   3D Platformer Engine Recommendation?
  Yo. Me and a couple of friends are going to do a small little fun project in making a 3D platformer. You know, the genre that we all loved back in the N64 and PS One days: Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, etc. We're going through the concept stage for the time being, especially since I know that we shouldn't do any implementation until we have like a design treatment and a small design document down. Though I will prototype to show what we're capable of.The problem is, how should we go about this? I'm going to be the one programming it seems, so I need some recommendation of what engines/ tools to use. I'm not going for a big seller here since it's something for us to develop our game making skills through. I heard of engines like gmax and 3D Game Maker. I know how to use C++, so I have a good knowledge of programming down (especially if I'm going to have to learn a new language). So what do you guys recommend and what steps should I take to making it at least easy for us to get something going so that we can at least be confident that we'll have a builder for our game idea.   
  Have you checked out Blender?  It has a built in game engine and may meet your needs.Cheers, Bob   ;  Thanks. I'll be sure to check it out, though it seems to have a lot of betas.Anyone else have any ideas to throw at me? I've heard of a Torque engine. Think that is recommended too?   ;  I'd look into the Panda 3D engine if I were you. Works with both C++ and Python, and of the two, I'd recommend Python. I first worked with this engine when I had no Python experience yet, only a few years of C++, and it was amazing how easy it was to pick up and how much I could do with that engine (though, in hindsight, I should've looked into using another physics engine, as the default physics weren't very good - but that's 2 years ago, things may have changed since then).   ;  Thanks, Captain P, for the recommendation. I'll look into it.   