scenegraph

OpenGL Development JOGL Development
#1

Hi,

I’m looking for a simple scene graph solution, either for me use in my code or to base myself for building my own. Any tips? I don’t want to use Java3D. I’d like to build my own to use with JOGL.

Also, I need to build scene and characters for loading in the game. I have seen on the web so many things and I don’t really know where to start:

  • What format should I use for scenes? And for characters?
  • What are the formats available?

Some people said BSP for scene. I wonder, isn’t BSP used for doom-like maps? What if the game is a wide open area? I have heard of OC trees, or KD trees (not sure what it is), any tips for implementations in Java?

Characters. I asked in another forum, the guy only answer “MD2”, is that an asnwer? What should I conclude from that? Ok, what’s MD* and why should I use it? Are there any alternatives?

  • What kind of tools are used for building them?
#2

in response to the file loading part of your question, check out these two files in the jogl demo src: ObjReader.java and MD2.java. these files cover two very popular formats. .obj is popular because MANY 3d apps support it. and it can reference material information (not in the example code though). i’m not totally familiar with md2 but here’s a snippet from cyberloonies:

An MD2 File basically consists of a big list of triangles which then “form” the animation. As the MD2 format is a little bit old it has some restrictions/disadvantages. It is not skeleton based, which means it is impossible (or very difficult) to turn, for example, the head independently from the body.

But the advantage of MD2 is that it is very easy to use and import; it can be used by almost every game without great problems. There are also a lot of web pages offering many MD2 models for download.

so, md2 is good for walk cycles, etc. but no bones, so certain types of animations or even physics are made a little more difficult. i haven’t seen very many other loaders ported to java as most of the game world is in c++ land.