Refers to games or art assets built in a three-dimensional space, where all positions have X, Y and Z coordinates.
43
votes
5answers
4k views
What to consider when deciding on 2D vs 3D for a game?
How much "harder" is 3D than 2D in terms of:
Amount/complexity of the code
Level of math skills required
Time involved in making art assets
Original title: How hard is 3D game development versus ...
40
votes
5answers
3k views
What's the newest trend / method for terrain rendering?
The last time I checked in on terrain rendering, ROAM was the new hotness. Yes, that was a long time ago. I liked ROAM a lot, though, because it was extremely simple to program, and gave pretty ...
39
votes
12answers
2k views
Why can we recognize game engines?
About many games you can say "oh that's the Unreal engine for sure", "this was made by upgrading GTA 4", etc. We can often recognize the engine used for a game just by looking at its graphics ...
34
votes
9answers
16k views
Easy to use cross-platform 3D engines for C++ game development? [closed]
I want to try my hand at writing a 3D game. However I don't want to start at such a low level of drawing individual triangles and writing my own 3D object loader and so on. I've heard of things like ...
33
votes
8answers
5k views
Where to start with game development? [closed]
I asked this earlier in this thread at stackoverflow.com. One of the early comments redirected me here to gamedev.stackexchange.com, so I'm reposting here.
Searching for related questions I found a ...
23
votes
6answers
3k views
What 3D level development tools are available to indie developers?
People who build in Unity or UDK have immediate access to a 3D level editor. People who build their games in XNA or from scratch have no such thing. I'm looking for 3D level development tools ...
23
votes
1answer
800 views
How do you turn a cube into a sphere?
I'm trying to make a quad sphere based on an article, which shows results like this:
I can generate a cube correctly:
But when I convert all the points according to this formula (from the page ...
22
votes
10answers
2k views
What makes a game look “good”?
I am working on a 3D space game using OpenGL and C++ and I am planning to focus on giving the game modern, eye-catching graphics, but the more I think of it the more I realise I don't really know what ...
22
votes
4answers
2k views
Where to start when building a 3D terrain editor?
I'm looking to build (for start) a simple tool, that could raise, lower, smooth and texture the terrain.
So, what are the things I have to go through in order to make such terrain editor?
And maybe ...
20
votes
6answers
2k views
Are there any open source or free 3D modelling/animation tools that are widely used by indie game developers?
I have tried out Blender and Milkshape 3D, but my question is mainly asking if there is any 3D animation/modelling software that is open source, free, or has an indie license available that is widely ...
18
votes
4answers
9k views
Vertex Array Object (OpenGL)
I've just started out with OpenGL I still haven't really understood what Vertex Array Objects are and how they can be employed.
If Vertex Buffer Object are used to store vertex data (such as their ...
18
votes
4answers
3k views
How to generate caves like minecraft?
I've been working on a 3D procedural world for a while now and am wanting to start adding cave systems. I'm currently using 2D/3D Perlin Noise for the terrain generation in combination with Marching ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Is Unlimited Detail real?
Many aspects of Unlimited Details Unlimited Detail Technology seems dubious to me, even the introductory paragraph (because of the usage of the word unlimited):
Unlimited Detail is a new ...
15
votes
2answers
859 views
What's the difference between mesh and a model?
Which one is created first? For example if a team worked on a graphical asset of a car, what would be a model and what would be a mesh of the car?
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Where do I start if I want to independently learn game graphic design?
I want to learn how to create custom graphics, not use freely available resources. But I have been looking around for articles or tutorials on how to start with 2D game design in general, and I can't ...
15
votes
1answer
466 views
Keystone Correction using 3D-Points of Kinect
With XNA, I am displaying a simple rectangle which is projected onto the floor. The projector can be placed at an arbitrary position. Obviously, the projected rectangle gets distorted according to the ...
14
votes
3answers
732 views
Can the solar system be accurately represented in 3d space using doubles (or longs)?
