The instructions and examples in this manual were written with reference to the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Now, with Ca3DE being also available on Linux, I rely on the Linux users skills and experience to transfer the provided information to their favourite OS. The transfer is almost always very easy to achieve: Examples include that Linux has .tar.gz file archives versus .zip file archives on Windows, and that the Linux executables have no file name suffix whereas the Window executables are suffixed by .exe.

I hope that this helps to keep this manual easy and intuitive to understand for everyone. The alternative would had been to mention all speficics for each OS in each text fragment and each example.

• The Linux port is still incomplete: The Options dialog is missing.
• Sound drivers frequently cause problems under Linux. Therefore, Ca3DE ignores sound initialization failures on Linux, prefering no or broken sound output over no functionality at all.
• The dynamic shadows are not always correct. The world is sometimes lit where no light should be.
• Use the latest drivers for your video card.
• Windows 95 and 98: Do not run Ca3DE from a full-screen DOS-Box. It will report an error.

This is not finished!

The Ca3D-Engine project consists of many executables, has undergone many revisions and is likely to develop further. Moreover, the project has several names which are abbreviations of each other and which are used interchangeably on the website and throughout this entire manual. Here is a description which should clarify “what is what” in a logical order:

• [Carsten] This is my first name, hence the engine name \emph{Carsten's 3D Engine}.
• [Carsten's 3D Engine] The full name of the 3D engine project.
• [Ca3D-Engine] An abbreviation of the project name which is commonly used.
• [Ca3DE] Another frequently used abbreviation. This term is also used as the file name for the main engine's executable \texttt{Ca3DE.exe}.
• [CaBSP] The name of the first compiling tool which is required in order to make worlds for Ca3DE. This program is discussed in detail in the developer documentation of the “Ca3DE Software Development Kit”. The corresponding executable file name is \texttt{CaBSP.exe}.
• [CaPVS] Another compiling tool.
• [CaLight] The third compiling tool that performs the radiosity calculations for the Ca3DE worlds.
• [Map] Most people use the two terms \emph{map} and $\uparrow$world synonymously. But for technical reasons, I refer to a \emph{map} as the static part of a world, i.e. the walls, the floors and the ceilings. You will (almost) never see me use this word in texts that are not related to the internal workings of Ca3DE.
• [Map file] In order to create a new $\uparrow$world for Ca3DE, you begin with a map editor. A map editor's output file is called a \emph{map file}, even though that is not entirely consistent with the definition of a $\uparrow$map. \emph{Map files} contain more information than merely a $\uparrow$map description, such as $\uparrow$world specific data. The $\uparrow$CaBSP compiler turns \emph{map files} into world files.
• [World] A \emph{world} is the term for everything that contributes to a game at a given time. That is to say, a \emph{world} consists of a $\uparrow$map, players, monsters, the sky and everything else.
• [Level] This term is synonymous to the term $\uparrow$world and is frequently used in other products. It will almost never appear in Ca3DE, but if it does, it just means the same as $\uparrow$world.

If you need help, please refer to this manual first. All its contents is available on-line, starting from the table-of-contents at http://www.ca3d-engine.de/wiki/.

Any feed-back, additional questions and suggestions are much appreciated at the Ca3DE forums at http://www.ca3d-engine.de/phpBB2/.

Also please visit the Ca3D-Engine main website at http://www.ca3d-engine.de/ for additional support options, like background information, IRC chat details, FAQs and other resources.

You can also contact the Ca3D-Engine author Carsten Fuchs directly.

It would be great if you told us what you think of the demo version and SDK of Ca3DE. Any feedback is welcome and helps further improvement.