DarkBasic Professional

DarkBasic Professional: Commercial IDE for 3D Game Development

DarkBasic Professional is a commercial integrated development environment (IDE) for creating 3D video games. It utilizes a language called DarkBASIC which is based on the BASIC programming language.

What is DarkBasic Professional?

DarkBasic Professional is a commercial integrated development environment (IDE) developed by The Game Creators for creating 3D video games. First released in 2004, it provides an approachable interface and set of tools for game building, allowing developers to create games without needing a deep knowledge of programming.

It utilizes a language called DarkBASIC which is based on the BASIC programming language. The goal with DarkBASIC was to make game development more accessible to novices while still providing advanced features for experienced developers. Key strengths of DarkBasic Professional include its real-time 3D engine, sprite handling and collision detection functions, integrated physics engine, and range of specialized modules for areas like AI, networking, audio, shaders, and more.

While earlier versions targeted hobbyists and beginners, the Professional edition added more advanced user management in the interface, expanded language features, debugging tools, media management, and deployment options. DarkBasic Professional simplifies many complex aspects of game development like graphics rendering, I/O management, memory management and more so developers can focus on game logic and content.

Games built with DarkBasic Professional run exclusively on Windows platforms. The IDE itself has not seen active updates since 2012 but still maintains an enthusiastic user community. Popular games created using DarkBasic Professional include Chromatose and Steel Storm: Burning Retribution.

DarkBasic Professional Features

Official Links