JMonkeyEngine

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Open source Java game engine

title: "JMonkeyEngine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2003-software", "3d-scenegraph-apis", "free-3d-graphics-software", "free-game-engines", "free-software-programmed-in-java", "java-(programming-language)-libraries", "video-game-engines", "software-using-the-bsd-license"] description: "Open source Java game engine" topic_path: "general/2003-software" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JMonkeyEngine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Open source Java game engine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]

Field	Value
name	jMonkeyEngine
logo	Jmonkey-logo-head-tilted.png
logo size	150px
developer	The jME core team
latest_release_version	3.7.0
latest_release_date	{{cite web
url	https://github.com/jMonkeyEngine/jmonkeyengine/releases/tag/v3.7.0-stable
title	jMonkeyEngine 3.7.0-stable
website	github.com
access-date	2024-10-21
operating system	Cross-platform
programming language	Java
platform	Java (JVM)
genre	Game engine
license	New BSD license
website
::

| name = jMonkeyEngine | logo = Jmonkey-logo-head-tilted.png | logo size = 150px | developer = The jME core team | latest_release_version = 3.7.0 | latest_release_date = {{cite web | url = https://github.com/jMonkeyEngine/jmonkeyengine/releases/tag/v3.7.0-stable

jMonkeyEngine (abbreviated JME or jME) is an open-source and cross-platform game engine for developing 3D games written in Java. It can be used to write games for Windows, Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi, Android, and iOS (currently in alpha testing). It uses Lightweight Java Game Library as its default renderer, and also supports another renderer based on Java OpenGL.

jMonkeyEngine is community-centric and open-source. It is released under the New BSD license. It is used by several commercial game studios{{Cite web |url=http://www.nordgame.com/ |title=Nord, a jME-powered MMOG developed by SLX Games. |quote=See website footer for reference. |url=http://games.bbgsite.com/content/poisonville/index.shtml |title=bbgsite.com's review of Poisonville, a browser-based MMOFPS powered by jME. |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310103037/http://games.bbgsite.com/content/poisonville/index.shtml |archive-date=2012-03-10 |url=http://www2.cs.siu.edu/~wainer/GameDevF13/GameDevF13.html |title=Southern Illinois University Game Development Class |quote=Software Aspects of Game Development |access-date=2013-12-14 |archive-date=2013-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214183430/http://www2.cs.siu.edu/~wainer/GameDevF13/GameDevF13.html |url-status=dead |url = http://gaygamer.net/2007/12/winter_2007_demo_day_at_georgi.html |title = Press Coverage of Georgia Tech Student Projects |url-status = usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080114030418/http://gaygamer.net/2007/12/winter_2007_demo_day_at_georgi.html |archive-date = 2008-01-14 |url = http://bxmc.poly.edu/betaville |title = Betaville Project at BxmC |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120924072544/http://bxmc.poly.edu/betaville |archive-date = 2012-09-24

jMonkeyEngine 3 SDK

By itself, jMonkeyEngine is a collection of computing libraries, making it a low-level game development tool. Coupled with an integrated development environment like the official jMonkeyEngine 3 SDK, it becomes a higher-level game development environment with multiple graphical components.

The SDK is based on the NetBeans Platform, enabling graphical editors and plugin capabilities. Alongside the default NetBeans update centers, the SDK has its own plugin repository and a selection between stable point releases or nightly updates.

Since March 5, 2016, the SDK is no longer officially supported by the core team. It is still being actively maintained by the community. The term "jMonkeyPlatform" is also used interchangeably with "jMonkeyEngine 3 SDK."

History

jMonkeyEngine helps to improve the lack of full featured graphics engines written in Java. The project has evolved over time.

jMonkeyEngine 0.1 – 2.0

Version 0.1 to 2.0 of jMonkeyEngine marks the time from when the project was first established in 2003, until the last 2.0 version was released in 2008. When the original core developers gradually discontinued work on the project throughout the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, Version 2.0 had not yet been made officially stable. The code-base became adopted for commercial use and was most popular with the engine's community at the time.

jMonkeyEngine 3.0

Since the departure of jME's core developers in late 2008, the codebase remained practically stagnant for several months. The community continued to commit patches, but the project was not moving in any clear direction. Development on Version 3.0 started as an experiment.

