After coding 2D games for about 3 to 4 years now, I have decided to follow the trend of producing 3D games. I have a little experience with DirectX (directdraw really) so I decided that I would use Direct3D. The main problem I have is I don''t have a clue where I should start... I learn best from designing games so don''t tell me to start with rotating a cube blah blah blah I would like a game design I could use similar to the way Tetris is a popular game to clone for a first 2d game. So does anyone have a suggestion then? Philip Lutas CEO of Optical Realities

Flight sim is a good way to start. . . except for a little thing called physics, that makes many 3D game designers a little grumpy.

I know! Put it in space, then ignore every law of physics known to mankind! =)

DmGoober

A flight sim is a bit complex, it''s not exactly the 3D equivalent of Tetris =)

If you want to get a 3D game going without writing a complex 3D engine, to get your feet wet, then the best idea I can think of is to write a racing game that takes place outdoors, on completely flat terrain, with no obstacles or anything. Basically, it will be a 3D game but the code remains essentially 2D. The terrain would be represented as a 2D array of tiles, and it would be completely flat; the Y-coordinates would remain constant. You can then draw simple cars (whose geometry would be hardcoded in the program), and for the sky you can either use solid blue or draw a bitmap.

You''d start by passing all geometry to the rendering API (Direct3D or OpenGL), then eventually add visibility testing.

~CGameProgrammer( );