Messages

16

General / Correct way to handle physics time-stepping

« on: October 05, 2012, 10:54:41 pm »

Hey guys,
So I have written a simple physics engine which works great for me, but I want to make sure it works well on other PCs. I have found a lot of vague and complicated tutorials online that describe multiple methods of handling your timesteps. Could someone please give me a rundown, or point me in the direction of information that is complete?

Thanks.

17

Graphics / Re: Programmable Pipeline (A.K.A Shaders) instead of Fixed Function Pipeline

« on: August 08, 2012, 10:46:49 pm »

What I meant by my previous post not being clear, was that I didn't make my issue clear enough. It sounded like I still wanted to use Fixed Function, so I made a new topic with a much clearer question.

I was trying to find out the requirements for this. Apparently, its just create the context inside a window. I wanted to make sure that SFML didn't require me to use any of it's OpenGL-related functionality.

Thanks for the fast response as always Laurent!

18

Graphics / Programmable Pipeline (A.K.A Shaders) instead of Fixed Function Pipeline

« on: August 08, 2012, 10:32:37 pm »

So, I have a previous post that is not clear enough at all. I am trying to move away from fixed function completely. I have done this previously in SFML 1.5, but things have changed a lot in SFML 2. I want to do 100% Raw OpenGL without the help of SFML, and at the very end, render it to my Window. Is this possible? Essentially, I do not want to do GLBegin() and GLEnd(). I want to pass my VAOs to compiled shaders and render that way.

Thanks,
Kurasu1415

19

Graphics / Re: Importing an .obj Model.

« on: August 08, 2012, 08:42:46 pm »

As laurent said, this isn't really related to SFML. You will in fact have to write the loader yourself, but luckily .obj is one of the easiest formats to load. Just look at the file specification. A fully-features format to use is .fbx. There is an FBX loading API supplied for free from Autodesk. OBJs don't support skeletal animation, fbx does. Just a few pointers there

20

Graphics / Re: Raw OpenGL with SFML 2

« on: August 08, 2012, 08:29:41 pm »

I shouldn't have assumed that people use the modern OpenGL approach I assume. I never quite understood why everyone still uses the fixed-function approach. It has been outdated for years, and is completely unusable on modern graphics cards.

Anyways, hopefully someone can give me some insight as to what the process is for this.

P.S. you were right about the RenderWindow thing. I was checking out plain Window. touche!

21

Graphics / Re: How do I obtain error messages from within SFML graphics?

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:35:32 pm »

There are a lot of debugging tools out there for OpenGL. Just do a quick google search. This isn't exactly a SFML-related issue. There are some OpenGL calls you can run as well, but im not sure off the top of my head.

22

Graphics / Re: Raw OpenGL with SFML 2

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:22:53 pm »

Actually,
This doesn't answer my question at all. No where in this code does he use any shaders. Its using this Window.pushGLStates() function. This function isn't outlined in the documentation, at least not that I can find. What exactly is this function for?

Also, this example utilizes the fixed function pipeline. Do I just replace the fixed function calls with Programmable Pipeline calls?

23

Graphics / Re: Raw OpenGL with SFML 2

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:12:02 pm »

Sorry, every time I saw a post about this people were just using the SFML built-ins. Also, I didn't even realize that there was an examples folder. I'm so busy lost in my little world it must have slipped by. Thanks for the rerouting though.

24

Graphics / Raw OpenGL with SFML 2

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:02:31 pm »

In previous versions I know SFML had a way to create an OpenGL context of a certain version, and then just draw to a window using Raw OpenGL instead of using any SFML specific calls. Do I have to do anything special to render OpenGL to an SFML2 Window? I want to use standard OpenGL, not the SFML functions. I want to handle my own shaders etc.

Thanks!

25

General discussions / Re: SFML API ugliness

« on: July 31, 2012, 07:21:47 pm »

I don't really understand the point of the hate. If you have criticisms, then state them, and explain how you would change them, or better yet, write your own library. I personally think SFML is definitely one of the best OpenSource APIs, and I think that Laurent has done a fantastic job. Obviously one can't be perfect, but on a realistic level, I think SFML is a great example of a fantastic OpenSource API. Look at something like Direct X. It is gaudy and limited as well as worked on by a LOT of paid people. Despite all of that though the general ease of use and quality of Direct X is horrible.

26

General / Re: OpenGL 4.2

« on: July 31, 2012, 04:37:19 pm »

I would recommend going with a OpenGL 3.2 context. Cards all the way back to the Geforce 800 series in 2005 can support this and it definitely covers the majority. GLBegin()/GLEnd() is what is known as the Fixed-Function Pipeline, and is quite old as well as inefficient. What you will be doing is using Shaders to render all of your graphics, which is known as the Programmable Pipeline. It is a little weird at first, but Shaders are extremely powerful, and much faster than our old rendering ways. Start doing some research on using GLSL (GL Shader Language). It is the language you will use to write your shaders. Take time to look over the language and really understand it. You can use GLSL to do basic drawing, particle effects, and anything crazy you want to do with your rendering. A good tutorial for an introduction is here : http://nehe.gamedev.net/article/glsl_an_introduction/25007/

There are some books about it, but in all honesty they are overcomplicated for someone new to the world of shaders. Have fun, good luck, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

27

SFML projects / Re: [sf3d] a project for 3D rendering

« on: July 30, 2012, 05:53:12 pm »

I suggest using the Autodesk FBX format. I have used Assimp in the past, and I have to say that it is slow, and a little bit overboard. FBX models have become a game industry standard because every 3D modelling program can easily export to it. It is also very easy to load. There is an open SDK made available by Autodesk (the creators of 3DS Max/Maya) specifically for loading and saving to this format. My suggestion would be to use FBX as your primary asset format. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I am working on loading the FBX format myself, so when I get it working flawlessly, I can shoot some code your way.

28

Window / Re: Hardware acceleration for SFML drawing?

« on: July 29, 2012, 11:40:18 pm »

Yeah, my video drivers in Mint Linux were not working properly. got it all fixed now. Regardless I am just going to use straight OpenGL to draw.

29

SFML projects / Re: SFML Light System - Let There Be Light

« on: July 29, 2012, 11:38:31 pm »

Are using the CPU or the GPU to render the shadows?

30

SFML projects / Re: Sprint

« on: July 29, 2012, 04:52:53 am »

All I have to say is , "Beautiful Art!". I just love the way it looks. Keep up the good work!