The first preview release of jME3 in early 2009 drew positive attention{{Cite web |url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/forum/topic/jme%D0%B7-project/ |title=jME3 project |publisher=jMonkeyEngine forum |date=2009-04-01 |access-date=2013-04-23 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130704035826/http://jmonkeyengine.org/forum/topic/jme%D0%B7-project/ |archive-date=2013-07-04

|url=http://jmonkeyengine.com/blog/blog/2009/06/24/new-branch-and-management/ |title=New Branch and Management |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |author=Erlend Sogge Heggen |date=2009-06-24 |access-date=2009-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101055014/http://jmonkeyengine.com/blog/blog/2009/06/24/new-branch-and-management/ |archive-date=2010-01-01

|url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/2010/05/17/jme3-sdk-first-alpha-release/ |title=First jME3 Alpha released |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |author=Erlend Sogge Heggen |date=2010-05-17 |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706041319/http://jmonkeyengine.org/2010/05/17/jme3-sdk-first-alpha-release/ |archive-date=2010-07-06 The same date marked the first Alpha release of the jMonkeyEngine SDK, only a few months after the first planning stages.{{Cite web |url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/groups/jmonkeyplatform/forum/topic/jmonkeyplatform-gde-idea-thread |title=First jME3 SDK Alpha released, aka jMonkeyPlatform Alpha-1 |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Forum |author=Normen Hansen |date=2010-02-01 |access-date=2011-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930050131/http://jmonkeyengine.org/groups/jmonkeyplatform/forum/topic/jmonkeyplatform-gde-idea-thread/ |archive-date=2010-09-30 The "jMonkeyEngine SDK" has since become the default product download recommended to all jME3 developers.}}

|url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/2010/09/07/jmonkeyengine-com-and-org-re-design-what-is-happening/ |title=Complete website redesign |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |author=Erlend Sogge Heggen |date=2010-09-07 |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113124704/http://jmonkeyengine.org/2010/09/07/jmonkeyengine-com-and-org-re-design-what-is-happening/ |archive-date=2010-11-13

|url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/2011/10/22/jmonkeyengine3-sdk-beta-released/ |title=jMonkeyEngine3 SDK Beta released! |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |author=Normen Hansen |date=2011-10-22 |access-date=2012-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224165436/http://jmonkeyengine.org/2011/10/22/jmonkeyengine3-sdk-beta-released/ |archive-date=2011-12-24

|url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/219514/jmonkeyengine-3-0-stable-released/ |title=jMonkeyEngine 3 SDK Stable released! |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |author=Erlend Sogge Heggen |date=2014-02-15 |access-date=2015-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206113558/http://jmonkeyengine.org/219514/jmonkeyengine-3-0-stable-released/ |archive-date=2015-02-06

Projects powered by jMonkeyEngine

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Skullstone_screen.jpg" caption="Screenshot from [[Skullstone]], showing jMonkeyEngine's capabilities"] ::

Nord, a browser-based massively multiplayer online game (MMO) on Facebook, created by Skygoblin{{Cite web |url=http://www.engagedigital.com/2010/09/16/slx-games-launches-nord-on-facebook/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106034051if_/http://www.engagedigital.com/2010/09/16/slx-games-launches-nord-on-facebook/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-11-06 |title=SLX Games Launches Nord on Facebook |publisher=EngageDigital / Authored by Alicia Ashby |date=2010-09-16 |url=http://www.beta-games.com/Beta-Games/beta-game-news/1637/nord-3d-virtual-world-on-facebook |title=Nord: 3D Virtual World on Facebook |publisher=Beta Games |date=2010-09-19 |url=http://www.arcticstartup.com/2010/09/22/swedish-slx-games-takes-first-3d-mmo-to-facebook |title=Swedish SLX Games Takes First 3D MMO To Facebook |publisher=ArcticStartup |date=2010-09-22 |access-date=2010-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030150511/http://www.arcticstartup.com/2010/09/22/swedish-slx-games-takes-first-3d-mmo-to-facebook |archive-date=2012-10-30
Grappling Hook, a first-person action and puzzle game, created by an independent developer{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiedb.com/games/grappling-hook |title=Grappling Hook IndieDB entry |date=18 September 2009 |publisher=Christian Teister via IndieDB. |url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/09/24/what-it-says-on-the-tin-grappling-hook/ |title=What It Says On The Tin: Grappling Hook |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |date=2009-09-24 |author=John Walker |url=http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/10/indie_game_pick_grappling_hook.html |title=Indie Game Pick: Grappling Hook (Speed Run Games) |publisher=Indie Games – The Weblog |date=2009-10-03 |author=Michael Rose |access-date=2010-11-06 |archive-date=2010-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131044839/http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/10/indie_game_pick_grappling_hook.html |url-status=dead
Drohtin, a real-time strategy game (RTS){{Cite web |url=http://drohtin.org/blog/ |title=Drohtin – The indie strategy Game |date=2014-01-22 |access-date=2014-01-14 |archive-date=2014-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113083824/http://drohtin.org/blog/ |url-status=dead
Chaos, a 3D fantasy cooperative role-playing game (RPG) by 4Realms
Skullstone, a 3D retro-styled single player dungeon crawler game, created by Black Torch Games
Spoxel, a 2D action-adventure sandbox video game, created by Epaga Games
Lightspeed Frontier, a space sandbox game with RPG, building, and exploration elements, created by Crowdwork Studios
Subspace Infinity, a 2D top-down space fighter MMO
3079 and 3089, randomly generated and open-world RPGs by Phr00t's Software
New Star Soccer, a mobile football video game, created by New Star Games.

