3D Earth Screensaver
Community Forums/Showcase/3D Earth Screensaver
| ||
 This is a 3D earth screensaver, written in Blitz3D. I wanted to make something fairly simple, and to understand the process of packaging a Blitz3D program for release. Creating the screensaver was a lot harder than I thought it would be - but now I have a framework to release other screensavers. Key Features: * A rotating sphere * Completely unrealistic weather systems * It's a screensaver Screenshot:  Requirements: * Windows PC (not tested on Vista yet) * 3D graphics card (if you have >128mb gfx card RAM, you should get ultra hi-res textures) Click here to download (14.5mb) |
| ||
| Look fine. But would be nice if there was some stars in the background and perhaps som camera movement or zooming. |
| ||
| Maybe any screens? |
| ||
| :-( doesn't run in preview window :-( no uninstaller :-( doesn't set itself as the default screensaver looks nice though. how about making the earth bigger? oh and remove the shameless plug. |
| ||
| Updated - Uninstaller should now appear on start menu - Found a problem with the cloud texture - looks better now - Installer should now at the end show you it selecting 'Earth Screensaver' as default - Added a screenshot above |
| ||
| Nice hi-res planet there. Robleong did a 3D Earth Screensaver a couple of years ago that has far more features ... sun, stars, etc. I won't post a link, as this thread is about yours. Works under Vista by the way. Some programs have had problems running under restricted accounts, but I didn't test for this. As long as you're installing for all users, it should be fine. |
| ||
| Thanks for testing with Vista - I suspect there might be installation rights issues with access to the windows folder for some (or many?) users though. Think I found that Robleong one: http://www.gamerblitz.com/3DEarth.php Has quite a few nice options in there that I was considering (like the cities showing up and a timeline). However it doesn't work at my native (widescreen) resolution. |
| ||
| looks nice, little more backround would be nice lol, i just finished work on my sci-fi planet screensaver a few minutes before this was posted :p |
| ||
| New version - Stars - Camera gently moves around - Soft glow around the earth (if your graphics card is capable) - Author text now fades away after a couple of seconds Download at top of page |
| ||
| It looks quite exciting - but I am not a lover of screensavers - I never use one. How about a non-screensaver version - an exe version that we can just run as and when we please? |
| ||
| Just run "Earth Screensaver.exe" in C:\Windows\ |
| ||
| Okey-dokey. |
| ||
| was logging off to go to bed, noted your saver had downloaded, logged back on - very impressive - a job very well done. |
| ||
| Thanks. New version uploaded - Better stars - Better glow - Better cloud movement |
| ||
| Nice! But the stars aren't very good... |
| ||
| Better, now you just need some satelites. |
| ||
| It looks great however, I have dual monitors, and it only runs on the primary monitor. All the windows screensavers show on both. Just say'n. |
| ||
| Hmm - is there any way for Blitz3D to go 'fullscreen' on multiple monitors? |
| ||
| Yeah thats a limitation with Directx if you want to make screensavers that show on dual monitors you have to use OpenGL. One screen will be hardware rendered and the other software rendered. But in most cases the people your targeting for screensavers have a single monitor anyways. |
| ||
| Well done, Chris! :) Your version looks good. BTW, I have a version that now works with wide screens - one customer of mine requested it, so I just added the option for him. Will have to make it more widely available when I have the time... |
| ||
| Cheers. This screensaver will remain free - the textures are open source, so I can't sell them as part of this package. I won't be developing it further as I can't be bothered - this wasn't an exercise in developing a package, it was more about completing the delivery of a package. So much of what I've attempted, I've started but never finished. Finally I can proudly say I have a completed Blitz3D product under my belt. I also don't believe there is a market for screensavers any more. I hope this brings some life to someone's desktop, somewhere, and please keep an eye out for my future developments. :) |
| ||
| I didn't think there was a market either for screensavers but I have made $250 since November selling mine. And just yesterday the first day my Forest one was on sale I made $30. The markets not as big as it once was but its still there. Take a look at my downloads on download.com http://www.download.com/Loktar-Development/3260-20_4-6268636.html |
| ||
| @Caffy: nice screensaver! I enjoyed it! @Loktar: Yes, I agree, you can make a few bucks selling home-made 3D screensavers. Here's a few of mine: Click here! |
| ||
| Caffy To me it was very beautiful my mom loved my dad loved it Thank you so much for making it when I wanted to see something that would relax me I went to your screensaver I ran it the details in textures, model ,the stars in it I give it a 5 out of 5 |
| ||
| Loktar, but do you not have to pay download.com to get listed on there? Which sales model did you use? I'm assuming you used the BASIC service? "$9 USD per month (or $79 per year) for each individual product" WOAH! Seems a bit steep. |
| ||
| I used the $9 for three of them, only for one month though I do it to get listed in 5 days, otherwise its like 20 days before your listed. You can then downgrade to free at any time. So in total I have spent $27 on listing them. Another good one is Softpedia.com lists them in 1 day and is free. Plus has an affiliate system with Plimus. I agree $79 a year is steep, lol you the $99 a month one thats just crazy. I think its Tucows.com thats the worst though it ranges up to $2,000! |
| ||
| So just listing them like this for one month seems to automatically generate that many sales? |
| ||
| Typically I upload my free screensavers using the free service which as Loktar pointed out takes 20-30 days to list. $9 is a very small investment to get your screensaver/application online in 2-5 days and if one of the editors review your screensaver, well then, that's all the better. If you can get your screensaver listed in the top 50 you will sell quite a few. |
| ||
| Does the editor typically review software listed using the free service? |
| ||
| On occasion I believe they do. |
| ||
| It's almost three weeks since I released this. It's still free to download and I've not made many changes. I've had some feedback of crashes (MAVs) under Vista. I think this is due to molebox operating in the Windows directory (which I might be able to solve). As an experiment, I decided to try out different 'marketing' techniques for it. A small, contained test of market penetration, essentially. I first submitted the download to http://www.freesaver.com/ - a high ranking Google search result (I think for the phrase 'Free Screensaver'). Heard nothing for a while. The site is abysmal, and full of low quality trash, but I thought I'd give it a go due to its high page rank and see what happens. Then I posted the link onto a forum for computer components enthusiasts that I sometimes use, and has high traffic (around 1000 active users at any one time). By chance someone was looking for a screensaver to show off their new PC and hi-res large monitor, so I quickly linked my screensaver. Just from that one post alone, I got just over 100 downloads. Today my screensaver was listed on www.freesaver.com and it has gone above 50 downloads in the first hour. They've rated it 1 star (which is pretty low) with 3 being the highest. I've looked at some 2 star entries and they're pretty shocking, so I'm not sure how good their criteria is for scoring. So far over 200 downloads total and no donations. I wonder if I'll ever get one? You never know... Anyway that's my fairly dull report. :) I might now look into actually making a proper set of shareware screensavers now - it's fairly easy to do, and provided I can iron out the vista issues I might see some actual income from it. |
   |