No idea what to do...

General Discussions
#1

I have projects that I am working on and that, however I am stumped on what I should be learning at the moment.

I feel fairly comfortable with the language at the moment, I don’t know every part of the Java API but when I discover something, I figure out how to use it fairly quickly.

So I am not sure what I want to learn at the moment, I have been using LibGDX for a year now but feel as if I can’t do much that is impressive.

Like I want to learn how to do shadows, lighting and all that but not sure where to begin. Like for instance in Ray’s Sixty Gig he has a cool blood particle effect, things like that.

Not sure what I should be learning…I was also considering completely revising Physics and brush up on fundamental Mathematics but trying to get the time to study that stuff is not as easy as learning something in terms of coding.

What direction should I be heading here, completely lost.

#2

revising old stuff that is in use is always good.

in general i think one should learn : basic math -> vectors -> fancy stuffs.

it depends on how you learn. i mean, the way things get into your brain and light up the bulb. reading, listening, try and error, visual, something else ?

#3

Easy: Pick up OpenGL Superbible 6th Edition + OpenGL 4.0 Shading Language Cookbook and you’re all set.
If you’re serious about making “good looking stuff” (complex particle systems, skinning, advanced lighting, shadow mapping, etc.) first you need a solid understanding of OpenGL + GLSL, and only then can you dive into the mathematics of the above mentioned techniques. OpenGL 4.0 Shading Language Cookbook explains these techniques in great detail, while the Superbible teaches you about how OpenGL really works and how should one use it.

By the way, most of these techniques sound harder to implement than they actually are, most of these stuff can be learned in 1-2 days and after you understand the theory the implementation is like half an hour. I’m sure if you start learning you can come up with decent looking stuff in a week or so. :slight_smile:

#4

Any of them do really, as long as the topic is interesting then it generally is not a problem sinking it into the old noggin’.

I will get those, would learning a little 3D do me any good at all you reckon? As in will it help me understand some things that 2D will not? To help me along the way to to say.

Everything I have done so far is 2D and has been done using LibGDX.

#5

OpenGL (and graphics APIs in general) does not make a difference between 2D and 3D, ergo if you know 2D you know 3D as well. Of course there are minor differences (you have to use depth buffer, perspective projection matrix, etc.) but nothing huge.

The reason why 3D is hard because all the techniques that are relatively easy to use in 2D becomes a pain in the ass in 3D. Pathfinding, animation, raypicking, lighting, shadows…

#6

regular-grid partitioning vs bvh, marching-squares vs marching-cubes, rotation …