Welcome to the Nevrax FAQ! The intent of this document is to answer many of the recurring questions that appear
on the NeL mailing list. It is also intended
to serve as a repository of information for people who want to know more about NeL.
Questions and comments about NeL and this site should be directed to the FAQ maintainer, Vianney Lecroart.
What is NeL, and what does it stands for ?
NeL (Nevrax Library) is a toolkit for the development of massively online universes. It provides the base
technologies and a set of development methodologies for the development of both client and server code
(Click here for more information).
Is this for a game ?
Yes and no. NeL is technically available for all forms of Internet
virtual environments, but is clearly aimed toward making a
Massively MultiPlayer Online Role Playing Game (or MMORPG) as its
first commercial application. The associated client and server software,
which are distributed along NeL are for that type of game.
Details on the game itself are not available right now, for commercial
strategy reasons. However, a sample game will be available along with the
code base.
Any other games ?
Nevrax, as a commercial entity, does not have other games scheduled
right now. However, nothing stops anybody else from using the NeL platform
and making a strategy wargame, or a virtual city, or anything else.
Have you checked WorldForge/Crystalspace/QuakeForge/others... ?
We have looked carefully at the other Free Software projects available,
before reinventing the wheel. They're all more or less compatible with ours,
on a purely license level, thanks to the GNU GPL, but
that does not mean they can fit in our development. We (the NeL maintainers)
are a commercial entity with a specific product to be delivered on time.
We want to keep a tight focus on the game we are doing right now, and
thus did not want to get involved in political struggles to get the code
we would need in, and did not want to create resentment by "taking over"
and steering other projects toward our goals, or creating a code fork
for our own purpose. Our timetable requires us to be more or less in control
of things.
How can you make money if you're writing Free Software ?
That's the catch. Free Software doesn't mean free content, or free
service. While the software will be free, we retain property of our game
data and game servers. Free Software and OnLine games are a perfect match,
as these games are not really just code, but rather a service provided
to subscribers which will pay a monthly fee to access our servers to play
our game.
We believe that we have everything to gain, and nothing to lose by
opening the source code.
I have found this bug...
The site has a bug
report section devoted to this. The easiest thing is to report the bug
using the appropriate tool, which ensures that your bug will get attention
and you will be notified of the bug's progress and eventual eradication.
I have a question on NeL architecture...
Have a look at the various NeL
documentations available.
What kind of APIs do you support ?
NeL uses an abstraction layer to separate the engine workings from the API
use. In theory, any API can be supported. Right now, NeL uses OpenGL to
get more portability across operating systems. Any card with an OpenGL
driver will thus work fine.
Other divers can be added, including a software mode for those who really
want one. But performance without a 3D accelerated card will probably be
abysmal.
On which plateform does NeL work ?
Nevrax compiles and tests NeL on PC using Windows 2000, NT4, XP and GNU/Linux, It should also work on PPC (mac)
using GNU/Linux (Thanks to Guillaume Morin).
