Starting with 3D in Java, Where should I begin?

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

I should start off by saying that I’m definately not new to the Java programming language; However I’m mainly a server developer and have done the multiplayer for a few different games. I’ve never gotten around to actually learning about the rendering and such and I’m at that point where I believe it would do me justice to have the experience. Working with game engines such as Unity3D is getting really boring, and I hate the fact that I don’t understand what’s going on behind the scenes at all. So, I’ve decided to start to take a step into the ‘DIY’ direction.

I don’t personally care if it’s low-level or high-level code that I’m working with, just the idea of writing in Java pleases me. It’s by far my favorite language. I have a friend that writes 3D applications using LWJGL and jPCT, which uses MD2 models. MD2 models are pretty much a thing of the past now, aren’t they? Haven’t we moved on?

My goal is to create a basic 3D dungeon crawler type game; However game-mechanics aren’t the problem, it’s just getting it on the screen.

I have always liked LibGDX; So I wanted to use it for this, but I can’t find ANY TUTORIALS on 3D development. I may just be blind. The main thing that I’m looking for is a tutorial explaining the following:

  • Creating a camera
  • Drawing a terrain
  • Drawing a static model
  • An example of model animations would be nice, but is definitely not required for a long while

With those basics I can start to create my player, movement systems, combat, and the likes fairly easily

#2

Nobody forces you to use MD2 for animations. You can either use individual keyframes loaded from other file formats or you can use Bones in addition for skeletal animations.

#3

Ahem: https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Quick-start

#4

Getting in to 3D OpenGL is tough at first. But here is a series that will make it extremely easy to start!

Then to expand on lighting and special effects: (the is part is in C++)

Now to address your model issue either use collada or create your own. I re-purposed the MD5 format. I changed some scripts I found online for blender MD5 exporting to suit my needs.

#5

You should look at Xoppa’s blog about LibGDX 3D API.

#6

Thanks guys, I’ve got a decent grasp on what’s going on so far; The only problem I’m having [LibGDX related] is finding models that will work, most of the .obj models I convert to g3db don’t have texutres, and all of the FBX models I convert throw errors about missing Spec.png.