Win32, OpenGL and ODE Physics

2001 Report

By Alan Baylis 19/12/2001

We've covered a lot of the parts required to make a fairly modern game this year, I have been adding each new technique to the previous demos and building it up into something more substantial, but I would like to point out that this will not be the basis of any finished game. By the time I cover all the different techniques required (which may take another year or so) I will know a little more about proper programming style and game design which will enable me to rewrite the parts into a more complete game engine (theoretically.) I'm the first to admit that I have large gaps in my programming knowledge, due to the fact that I am self taught, but with a little help from my friends on the web I believe I'll produce something worthwhile. There's still a lot of work to do though, well, all good programmers know that programming can be a fun pastime and many skilled people do this for no profit whatsoever, perhaps their reward will be the availability of cheaper/free programs and virtual worlds in the future. Anyway, as I was saying, we are going to cover more complicated subjects in the new year, such as physics, modeling (something more flexible than MD2), level of detail algorithms and more. When the time comes to actually making the game, I plan to move beyond the typical first person shooting type game that was so unique not all that long ago, the novelty of actually walking around a 3D game world and shooting all manner of creatures has gone, the general public will be wanting more from their games, something akin to the plot of a movie and the multiple pathways of a game will most likely be the norm before long.

I will continue to program using OpenGL, writing programs for the average hardware and not for the latest cards that come out. Although these new features are welcomed, the cost of the hardware still prevents many people from owning them. The new features proposed in the v2.0 whitepapers sound very versatile and should make OpenGL viable for a very long time, especially the legacy features. I'm no expert on the graphics pipeline, but optimization isn't a concern of mine these days, just learning the basics is keeping me busy at the moment. If you have a question or want to suggest a new game technique, write to me, or if you are like me and just appreciate getting free information and rarely say a word, that's fine. I've had very encouraging letters that indicate that my work is viewed positively. On a final note, I wont be making a members section and asking for your personal details like some sites :)

Al.