Your Blitz3D code.
Running again, unchanged.

BlitzNext is the successor to Blitz3D. It compiles your .bb programs into native Windows executables and comes with its own IDE — same language, same commands, modern machine.

Download for Windows Source on GitHub

Free and open source · Windows 10/11, 64-bit · nothing to install: unpack and run

The promise

A replacement, not a museum copy

Old programs are the yardstick. Every command is translated from the original Blitz3D source and checked against a running Blitz3D 11.8 — to learn what it does, not to copy every pixel.

They run

A program that ran in Blitz3D compiles unchanged and does not stop halfway through.

They stay playable

Game logic, controls, menus, files and saved data work as their authors intended.

They may look a little different

Lighting is computed per pixel with modern methods. What is on screen and what the program does stay the same.

What's in the box

Everything Blitz3D had — on today's hardware

One download: compiler, IDE, C++ toolchain and SDL3. Your program becomes a standalone .exe.

Its own IDE

Same menus and keys as the original: F5 runs, F7 checks, errors jump to the line. Old files stay byte-exact, Windows-1252 and CRLF included.

The whole language

Types and Each, arrays, Goto/Gosub, Data/Read, Include, Select — every Blitz3D construct is there.

2D graphics

Drawing, fonts, images with masks, handles and transforms, pixel buffers, image buffers and overlap tests.

3D engine

Entities, cameras, lights, textures, meshes and surfaces, terrain with dynamic level of detail, sprites, mirrors, collisions, picking. Loads .x, .3ds, .b3d, MD2 — and glTF straight from Blender, with skinning and animation.

Sound, input, network

Sound and music, 3D positional audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick and gamepad, TCP and UDP streams.

Native and fast

Blitz3D source becomes C++17, built with the bundled MinGW and SDL3 into an optimised executable. Plus a resizable, scaling window mode for old low-resolution games.

Made with BlitzNext

Real games are the test

Single commands are tested one by one. Games find what those tests miss — so BlitzNext is checked against an old game and used to build new ones.

26 original source files

Old game, unchanged

blox-n-balls

A complete Blitz3D game, compiled without touching a line: it loads, the menus work and its levels can be played.

New game, in progress

Friendly Fire

A small arena shooter in the spirit of Quake III — an ordinary Blitz3D program that loads its models as glTF from Blender and plays its sounds in 3D.

New game, in progress

BLTZCRFT

A block world generated from a seed — oceans, caves, ores and trees, streamed around you as you walk, swim and fly. Mine blocks and place them again.

Still Blitz3D

A few lines to something on screen

No project files, no build configuration. Write it, press F5.

Graphics3D 800, 600, 0, 2
SetBuffer BackBuffer()

camera = CreateCamera()
light  = CreateLight()
cube   = CreateCube()
PositionEntity cube, 0, 0, 5
EntityColor cube, 255, 120, 40

While Not KeyHit(1)
	TurnEntity cube, 0.6, 1.0, 0
	RenderWorld
	Text 10, 10, "Hello from BlitzNext - ESC to quit"
	Flip
Wend
End

An orange cube rotating on a black background — The program on the left, compiled with BlitzNext.

Honest status

What still differs from Blitz3D

BlitzNext is in active development. Everything that does not yet behave like Blitz3D is written down, with workarounds — please check the list before reporting a bug. Figures as of 4 October 2026.

28Blitz3D commands still missing: BSP, DirectPlay, movies, gamma

0 / 156sample programs shipped with Blitz3D still use one of them

16open bugs that can break an old program, each reproduced against Blitz3D

Known issues Developer log

Get started

From download to running game in a minute

Downloadthe Windows ZIP from the latest release on GitHub.
Unpackit anywhere and double-click BLTZNXT IDE.bat. Nothing to install.
Open and press F5File › Open Folder › samples\friendlyfire, open friendlyfire.bb — or your own old project.

Download the latest release Build from source

Windows may warn about an unsigned program the first time: More info › Run anyway.

In memory of Mark Sibly

Blitz3D was the work of one person. Mark Sibly built a language that let thousands of people make their first game and see something move on screen for the first time. He passed away in 2024. BlitzNext exists to carry his idea forward: making something should be simple, and simple things can still be powerful.

Your Blitz3D code.Running again, unchanged.