Reception

JavaOne 2008 Presentation{{Cite web |url=http://developers.sun.com/learning/javaoneonline/j1sessn.jsp?sessn=TS-5711&yr=2008&track=desktop |title=JavaOne presentation keynote |publisher=Oracle/Sun |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://developers.sun.com/learning/javaoneonline/2008/pdf/TS-5711.pdf |title=Presentation slides |publisher=Oracle/Sun |url=http://jmonkeyengine.org/2008/05/11/javaone-2008-and-jme/ |title=JavaOne blogpost with videos |publisher=jMonkeyEngine Blog |date=2010-09-07 |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726210901/http://jmonkeyengine.org/2008/05/11/javaone-2008-and-jme/ |archive-date=2011-07-26
Finalist in PacktPub Open Source Graphics Software Award 2010{{Cite web |url=http://www.packtpub.com/blog/the-2010-open-source-awards-finalists-announcement |title=PacktPub nominees announcement |publisher=PacktPub |date=September 2010 |access-date=2010-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930141604/http://www.packtpub.com/blog/the-2010-open-source-awards-finalists-announcement |archive-date=2010-09-30

Ardor3D fork

Ardor3D began life on September 23, 2008, as a fork from jMonkeyEngine by Joshua Slack and Rikard Herlitz due to what they perceived as irreconcilable issues with naming, provenance, licensing, and community structure in that engine,{{Cite web |url = http://blog.renanse.com/2008/09/new-focus-ardor3d.html |title = A new focus: Ardor3D |author = Joshua Slack |date = September 23, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160410045120/http://blog.renanse.com/2008/09/new-focus-ardor3d.html |archive-date = April 10, 2016

The first public release came January 2, 2009, with new releases following every few months thereafter. In 2011, Ardor3D was used in the Mars Curiosity mission both by NASA Ames{{Cite web |url=http://www.slideshare.net/tamarmot/nasa-verve-eclipsecon14 |title=NASA VERVE: Interactive 3D Visualization within Eclipse |author=NASA |date=March 19, 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oBYQaKo74A |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/_oBYQaKo74A| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Interactive 3D Mars Visualization |author=NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology |website=YouTube |date=September 17, 2009

On March 11, 2014, Joshua Slack announced that the project would be abandoned, although the software itself would remain under zlib license and continue to be freely available.{{Cite web |url=http://ardor3d.forumatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12755#p25887 |title=Winding down |author=Joshua Slack |date=March 11, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2016 |archive-date=December 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202230232/http://ardor3d.forumatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12755#p25887 |url-status=dead |url=http://blog.renanse.com/2014/03/winding-down.html |title=Winding down |author=Joshua Slack |date=March 11, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410021803/http://blog.renanse.com/2014/03/winding-down.html |archive-date=April 10, 2016 |url=http://forum.jogamp.org/JOGL-2-support-for-Ardor3D-JMonkeyEngine-3-jzy3d-and-NiftyGUI-tp1706747p4033608.html |title=JogAmp's Ardor3D Continuation user's guide is available |author=Julien Gouesse |date=November 22, 2014 |url=http://jogamp.org/wiki/index.php/Ardor3D_Overview |title=JogAmp's Ardor3D Continuation overview |author=Julien Gouesse |date=August 2, 2014 |url=http://forum.jogamp.org/Official-Homepage-and-gitbub-for-Ardor3D-tp4032362p4032452.html |title=Official homepage and Github for Ardor3D |author=Julien Gouesse |date=November 22, 2014 |url=http://ardor3d.forumatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&p=25977#p25907 |title=Ardor3D, JOGL 2 |author=Julien Gouesse |date=March 17, 2014 |access-date=March 26, 2016 |archive-date=December 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202222744/http://ardor3d.forumatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&p=25977#p25907 |url-status=dead

References

"JMONKEYENGINE".
Idix, Prostate. "Interview: 4realms - Dossiers / Chroniques RPG France".
"Skullstone - Dungeon Crawler in Development {{!}} News @ RPGWatch".
"Skullstone {{!}} IGDB.com".
"Spoxel {{!}} IGDB.com".
"About Lightspeed Frontier {{!}} Lightspeed Frontier Official Wiki @ Gamepedia".
"Lightspeed Frontier {{!}} IGDB.com".
"Subspace Infinity Source Repository {{!}} Github Repository".
MCV Editors. (2019-05-15). "Making an indie hit: New Star Soccer uncovered". MCV.

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