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Quake II Mods for Engineering Students

Posted by chrisd on from the aim-the-bfg-at-the-hydrogen-atom dept.

gleeklet writes "Has anyone else seen that there is a need for inexpensive 3D visualization software for presentations and classroom lectures? There is a Chemical Engineering package available but compared to video game software, the graphics are a bit lacking. My goal was to create a chemical plant with the process control algorithms coded into the Quake II source. As a short demo I spent several hours creating a unit cell demo Quake II level to demonstrate the use of open source video game technology, which I found was well received by undergrads. Has anyone used video game technology as an education tool for science or engineering?"

1 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Seen it done - it works by Bastian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm doing some undergraduate research in computer vision. I looked at using the Quake II and Crystal Space engine, but turned them down in favor of making my own engine (they didn't fit my needs as well as I had hoped). However, I have talked to other people doing research in the same field using game engines, and they have been quite successful.

    I'm not sure Quake2 is the best engine, simply because it is very game oriented, but if your requirements allow you to do the coding in QuakeC rather than modifying the engine directly, it would be an excellent option - for one, you get automatic support for any platform that Quake II has been ported to.

    If you need to work with the engine at a lower leve, I would suggest giving a free games engine such as Crystal Space a try. Although I think CS is a bit unwieldy to work with, others seem to like it.