CopperCube:     About     Features    News    FAQ    Tutorials & Docs    Forum    Pro & Studio Edition    Download

CopperCube FAQ


Frequently asked questions and their answers regarding CopperCube:

General CopperCube

Is CopperCube really free?

What's the difference between CopperCube and Unreal / Unity / other 3D Engine?

Can I sell the games I create with CopperCube?

What games have been created with CopperCube?

Can I create architectural walkthroughs or games with CopperCube?

Is is possible to create a 3D room with objects, which when clicked open websites, download PDFs etc with CopperCube?

Which Android version is required for the Android target of CopperCube?

Are there educational licenses available for CopperCube?

I already have a CopperCube license but want to upgrade to a newer or to the professional edition.

Where to get the source code of CopperCube?

Where do I get help with my CopperCube problem?

What features will be added in the future?


CopperCube Content creation

What software should I use to create my 3D models?

When I create a WebGL app, how difficult is it to steal my 3d models?

When I import my 3D model into CopperCube, it doesn't look correct, what can I do?

How can I make my 3D scenes more interesting, like moving some objects in the scene?

When I 'publish' in CopperCube, it freezes or crashes. Why?

When moving in my 3d world, I get stuck, why?

How can I extend the CopperCube scenes for doing more complex things?

I need some help programming some additional features for my project.



Is CopperCube really free?

Yes! CopperCube is free. Just download it, create games and apps with it, and sell them, put them on your website, and do whatever you want with them.
In order to support the further development of CopperCube, there are also two editions (Professional and Studio Edition) which you can buy, if you like. You get a few additional features with those (Post-Processing effects and video playback). See the edition comparison page for details.



What's the difference between CopperCube and Unreal / Unity / other 3D Engine?

CopperCube is very, very easy to use. 3D engines are usually very difficult to learn and use. CopperCube is different and tries to have a very simple interface, with which it is still easily possible to create cool complex games and useful apps.

CopperCube is also the probably best 3D engine if you are want to use WebGL. CopperCube created WebGL games are smaller, load and run faster than in most other 3D engines, and the code is 100% open source (See here for details).

See the list of features for more unique properties of CopperCube.


Can I sell the games I create with CopperCube?

Yes, you can sell every app or game you create with CopperCube. On every website, on Steam, every app store or however you like. No matter if you created your game or app with the Free or Professional edition of CopperCube. Everything you create with CopperCube is yours and you can do whatever you like with it.



What games have been created with CopperCube?

See the list of games created with CopperCube.



Can I create architectural walkthroughs or games with CopperCube?

Yes, you can. CopperCube even has a built-in collision system, and you can even walk up stairs with it, and don't need to program anything for this.



Is is possible to create a 3D room with objects, which when clicked open websites, download PDFs etc with CopperCube?

Yes, that's exactly what CopperCube was made for. You don't even need to do any programming for this, just click the actions and behaviors together in the editor: In CopperCube, select the object you want your users to be able to click at, select the 'Behavior' tab and click the '+' symbol to add a new behavior. Select 'Behaviors Triggered by Events -> When clicked on this do something'. And in the 'Action' field of that behavior, select what should happen then, like 'Special -> Open a Website'.



Which Android version is required for the Android target of CopperCube?

When you publish your project as Android app with CopperCube, it will run on Android Devices which have OpenGL ES2 support (most of them have) and with Android version 2.2 or newer. The majority of all android devices currently have these specifications, so your app will run on most of them.



Are there educational licenses available for CopperCube?

We offer special discounts to schools, students and educational institutes. Simply contact us and give us some details about the amount and types of licenses you need.



I already have a CopperCube license but want to upgrade to a newer or to the professional edition.

If you are using CopperCube 5 and want to upgrade to CopperCube 6, please use the licence update form. You'll get a 40% discount then.



Where to get the source code of CopperCube?

The WebGL code of CopperCube is open source. Just download it and go.
The Android, Windows / Mac client source code comes for free with the Studio Edition of CopperCube.



Where do I get help with my CopperCube problem?

You can take a look into the official CopperCube forum, there are a lot of nice people around.
Also, there are inofficial CopperCube communities or various groups on social media such as Facebook.



What features will be added in the future?

See the CopperCube roadmap for this.



What software should I use to create my 3D models?

