have just learned that 3d Construction Kit was available on the amstrad cpc, which i probably could have guessed but hadn't thought about. i've never actually used the editor before, only played the usually-pretty-bad games made with it. i was simultaneously surprised by several things:
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how intuitive the interface is, Despite Everything
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how late it came out; it didn't actually drop until 91. that still makes it possibly the first commercial 3D engine, but by 91 it was seconds away from becoming incredibly pathetic. this is probably why there weren't more interesting games made with it. conceivably it could have come out as early as 87 (since it was just a commercialized version of the Freescape engine) which would have changed a lot about game history. hell, if someone had just realized it was possible, Freescape could have come out earlier, given that all the games it was used for got released for computers made in 82-83.
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it apparently came with a Lyra, e.g. a remarkably complete sample game. look at those HUD graphics! i wonder how many Compact Cassettes in ziplocs were mailed to british homes at a cost of two quid and immediately booted up only to elicit a deep groan when this exact graphic appeared
