you say "Freeware" and you also say "I got to pay 'MONEY' for this one..."
You get what you pay for, period....
If that concept is unacceptable to you, then I don't want to know you...

It does seem odd that there's no demo version of a $200 app.

You know it is interesting, when metacreations still owned bryce they offered a trial version of the app. Leave it to corel to eliminate the trial. Not to downgrade them, I was just shocked they did not offer one. As for the benefits of bryce, it is a very easy to use app, with a lot of capabilities if you can get away from the cut and paste cooky cutter landscapes. With some time and an odd view of reality you can create some great things, but it is very limited. Bryce has a limited ability to skin objects, creating custom objects is primarly only done view boolean (spelling) operations and meatballs, there is no modeler. If you want to get some into some serious 3d work look into 3Dmax, Maya and etc. But expect to sell your soul.

In general bryce is a great starting point, user friendly, very fast use or premade objs, and etc. For someone that is just starting with 3D apps it is good for helping you learn to move things around, lighting, and general insanity. But if you are enjoying POVray then stick with it until you can get a high end app.

There IS nothing special about Bryce....but there IS some things special about a FEW of its users. Some can actually handle the proggy well, with nary a dolphin to be seen...

It is merely a tool, like any other, and is ONLY as good as its user...

I think you can lay the blame for the loss of the beta squarely at the feet of warez pimps. I don't blame them. I would venture to say that at least 75% of all bryce work done on the amateur upload sites we are familiar with was done with warez copies. I would give Photoshop work an even higher percentage.

p.s. Risking Doreenosis; when I say I don't blame 'them', I mean Corel, for not offering a beta.

I know I left a comment in here somewhere..
But I can't find it.
Insult me all you want, I will return stronger....

JM: you said "You get what you pay for, period.... If that concept is unacceptable to you, then I don't want to know you... "

maybe we are taking you up on it? "You get what you pay for" is meaningless. There is a lot of free software online that beats the crap out of its payware equivalent.

okay, that creeped me out.

bakerstreet goes to his happy place...

And that isn't a good thing..
at least not the way I understand it

To create landscapes, there's Terragen. The beta versions are free
To create 3D graphics, there's Blender3D, completely free!

BTW, i obtained my copy of Bryce 2 free (it comes with a spanish computer magazine) 3 years (of 4, i not remind well), when was released Bryce 3D, just before the purchase of the program by Corel. I obtained wuth this system (inside the same magazine) Painter 3 and Poser 2

Yeh, I hear a whole lot of 'blah-blah' going on here....
I also hear a major 'snob' factor being diplayed....

If Bryce has some snob value attached to it, it must mean that it really offers frills that nobody uses anyway, kinda like the ciggarete lighter that also acts as a mobile missile launcher in Bond movies...