Basically, you can use any 3D modelling package to create 3D models for your scene. It imports a lot of 3D file formats like .FBX, .3DS, .OBJ, .X and more. Since version 3, CopperCube also includes basic low polygon modelling tools, so you can even create your 3D models directly in CopperCube.
If you are looking for a free tool for creating your meshes, we can recommend Anim8or (very simple to use), and Blender (more complicated).
Also, take a look at the recommended software list for animated meshes.



When I create a WebGL app, how difficult is it to steal my 3d models?

3D Models imported into CopperCube are triangulaized, optimized and converted into its internal format and stored like this. The original file is no longer needed or used. All data not necessary for CopperCube is stripped away. This means the original files from your modelling package are no longer there at all, and thus, no one will be able to steal them. Additionally, the CopperCube client uses its own binary file format, which changes every minor update (this is possible because it is forward-compatible) and which is difficult to reverse engineer because of that. The web clients (WebGL and Flash) use this format for storing your 3d models, so summarized: Your 3d models are pretty safe.



When I import my 3D model into CopperCube, it doesn't look correct, what can I do?

CopperCube supports a lot of file formats to be imported, but there can be special cases where it doesn't work perfectly. If your 3D model doesn't look correctly in CopperCube, do the following:

  • If there are only small problems like different materials or flipped faces, you can correct this in the CopperCube editor itself. Materials can be changed in the material tab, some other options are available when selecting your 3D model and right-clicking on it, in the 'modify...' menu.
  • If you don't see any textures or materials, take a look into the Output window (View -> Output Window). It displays if and why a texture could not be loaded.
  • Try to export your model with different options.
  • Try another file format. Maybe your 3D modelling software supports other file formats as well. If not, try and install an exporter, like for example an exporter for Microsofts .x file format.
  • Send us the file, so we can improve CopperCube. This might take a bit of a time, but we'll do our best.


How can I make my 3D scenes more interesting, like moving some objects in the scene?

Select the 3D object you want to make move, go to the 'Behavior' tab in the properties window of that object and add a new behavior. You can select some movement behaviors from there.
If you need some more sophisticated movment, you can script this: In the documentation of CopperCube, you'll find some examples how to move objects using either ActionScript 3 or JavaScript.



When I click 'publish' in CopperCube, it freezes or crashes. Why?

You likely have installed a broken virus scanner on your system. Everytime CopperCube creates an .exe, your virus scanner tries to scan that file, somehow fails, and then additionally freezes CopperCube. Disabling the malfunctioning virus scanner usually solves this.



When moving in my 3d world, I get stuck, why?

Sometimes, it is possible to get stuck in the geometry when moving. Always place the camera at a position so that the yellow ellipsoid isn't colliding with a wall in the beginning, so that it is not stuck.
If the camera gets stuck during movement, then the problem might be the 3d mesh: One needs to be a bit careful when modelling the static geometry the camera collides against. The geometry should be closed, and there should not be any one sided polygons sticking out anywhere, those are usually the places where one gets stuck.
Also, if the points of vertices which should be together are not exactly at the same point could cause problems. If the used 3d modelling software supports a feature like 'Merge Points' to make neighbour vertices be exactly at the same place, it is recommended to do this, it also usually helps.

There is also a second, simple way to adjust the collision distance variable, in order to reduce the effect of getting stuck: Click on the root node of your scene, add a "Before first drawing do something" behavior to it in the behavior tab, and in its action, add a "Set or Change a Variable" action. Let's assume the name of your moving scene object is 'player', then select as variable name '#player.colsmalldistance'. Set the value to a small value, like 0.001. You can try this with different values, to adjust the collision behavior.



How can I extend the CopperCube scenes for doing more complex things?

In most cases, you can add lots of interactiviy using the Behaviors in CopperCube, without programming. Additionally, you can use the scripting API to add additional stuff by programming, like more complex enemy behavior, game logic, communication with websites and databases, and so on. See the Documentation on how to do this.
If you are using WebGL, there is a second, sophisticated API, named CopperLicht available for this.
If you have the professional edition, you even get access to the full source code of all clients. Additionally, you can download additional behaviors and actions created by other people directly from within the editor.



I need some help programming some additional features for my project.

For small one-time questions, we can give you some hints for free how to do this, simply contact us. If you need some more detailed help, which maybe involves some programming work, you can hire us for paid work: Simply look at this custom feature request form.






















Copyright© Ambiera e.U. all rights reserved.
Contact | Imprint | Products | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions |