Jist3D - JOGL Based 3D Engine

OpenGL Development JOGL Development
#1

Hi all,
This is a cross-post from a Xith thread and informal announcement of our engine and what we’ll do with it.
The original engine thread with snapshots is :
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=jogl;action=display;num=1060308805;start=

Here’s the cut-paste of the post from the Xith forums.

Well I finally got a chance to sit down and give a heads up on our work and future releases. Our book text was several weeks behind and for our final delivery we are crunching the “behindness” so that has been my focus. On to the goods…

Jist3D

By years end, I will release the alpha code base for our 3D engine called “Jist3D” and other game toolkit code as an open source CVS project. The project is the result of many people’s hard work with several earlier engines ( dating back to WorldToolKit! ) The package includes several game related APIs built on top of JOGL, JOAL, and Jinput in a highly componentized and layer design. The bulk of the source will be the core of several chapters from our book to-be-release at GDC next year titled “Practical Java Game Programming”.

Jist3D is the JOGL render engine (view, state, geometry management and caching, etc.) and completely layered (i.e no upwards references by the render engine) on top of the render engine core, scene graph system (graph, transforms, bounds, view culling, loaders, etc) and a few optional utils for working with Java3D graphs (read converters)

The additional components are a Jist3D compatible 3D collision system, 2D overlay/interface API (using JOGL) that integrates with the render engine, a specialized Math class for fast approximate math functions, and a basic character animation engine.

Each major topic above is essentially companion to the relevant chapters in our book. The book concludes with a overhaul/port of the Java3D fighting game we showed at GDC 2002 and 2003 using the new JOGL/JOAL/Jinput code base.

What is NOT there is the physics system we have demonstrated in the past and particle systems, as the first was too big for a chapter and the later too small, in an already too large book

I look forward to a annoucing a complete feature list, the actual release, and working with the community to further the engine and to resolve/share/exchange our techniques/components/ideas with other projects (for example Xith3D )

#2

nice,
a LWJGL support should be nice

#3

Sounds very interesing, I’m looking forward to Jist3D.

Can you tell something more about the book?

ciao torsten

#4

Unfortunately, I think I have posted way too much on the book (i.e. commercial promotion on public forums) so I will attempt to minimize future posts.

Here is links to other threads that have some information on the book, beyond that I can answer your questions directly in email.

Thanks for your interest!

Current book related threads

Is there a JOGL book in the works?
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=jogl;action=display;num=1061050418;start=6#6

Discussion about the material covered at GDC with regards to the book.
2004 JDC: (208) Professional Java Game Development
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=announcements;action=display;num=1066793446

VecMath for JOGL
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=jogl;action=display;num=1062367926;start=0#0

Game Genres and Java
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=announcements;action=display;num=1067664616;start=0#0

Java game book audience focus
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=announcements;action=display;num=1068577893

#5

It’s great that you’re releasing your engine – great projects like Xith3D, Jist3D, and games being built on top of them are very exciting.

#6

extremly interested by your engine…
very nice work. i love your alpha shadows.
the release should be very close, now. has it been delayed, or is it really for very soon?

#7

Nice looking project. How would you position this project considering Xith3D project. Do they overap each other to be “competitors”?

#8

great work. looking forward to your book :>

regards,

jim herber

#9

Does anybody know what happened to jist3d? I thought it’ll be relased last december!?!?
tomcat

#10

Shawn.
Are you waiting for GDC to release, or do you still plan to release around december 2003? ;D

#11

“Official Announcement”
Jist3D as a rendering engine is no longer being developed.
There are varying reason for this, which include:

  1. A simplified version will be release in our book and online after the book launch in ~May
  2. The original design is meant to teach about rendering and render engines but is not scalable to professional level of development in the public release form.
  3. A very large portion of Jist3D are tools which are render engine agnostic. That is, will work with Jist3D, Xith3D, or Java3D.

All of our effects will be spent further developing and maintaining the high level tools of Jist3D (graph loaders, animation engine, collision system and physics) under the Jist3D name for now, for use with Xith3D/Java3D builds.

Additionally, I wish to say that I am very much looking forward to contributing to the Xith/Java3D efforts again!

[mod]
Thanks to all those whom were interested and supported this project

#12

That’s great, I am looking forward the release. :smiley:

Btw is there a place where I could find a detailed table of contents of your book ? I am not sure the one of Charles River Media is up-to-date.

#13

err… was it released already? ???

#14

After several delays on our parts, the book and the engine will be available in June :slight_smile:

#15

Ah…early June maybe?

Been waiting…and waiting… :’(

#16

Cough.

I too am looking forward to the near publication date of this book. What is it’s title?

#17

Practical Java Game Programming
Charles River Media

#18

Would you be able to give us a detailed description of the contents of the book? I have read all the description and TOC from the Charles River Media website, and would like to know the extent to which JOGL is used in this book.

#19

JOGL is cover in different ways in 3 chapters.
The JOGL Chapter - Basic introduction
3D engine chapter - Less JOGL, mostly general concepts, but includes the Jist3D engine as an example implementation.
2D Menus with JOGL - exactly what it says.
Two other chapters round out the 3D material in the book, a gfeneral 3D foundations chapter and a collision chapter.

If you know little to nothing of these topics would say it’s a great place to start.
If you have a fairly good understanding and have coded some of the topics before, it may be less use to you.
Of course, the rest of the book could still be useful!

#20

I’ve already got a number of similar books (Developing Games in Java and Game Coding Complete), but I’ll be off to purchase it so I can study the JList 3D engine and look at your JOGL 2D Menu Code (are there any samples of this anywhere else?).

I’ve just got to find the quickest shipper - Amazon.co.uk says it’ll take them up to 4 weeks to get the item in.