Thanks to everyone who’s sent me email about this. I’m going to be out of town (backpacking – woohoo!) next week, but will reply to your mails after I get back if not before.
Thanks again. Good discussion going on here too.
[quote]We’re in that “last 10%” of the project which takes the 90% of the time.
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What is that excellent rule of thumb? “The first 90% of the project takes 90% of the time; the last 10% of the project takes the other 90% of the time…” ;D
[quote]Thanks again. Good discussion going on here too.
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I’m personally not interested in Java3D, but I do think we need more of a Java3D presence around here. It gets more of a kicking than it really deserves, I think.
Java3D’s reputation in the world of games is currently sitting on the shoulders of the Magicosm team - Full Sail aren’t involved with it anymore (AFAIK) and there’re no other big projects visible at the moment.
When your prototyping project kicks off, be sure to drop in and keep us informed!
I just remembered RoboForge… it is currently the only commecial game that is basedon Java3D that I am aware of. It isn’t bad either. (sure it could be better…)
Law and Order: Dead on the Money is also Java3D 
-SG
That’s where experienced comes into play…
[quote]Law and Order: Dead on the Money is also Java3D
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Not to toot my own horn too much, but don’t forget about Galactic Village! We are also using Java3D.
[quote]Not to toot my own horn too much, but don’t forget about Galactic Village! We are also using Java3D.
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Dude! You need to link when you post something like this.
i.e. “Don’t forget about Gallactic Village!”
As it is, I had to scour google (translation: first result) trying to find out what Gallactic Village is! How about links for your friendly neighbors next time? 
Dude! My bad! I’ll make sure and post a link next time!
Or better yet, add it to my sig…
and where should I send the $2.50 for the free ad?
LOL! Just link everytime you mention GAGE and we’ll call it even. BTW, your sig is wrong. HTML doesn’t work here. You have to use [ url=http://placetogo.com ]Place To Go[ /url ] instead.
Wow…
I didn’t mean to start the religious war. Sorry about that.
I agree that using Java3D would be fine when you need an out of box scene graph API. For a prototype / proof of concept of a game Java3D would be perfect.
This is the same idea as using Retained Mode vs. Immediate Mode in the old Direct X (remember Direct X)
If you are doing Retained Mode kinds of applications (like model viewers and VRML worlds) and not immediate mode (which I consider a requirement for most games and 3D engines) then again Java3D (and I mean using the scene graph) would be fine.
I know Java3D is faster than it used to be but a scene graph is not the same thing as a 3D GAME engine. I would have reservations building a robust 3D game engine on top of ANY scene graph API but efforts like Magicosm may prove this theory wrong. Still though if that were the case then wouldn’t more NON Java games have taken this approach instead of developing from OpenGL / DirectX immediate mode up?
Food for thought.
Don’t most 3d games developers build their own bespoke (and cut down in comparison to J3D) scenegraph?
I mean, they have to sort transparencies for one… that kinda needs something of a scenegraph variety…
More food, more thought…
Kev
Really enjoyed this discussion guys!
my penny’s worth:
- using any generic scenegraphi architecture is generally not feasibile for a 3D, realtime, interactive exeperience. ( unless this is a very generic experience that is not specialised - generally a game MEANS
it is specialised). - so J3D is not the issue, Open Inventor in C++ would probably deliver similar results.
- in summary, if the demo is not performance critical and/or does not require specialised logic than go for J3D. This is perfect for example for interactive visualisation of a static world.
Larry
RenderWare is a generic scene graph API.
Many AAA titles use it.
So would have to say that a generic scene graph architecture IS generally feasibile for a 3D, realtime, interactive exeperience.
RenderWare is NOT a scene graph.
It is a complete environment for producing a finished product. It contains an entire game engine complete with everything you could want to get started quickly.
From there site:
RenderWare is widely recognized as the de-facto portfolio of tools and technology solutions for the games development industry. It currently comprises RenderWare Platform (Graphics, Physics, Audio, AI), and RenderWare Studio.
RenderWare’s mission is to help solve the complex technical issues facing the games development industry and through doing so, enable developers/publishers to efficiently deliver higher quality, more creative games and to maximize commercial opportunities on a long term basis with less development risk.
That said though, I have read lots of reviews and articles and have found that many of the AAA titles that used it, still tweaked the hell out of it to get what they needed. The main point of my post though is that comparing RenderWare to Java3D or OpenInvestor isn’t fair…
Renderware’s engine is closer to something like Unreal or Quake’s engine (technical details aside). So it is really meant for games unlike the general purpose scene graph APIs.
-Z
P.S. My post insn’t meant as a flame. Just a clarification.
Also, can I get a Full Sail Scholarship?