I would like know to how to best manage coordinates in a 3D game whose aim is to realistically model the entire solar system, yet be able to handle the smallest movements in a "ship" (ie: perhaps we ...
14
votes
3answers
3k views
Is C++ “still” preferred in game development?
I am a 2D Game Programmer.Some programming languages which I am good at are C,Java ,C#. I also know Actionscript 2.0,3.0 and some javascript.
I'm interested in learning 3D Game programming. So far ...
14
votes
2answers
3k views
What exactly is UV and UVW Mapping?
Trying to understand some basic 3D concepts, at the moment I'm trying to figure out how textures actually work. I know that UV and UVW mapping are techniques that map 2D Textures to 3D Objects - ...
14
votes
3answers
2k views
What are the pros/cons of using a 3d engine for 2d games?
What pros or cons should a beginner be aware of when deciding between a 2d game engine (like Slick2D/Flixel/FlashPunk) and a 3d engine (like Unity) for 2d game development?
I am just getting started ...
14
votes
1answer
4k views
Orienting a model to face a target
I have two objects (target and player), both have Position (Vector3) and Rotation (Quaternion). I want the target to rotate and be facing right at the player. The target, when it shoots something ...
14
votes
1answer
4k views
Creating a 3D map for XNA?
Is anyone aware of a nice 3D map tutorial (how to import and use the map) using XNA without any engine but not limited to an external application (like Tiled for 2D maps) ?
I did a search arund here ...
13
votes
3answers
5k views
What are 3D textures?
Google has failed me, I could not find anything informative. So perhaps GameDev can :).
What are 3D textures?
When are they
used?
Performance costs?
How are they stored?
I have many vague ideas, ...
13
votes
4answers
4k views
Should I learn 2d game development before 3d?
I'm an iPhone app developer. I want to get into iOS gaming. The question is-should I start with learning 2D like Cocos 2D or Corona SDK before learning 3D gaming like Unity? I'm more interested in 3D ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
Is it clever to use some engine to start game developing?
I started C# programming in order to develop games with XNA later (I always wanted to create some awesome 3D-based RPG or at least a functional one). I read a good book for C# which is ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
How to programatically retarget animations from one skeleton to another?
I'm trying to write code to transfer animations that were designed for one skeleton to look correct on another skeleton. The source animations consist only of rotations except for translations on the ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Why did the old 3D games have “jittery” graphics?
I've been playing MediEvil lately and it got me wondering, what causes some of the old 3D games have "flowing" graphics when moving? It's present in games like Final Fantasy VII, MediEvil, i remember ...
12
votes
5answers
3k views
Examples of faking 3D
Does anyone know of any good examples of 3D being faked in 2D (not necessarily code, but games I could look up)? The player has the perspective that they are going 'into' the screen and things are ...
12
votes
5answers
3k views
Pro's and Con's of Various 3D Game Engines [closed]
I normally code my admittedly simple games by hand in either Assembly or C but I'm looking to go a little more high level. I also want to build more modern skills so I'm looking at UDK. What are the ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Are high powered 3D game engines better at 2D games than engines made for 2D
I'm a software engineer that's new to game programming so forgive me if this is a dumb question as I don't know that much about game engines.
If I was building a 2D game am I better off going with an ...
12
votes
5answers
807 views
Generated 3d tree meshes
I did not find a question on these lines yet, correct me if I'm wrong.
Trees (and fauna in general) are common in games. Due to their nature, they are a good candidate for procedural generation.
...
12
votes
2answers
556 views
Best technique to create oldschool (fake 3D) racing game?
What would be a good approach to develop the render system for an oldschool type racing game that uses a pseudo 3D scenery, like for example Outrun or Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge? There's an endless ...
12
votes
4answers
5k views
How to load 3D models into Java?
Using LWJGL what is the easiest way to load a 3D model to be drawn on screen?
I know LWJGL doesn't have built in loading support so I am looking for a small library that would help to load ...
12
votes
3answers
3k views
How to achieve a Neon-Light effect?
