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Title: 3D graphics engine, which one to chose? Post by: Netsu on January 12, 2011, 01:55:50 PM I want to build a game engine/framework, with networking, sound, physics and graphics. For 2D graphics I just used openGL through SDL, but for 3D I'd like to have something more high level.
I hear a lot about Ogre3D, so I'm currently looking into it, but maybe you recommend something else? I want to be able to easily implement dynamic lighting, shadows, maybe bump-mapping. And of course loading common 3d-model filetypes. I have absolutely no experience in 3D graphics but know a bit of openGL. Title: Re: 3D graphics engine, which one to chose? Post by: Aquin on January 12, 2011, 02:01:04 PM If you really want to do it yourself, I'd recommend SFML and OpenGL. However, making a 3D engine from scratch is... a daunting task. You could always give Unity a try, it's pretty decent and uses C#/Javascript to do it's thang.
Personally, I'm recently smitten by UDK and I don't see myself going back to anything else in the near future. If you want to build a 3D engine, but using C++ frameworks, I've heard good things about Box2D, though I don't have much experience with it. Title: Re: 3D graphics engine, which one to chose? Post by: Netsu on January 12, 2011, 02:16:34 PM Ok, I guess I should've been more specific.
I want a 3D RENDERING engine, that I could incorporate into my game engine/framework. I don't want to write it from scratch, I've done it for 2D rendering by using SDL (and previously GLFW) but for 3D rendering I'd like a ready to use engine. I'm writing in C++ and am developing for both Windows and Linux, compiling with gcc and mingw. So Unity is not an option. I'm looking into UDK now, does it support Linux? [edit] Apparently it doesn't. And the licensing also scares me off a little. Title: Re: 3D graphics engine, which one to chose? Post by: Richard Kain on January 12, 2011, 02:32:16 PM I would say that Ogre3D is probably your best bet. It is open-source and feature-rich. It shouldn't be difficult for you to implement all of the rendering features you described.
The model format is a bit more of an issue. Ogre3D doesn't focus on supporting a lot of different model formats. However, it does provide exporters for most major 3D modeling packages. And it also features the tools necessary to compile created models into a binary format. (which makes them load faster and take up less file space) The Ogre3D - specific model format also has plenty of features, such as combining key-framed and skeletal animation. I've created and exported meshes for Ogre3D before using Blender and didn't have any problems getting them to work in-engine. Title: Re: 3D graphics engine, which one to chose? Post by: Netsu on January 13, 2011, 05:54:58 AM I've read a tutorial about how to setup and run Ogre3D inside SDL. I'm sold. My current engine is written in SDL for openGL context, input, timer and fonts. I also intended to use SDL for networking and sound. This way I can keep my current engine and just run Ogre3D inside to handle openGL rendering. Awesome :)
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