Competitive Positioning

forge3d is an offline, Python-native 3D map-production engine. It should not be described as a replacement for every capability in Blender, Mapbox GL, Cesium, three.js, or Unreal.

Comparison pressure	forge3d position	Support level
Offline map plates and reproducible terrain renders	Product focus, with exact workflow status documented per API and guide.	underdeveloped
Streamed browser map delivery	Out of scope for the MVP.	non-goal
Complete Mapbox style parity	Out of scope for P0; local feature styling has its own limited support matrix.	unsupported
Cesium-grade global runtime parity	Out of scope for P0/P1.	non-goal
General DCC or game-editor workflows	Outside the product boundary.	non-goal
Live globe streaming	Offline validation and rendering only; browser globe hosting is outside the product boundary.	non-goal
Hosted tile-provider parity	Local fixtures and review bundles are supported where documented; hosted provider parity is not a goal.	non-goal
Blender parity	forge3d is not a general DCC package.	non-goal
Unreal parity	forge3d is not a game/editor runtime.	non-goal
Pro/native-only geospatial import paths	Must be called out honestly.	Pro-gated
Textured PBR buildings	End-to-end textured city material rendering is diagnosed before render, not treated as scalar fallback success.	unsupported
VT normal/mask runtime	Native runtime pages albedo only; normal and mask families must diagnose before render.	unsupported
Advanced labels and shaping	Deterministic product paths are used where available; incomplete shaping or curved rendering paths stay diagnostic-bearing.	experimental
Large-scene diagnostics	Memory, cache/LOD, instancing, and bottleneck summaries are offline diagnostics, not hosted streaming capability.	underdeveloped

Docs and diagnostics should use the exact support classification instead of umbrella wording. The term missing is reserved for scoped map features with no product path or diagnostic-bearing substrate.