine

  • Support for the FMOD audio engine

  • Support for the Miles audio engine

Physics

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Several options for physics simulation:

  • Built-in simple physics engine

  • Support for the Bullet physics engine

  • Support for the ODE physics engine

Particle Effects

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Panda3D has its own Particle System:

  • Particle effects can be stored in text files

  • Particle editor included for creating and editing particle effects

GUI

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Panda3D comes with a set of tools for the creation of a graphical interface:

  • Native DirectGUI system

  • Efficient text rendering system

  • Various third-party library options

Artificial Intelligence

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Simple AI library “PandaAI” included:

  • Steering behaviors: Seek, Flee, Pursue, Evade, Wander, Flock, Obstacle Avoidance, Path Following

  • Path Finding

  • Navigation Mesh generator for EGG files

Performance Monitoring

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Powerful performance monitoring and optimization tools:

  • Identifies bottlenecks, both CPU and GPU

  • CPU time use decomposed into more than 250 categories

  • Counts meshes, polygons, textures, transforms, state changes, etc

  • Allows user-defined CPU-usage categories

  • Tools for batching and state-change minimization

  • Tools to merge textures and minimize texture switches

  • Times draw calls using GPU timer queries

Debugging Tools

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Heavy emphasis on error tolerance and debuggable code:

  • Extreme resistance to crashing, even when errors are made

  • More than 5000 assertion-checks to catch errors early

  • Reference-counted data structures minimize memory leaks

  • Many tools to examine internal state (one shown here)

Mature, Complete System

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Mature system used to deliver several commercial games. Contains everything you need, not just the “sexy” stuff:

  • Converters for a number of file formats

  • Font file importers

  • Tools to package games into redistributables

  • Means to pack art assets into encrypted bundles

  • Lots of other boring but essential stuff