An application like exoExplorer requires resources. I used a combination of tools to create the resources you see in exoExplorer.
Terrains. For terrains, I mostly used Bryce3D. I love Bryce3D. This is an amazing tool for creating landscapes. You can easily modify the topography and customize the terrain appearance. The sky tool allows you to customize the sky and sun in lots of ways.
I used other 3d models like the car, Humvee, aircraft, and skydomes. The Humvee wasn’t mine but was free to use. For the little car and the aircraft, I used Carrara 3D, by eovia, now DAZ 3D. Carrara 3D was/is so easy and intuitive to use. Although still available, there has been no development in Carrara since 2012 or so. Recently, I have slowly shifted over to Blender.
In order to use terrains and other 3d models in Ogre3d, I had to export the model as an *.obj file. Then there was some little converter app I had to use to convert the *.obj file into an Ogre3d *.mesh file.
For images, I used Corel Photo Paint (formerly Micrografx Picture Publisher), and Corel Paint Shop Pro.
For technical illustrations and diagrams, I used Corel Designer (formerly Micrografx Designer).
For the big Planetary Biology model (the phenomenal network), I used Micrografx FlowCharter. This is now iGrafx FlowCharter (annual subscription)
In order to access images in Ogre3d, they had to be organized into *.material files. These were little scripts that instructed the renderer on how to render the associated *.jpg image file.
Out of the list, my favorite apps are:
- Carrara 3D
- Corel Designer
- Bryce 3D
- Corel Paint Shop Pro