I'm interested in developing 3D games using OpenGL and C++. My choices here are dictated by as much research as I can stand to do(about 8 months of researching, tutorials, etc). I set out with the goal that whatever I chose needed to be cross-platform compatible(both for development, and the final product), as well as fast(just the final product here). Now for the question... I would love to do the artwork, sprites, maps, etc. in Blender. It's a powerful, easy to use tool that has the advantage of being something I'm familiar with. However, I'm unsure of exactly how to USE the things I create in blender in a game. I figure there has to be a way to tie together the things from Blender to OpenGL to C++, but I have been completely unsuccessful in finding guides/tutorials/articles that pertain to tying together the little things you learn into a whole. For example, let's say that I create an animated sprite to be used under the condition that the player is standing still. I have no idea how to take that animation and have it rendered and used via a C++ program(I know, I'm not very far, considering the amount of research I've been doing, but school/life does tend to interfere with projects). Anyway, I really appreciate anyone's help in this, as I've been unsuccessful in just about every search endeavor I've undertaken. Thanks in advance.

Sounds like it's time for you to stop reading only and start experimenting. I don't know how much programming experience you have, so I can't tell you exactly what's best to do now, but that would range from simply getting more familiar with the language you're working with to using a graphics API to draw something - anything - on screen and then building a simple test game. Cross-platform and fast are fine goals, but you're not at a point where they really matter, not yet, so I wouldn't focus too much on them (for now).


Also, since you mention Blender, you should know that C++ isn't the only - nor the best - language to be used for game-development. I can recommend Python for rapid game-development, combined with Pygame for 2D games or Panda 3D for 3D games. I was able to create a decent adventure game with it in 3 months - without prior Python experience (ok, granted, I had been programming for 3 years by then). Much smoother than C++ imho, you can quickly focus on developing a game, rather than a set of lower level functionality.

And, to cap it off, what helped me a lot was modding existing games. It gave me a lot of insight in how games are - or can be - constructed. You may want to look at some easily moddable games for inspiration.

Of course, I would forget one of the most basic things to post... my experience!

I actually have quite a lot of programming experience(several years in fact). The breakdown is as follows

Beginner: C,C++,Java,Perl
Intermediate: Fortran, VB
Upper-Intermediate/Advanced-ish: Python(and some typesetting languages like TeX, etc that are mostly unimportant here)


Anyway, I've thought about python... but I just don't know that it would make for a fast game. I know I could write a game in it relatively easily(in fact, I could probably get the basic Pong, Tetris, Pac-Man, Battleship type stuff out in about a month or so if I really focused).

The problem is that because I have this goal for speed(and not really developing lots and lots of games, just really making a few good ones that I enjoy playing) I can't motivate myself to code them with python.

Thanks for the response! Keep 'em coming.

Hi Callindrill,
in my opinion you have to begin writing some small game, maybe 2D with SDL and sprites, to understand the problems related to the game programming (like the classical main loop, how to let systems interact, etc)...

I'm developing a small multiplatform game engine, but I found very useful to read the book "3d game engine design (2nd edition)" by Dave Eberly...
Jump to www.geometrictools.com and download the code of his engine (WildMagic) it works also on Mac!

Also try "OpenGL game programming", "Game coding complete", and such...

Hope this helps!