Tweet
How can I use PB/DLL 6.0 to write computer games? I want to start using 2D graphics and move on to 3D graphics. I want to start using graphics functions in PB/DLL and move on to DirectX, OpenGL, and 3D graphics engines. I wish that I would write a graphic simulation of the New York City subway system that is similar to the TrainTown program. Any books on writing computer games? Jeffrey.
-
-
Learn the GDI !
DirectX gets a lot of talk, but DirectX is not as fantastic as you may think. I Beta test a multimedia development system (in the class of Director) called MediaForge and when they added DirectX support it was slower than the GDI (when mingled with GDI capabilities). Basically, to get the optimum speed out of directX it is all or nothing. You must use all the bells and whistles in DirectX to get the maximum speed.
I found that the GDI can be quite fast, if you know what you are doing. A good starting place is to learn the GDI and then learn a bit of assembler to speed things up. I think if you use the GDI with assembler mixed in, you can get some very good performance out of it. Of course DirectX is better, but only if you know how to use all its bells and whistles. (just my opinion, for whatever that is worth).
------------------
-
Chris, Is it possible for me to use PB/DLL and WIN32API and DirectX API to write computer games? Jeffrey.
------------------
Comment
-
Hello Jeff...
I personally think that you might be bitting off more that you can chew for right now. It is VERY important to get a good grasp of the Windows API first. DirectX is not really the sort of animal you would want to confront with PowerBasic, perhaps OpenGL would be a better choice for your graphics engine. A while back I had ideas of writting my own WIZ BANG! 3D Graphics Engine, at that time it was still in DOS. That is where I learned alot about graphics and some of the pitfalls behind certain methods. Assembly is a great tool/language to know, It has gotten me out of plenty of speed problems. Here are some links for ya...
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp http://www.neutralzone.org/home/faqsys/ http://cg.cs.tu-berlin.de/~ki/engines.html http://freespace.virgin.net/hugo.elias/ http://www.nvidia.com/Developer.nsf http://www.sublevel6.f2s.com/ http://www.df.lth.se/~john_e/ http://www.sandpile.org/ http://www.wotsit.org/ http://www.openal.org/home/ http://www.opengl.org/ http://www.gamasutra.com/
Cheers!
p.s. Feel free to email me...
Mark, Smit
[email protected]
------------------
Comment
-
Mark, Thanks for telling me about links to some web sites. How can I use PB/DLL and OpenGL to write computer games? Jeffrey.
------------------
Comment
-
Jeffrey, you simply call the functions that these products and libraries expose to you. Simple, eh?
The hard part is writing an application that actually does something... a comprehensive appreciation of using the raw Windows GDI should be your first step before launching into advanced 2D or 3D graphics.
However, it appears (to me) that you require a step-by-step tutorial for these things. The closest you will get (for free) would be the OpenGL pages (you have been given the link several times now) which even include PB/DLL examples and PB/DLL #INCLUDE files - everything you need to get started with OpenGL (at least).
I say this because it appears that you have have not actually researched the links you have been given. I'm sure that if you offered to pay someone for their time, then you may get some private tutoring - we all need help sometimes, but there is free information available on the net that you can download and use to teach yourself.
Asking someone to teach you how to write 'complex' 2D and 3D graphics applications is not a menial task and (most) people don't have the time to teach you this stuff from ground zero, and such an exercise is really beyond the scope of what can be done in a public forum like this BBS.
Mark kindly posted 12 links for you to research these topics (in addition to the previous links you have been given). If you are serious about this stuff, then my advice is for you to download and start pouring over the documentation for these libraries, and start to ask questions when you get stuck.
I apologize for the abrupt tone of my message, but the information you seek is waiting for you online and for free (at least with OpenGL!)
------------------
Lance
PowerBASIC Support
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>Lance
mailto:[email protected]Comment
-
Lance, I visited the web sites that Mark refered me to and I visited a web site related to game developing. Its address is www.gamedev.net. Jeffrey.
------------------
Comment
Comment