I have a few general questions and a specific question that I'd like to
throw out.  I'm ready for a *real* challenge:  multi-user multimedia
internet game development. This will be a hobby of course, at least for
the time being.  I am no graphic artist.  After looking at how POVRay is
"programmed" it would appear to be a black art of floating point number
tweaking.  I am however a programmer.

My question, put simply, is this:  are there any resources (books,
Internet, etc) that state in clear terms how to integrate all this
disparate stuff (or which stuff to use) to produce a viable product such
as a game?

How does one produce MPEG movies like the intro to Diablo?  Is it
possible to use a 30-bit scanner on a photograph which is then "reverse
engineered" into a collection of objects readable by POV Ray (would
Adobe Photoshop do this?)  I have this in mind for background scenes
that would be hard to do with Moray.  Is it possible to create an
organic form in sPatch and then put it into a nonorganic background
scene created by Moray?  I have so many questions it's embarassing to
even try to ask them here.. I guess what I really need is somebody who's
willing to share information with me thru email (on a semi-consistent
basis).  Any kind souls??

I have downloaded Moray, sPatch, POV Ray, Texture Magic and a number of
interesting utilities like GForge and LParser.  I will be using Adobe
Photoshop and Illustrator.  Does this sound like a viable combination
for someone on a budget?  Are there any other MUST HAVE graphic
utilities that I missed?

sorry to be long winded... but this is all overwhelming.

-mike
tao### [at] junocom

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Ken Penner wrote:
> 
> My question, put simply, is this:  are there any resources (books,
> Internet, etc) that state in clear terms how to integrate all this
> disparate stuff (or which stuff to use) to produce a viable product such
> as a game?

If you want to work with raytracing as POV does, I recommend this book:

Andrew S. Glassner: 'An Introduction to Raytracing'
ISBN: 0-12-286160-4

Game (3D) programming however is completely different as raytracing is
too slow for realtime action. I have a few internet ressources you can
try:

ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/code (I am not sure I got the path
absolutely right, but try)

ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi/pub/msdos/programming/

(if you do not develop for msdos, this resource is still useful, as
there are a lot of theoretical and non-msdos specific docs there too)

if you want any books on game programming try 

http://www.amazon.com

this is the worlds largest bookstore, search for something like 'game
programming' and you will probably find something

I am still new to povray so I will not try answering your other
questions

Post a reply to this message

Ken Penner wrote:

> I have a few general questions and a specific question that I'd like to
> throw out.  I'm ready for a *real* challenge:  multi-user multimedia
> internet game development. This will be a hobby of course, at least for
> the time being.  I am no graphic artist.  After looking at how POVRay is
> "programmed" it would appear to be a black art of floating point number
> tweaking.  I am however a programmer.
>
> My question, put simply, is this:  are there any resources (books,
> Internet, etc) that state in clear terms how to integrate all this
> disparate stuff (or which stuff to use) to produce a viable product such
> as a game?
>
> How does one produce MPEG movies like the intro to Diablo?  Is it
> possible to use a 30-bit scanner on a photograph which is then "reverse
> engineered" into a collection of objects readable by POV Ray (would
> Adobe Photoshop do this?)  I have this in mind for background scenes
> that would be hard to do with Moray.  Is it possible to create an
> organic form in sPatch and then put it into a nonorganic background
> scene created by Moray?  I have so many questions it's embarassing to
> even try to ask them here.. I guess what I really need is somebody who's
> willing to share information with me thru email (on a semi-consistent
> basis).  Any kind souls??
>
> I have downloaded Moray, sPatch, POV Ray, Texture Magic and a number of
> interesting utilities like GForge and LParser.  I will be using Adobe
> Photoshop and Illustrator.  Does this sound like a viable combination
> for someone on a budget?  Are there any other MUST HAVE graphic
> utilities that I missed?
>
> sorry to be long winded... but this is all overwhelming.
>
> -mike
> tao### [at] junocom

  You and I are in the same boat. Though I can't offer much advice I can
offer a sounding board, might be nice to chat with someone who is just
getting started like my self.
KB-

Post a reply to this message

KB- wrote in message <35B6D6E6.4ED05C14@pacbell.net>...
>
>
>Ken Penner wrote:
>
>> I have a few general questions and a specific question that I'd like to
>> throw out.  I'm ready for a *real* challenge:  multi-user multimedia
>> internet game development. This will be a hobby of course, at least for
>> the time being.  I am no graphic artist.  After looking at how POVRay is
>> "programmed" it would appear to be a black art of floating point number
>> tweaking.  I am however a programmer.
>>
>> My question, put simply, is this:  are there any resources (books,
>> Internet, etc) that state in clear terms how to integrate all this
>> disparate stuff (or which stuff to use) to produce a viable product such
>> as a game?


i don't know about where to find info but i know smacker
(http://www.radgametools ) can make complete games form animation to sound
or at least thats what the company says.

>> How does one produce MPEG movies like the intro to Diablo?

Diablo was created on smacker (intro movie)

  Is it
>> possible to use a 30-bit scanner on a photograph which is then "reverse
>> engineered" into a collection of objects readable by POV Ray (would
>> Adobe Photoshop do this?)

i highly doubt it.

  I have this in mind for background scenes
>> that would be hard to do with Moray.  Is it possible to create an
>> organic form in sPatch and then put it into a nonorganic background
>> scene created by Moray?

entirely possible and done all the time.

  I have so many questions it's embarassing to
>> even try to ask them here.. I guess what I really need is somebody who's
>> willing to share information with me thru email (on a semi-consistent
>> basis).  Any kind souls??


i would be happy to offer my limited knowledge to you.

>> I have downloaded Moray, sPatch, POV Ray, Texture Magic and a number of
>> interesting utilities like GForge and LParser.  I will be using Adobe
>> Photoshop and Illustrator.  Does this sound like a viable combination
>> for someone on a budget?  Are there any other MUST HAVE graphic
>> utilities that I missed?


i would definatley say you need a .fli,.flc,mpg,or .avi encoder of some
sort.

>> sorry to be long winded... but this is all overwhelming.
>>
>> -mike
>> tao### [at] junocom
>
>  You and I are in the same boat. Though I can't offer much advice I can
>offer a sounding board, might be nice to chat with someone who is just
>getting started like my self.
>KB-
I can't offer a whole lot of advice since I'm a newbie on POVRAY, but I am
willing to answer all that I can.   mar### [at] ncxcom

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