Author: dgreen

I often get asked questions about whether TerreSculptor is currently available on the Linux platform, and why I chose C# and DevExpress to develop with.
TerreSculptor is currently on the Windows platform only, and the choice of C# and DevExpress are rather lengthy answers that aren’t so simple.

I have actually been approached by both Autodesk and Amazon regarding them swallowing up the software into their corporations, Amazon was especially rude and pretty much swore at me for not developing the software with C++ and QT. They are simply out of touch with the reality of a solo project.
When I started development on TerreSculptor ten years ago, I looked at C++/QT to provide cross-platform builds, but QT wants $8000 CAD a year for a subscription, which I simply could not afford since this is a solo project paid for out of my own pocket.
Ten years of development cost with QT alone would have been almost $100,000 which is simply too steep for someone making only $40,000 a year and paying a mortgage. I like eating every now and then too.

So unfortunately TerreSculptor is Windows platform only at this time.
As soon as .NET Core is totally up to speed on Windows, Mac, and Linux, I will be looking into cross-platform builds using that.

My Intel-based background is in IAx86 Assembler programming, I did that for decades through the 1980’s and 1990’s.
I have also programmed extensively with C and C++.
I made the choice to develop TerreSculptor with C# for a number of reasons, including the language design and syntax, it being a managed language, it has garbage collection, and because it is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) cycle.

When I was looking for a nice User Interface Components Development Kit, I checked out all of the popular ones including DevExpress and Telerik.
I chose DevExpress mainly because I felt that they had the slight edge on the other component development kits. I prefer their set of controls and programming paradigm.

TerreSculptor is a solo project that I pay for all development costs out of my personal income.
The cost of which is currently $3000 CAD per year just for tools and hosting (Microsoft Visual Studio, DevExpress Components, Web Hosting, Google Drive, etc).
Over the current life-time of the project, that puts the cost at $30,000 to date just for tools and hosting.
A professional programmer costs typically $100,000 per year, putting the labor cost for development at $1 Million dollars.
I currently make just over $500 per year in Patreon income, so the majority of the expenses come out of my pocket, and I don’t pay myself anything.

TerreSculptor has been in release for more than seven years now, and is currently almost one million lines of source code.
There is still more than 1000 major features planned for the software, including an updated viewport renderer with many advanced features.

The Demenzun Media website gets a lot of traffic with typically 300,000+ hits each month.
My highest TerreSculptor download statistic is currently more than 500 downloads in one day.
I am going to have to look for higher bandwidth hosting soon and pay the additional charges for that convenience.
If you ever hit the site and get a time-out or just raw text, then you know the bandwidth is currently being exceeded.

If you would like to contribute to the development of this software project, consider becoming a Patreon subscriber.

Thank you for your support. And enjoy the software!

TerreSculptor 1.0 was available in two Editions, the “Open Use” free Standard Edition, and the low-priced Professional Edition.
With the release of TerreSculptor 2, the separate Standard Edition and Professional Edition are now replaced with a single full-feature free build.
The cost in dollars and hours to maintain two different Editions was too great and I was losing a lot of money every month.
The cost to develop a major software application like TerreSculptor is many tens-of-thousands of dollars per year, and I am paying all of that out-of-pocket.

TerreSculptor 2 is being distributed under a different method than the previous Professional Edition version 1.0 software.
The full-feature build of the software is now totally “Open Use” and free for personal, commercial, and academic use.
To recover the cost in development tools, development components, and development time, I am asking those users who can afford it to become Patreon members and support the software development with a monthly payment.

The Patreon subscription tiers start at just $1 per month ($12 per year) which should be affordable for most users of the software.
Patreon members will also be receiving extra gifts based on the subscription tier, including merchandise and beta preview builds of the software.

See the Patreon page for more details.