I'm wondering how to achieve a neon-light type effect. For example, in Pac-Man Chamipnship Edition:
Or in Geometry Wars:
Is that a Bloom Effect? Or what techniques would I have to look for?
12
votes
2answers
8k views
Open-source 3D models easily usable in OGRE3D/jMonkeyEngine
I'm looking for a source of 3D models (cars, game characters, furnitures etc.) which are usable in an open-source 3D game.
I found various website with free/opensource .blend files. However it is not ...
11
votes
4answers
614 views
How much extra power is required for a stereoscopic 3D game?
If we use Cryengine 3 for game development and make the game 3D compatible. Because 3D sends out two pictures, will this mean that you need a computer with twice the "power"? So if you get 30 fps when ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
How would I implement an endless road the player runs down?
I want to create the illusion that a man is running down a long road i.e. this pic
http://camlinecambridgelimited.web.officelive.com/images/road%20graphic1.jpg
If you have played Temple Run on the ...
11
votes
6answers
3k views
Math topics for 3D graphics programming
I understand that the following math topics are required for 3D graphics programming. I have started doing some of them in my math course. Can someone point me in the direction of a resource that ...
11
votes
3answers
477 views
Gravity strength in first person games
In our game, we set the acceleration due to gravity to the appropriate value of 9.8 m/s^2. Although physically correct, it feels more like moving around on the moon.. It feels about right at a value ...
11
votes
1answer
361 views
Breathing for game/movie characters
Breathing (the movement of chest and face features): I'd like to ask if it is hard to model and whether it is computationaly expensive. I recently noticed the great effect it has in Madagascar 3 ...
11
votes
5answers
5k views
Good 3D Math Theory Books [closed]
I've been developing a modification for the Source engine for well over a year, but am now facing some troubles with the weapons, gamemovement (player physics) and player feedback from explosives.
...
11
votes
1answer
869 views
How to gain accurate results with Painter's algorithm?
A while ago I asked how to determine when a face is overlapping another. The advice was to use a Z-buffer.
However, I cannot use a Z-buffer in my current project and hence I would like to use the ...
11
votes
2answers
636 views
Are any 3D-design skills required for game development?
God knows I am no graphics designer! Aside, I'm a good developer with much experience.
So, my quesiton is the following:
Are any 3D-design skills required for game development?
If no, how to write ...
11
votes
1answer
571 views
Toon/cel shading with variable line width?
I see a few broad approaches out there to doing cel shading:
Duplication & enlargement of model with flipped normals (not an option for me)
Sobel filter / fragment shader approaches to edge ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Working with lots of cubes. Improving performance?
Edit: To sum the question up, I have a voxel based world (Minecraft style (Thanks Communist Duck)) which is suffering from poor performance. I am not positive on the source but would like any possible ...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Why do pixel shaders not let us read directly from the framebuffer or the depth buffer?
Letting me sample the framebuffer or the depthbuffer in the pixel shader would be an extremely useful feature. Even just being able to know the depth or the color of whatever is behind the current ...
10
votes
2answers
577 views
Resources of realistic water simulation?
I want to study water simulation, with a a demo with source code which using physically-based methods(Eulerian approaches or Lagrangian approaches).
How can I get some examples?
10
votes
3answers
732 views
RTS on a 3D map e.g. a globe
How can you 'tile' a 3D globe if your existing artwork and maps are simple 2D grids?
Are there approaches that can re-use much of the artwork and such?
10
votes
2answers
645 views
Why is 90° horz / 60° vert the default FPS Field of View?
As far as I understand it, vertical Field of View should be adjusted to:
fov = 2 * arctan(0.5*screenHeight / distanceEyeScreen);
That is, Field of View should match a user's distance to and size of ...
10
votes
2answers
910 views
Unity Occlusion Portals: What and How?
(Here I eat my words on Meta about posting Unity questions on Unity Answers... since that site is less responsive than this one.)
Unity provides cell-based Occlusion Culling (via Umbra, I believe). ...
