OpenGL Textures

It took a lot of research online and read a couple of OpenGL books to finally render texture in my scene. Looking the back the code was pretty simple to do; it was just difficult figure how all the pieces fit together. I'm really proud of the scene I have created. I've learned with enough perseverance and dedication one can teach themselves anything. I can't wait to learn how to render more things in OpenGL.

OpenGL - Lighting

Game Libraries

I have now finished an application in OpenGl that  shows ambient, diffuse, and specular light on objects. All lighting equations have been run through the fragment shader to show a nice clean look. I learned the linear algebra equations of how to calculate light and used them in this program. The following pictures show different lighting situations.

Scenes with no specular lighting:

Scenes with specular lighting:

Scene with red specular lighting:




Scene with less diffuse light:

Survival Days - Game Idea

Game Ideas


I hope to be a game designer once I graduate college. This is one game that I would want to create.

Survival Days

Starting Plot

Intro:

• A child is flying back home from a trip to see extended family in Europe. As the plane is flying back, the character receives a call from home.
• ( During this time the character is in a restroom standing in front of a mirror) The mother will ask questions that change what the initial skills of the character are. The character will be looking at the floor until the mother says something about a physical characteristic and then the character will look into the mirror. This is where the designing of the characters physical appearance will happen.)

• The character taps a technology looking bracelet on his/her arm. A hologram pops up with the characters mother. She asks the character how the trip was, and then asks the character to pick up groceries before heading home. In the middle of the conversation the plane shakes. Then the lights on the plane start to flick and turn off. The character tells the mother something is wrong with the plane and is talking to her when the plane begins to dive. The character stands up and leaves the restroom, we see the whole plane. A personal plane. The character rush's to the pilots cabin. Auto pilot  has failed and the pilot is somehow dead. The plane continues to fall and the call to the characters mother suddenly shuts off. The character can not control the out-of-control plane. The plane crashes to the ground and explodes.

Meeting the new world

• The character wakes up immersed in a pool of crystal clear water. The character swims to the top of the lake and breathes in a deep breath. The character swims to the side and takes a look at their new environment. A giant forest. Behind the character is a giant cliff with a waterfall running down into a lake. The character taps their bracelet and sees that it still is partially functioning. All internet access is offline, but some of the other feature are working:
• Inventory
• Local initial mapping
• Note taker
• Couple of downloaded books
• Mini survival guide
• Whether analyzer
• Liquid/food analyzer

• The player now seeks a way to find how to get home and how to survive.

Game Mechanics

• Player gets more plot story if they find signs of human life.
• Camp
• Paper
• Flint and steel/ matches
• Bottle
• Old tent
• Rifle
• Bullets
• Hatchet
• Etc.

• Mysterious places
• Hidden caves in mountains
• Hidden caves under water
• Lost groves
• Abandoned graveyard and church

• Player must build shelter, find food, and find a way to get back home

• The player can interact with wildlife(hunt or befriend)

• The player can learn to climb, a certain amount at max, trees and cliffs, learn to fish, learn to make better and better shelters(cabin), learn to skin, learn to grab maple syrup from trees, cook, trap animals, log trees, find berries for eating and painting, learn to make bows and arrows, etc.

• Secret behind the waterfall, can only be reached with high swimming skill.

• Animals
• Dangerous animals: Wolfs, Bears, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons
• Other animals: bunnies, squirrels, birds, deer.
• Different types of fish large and small.
• Bugs not present.
• Salamanders, frogs, snakes (frogs and salamanders can be used to make poison for arrows and such)

Introduction to OpenGL

Game Libraries

At my 6th quarter at Neumont University, I'm learning how to program in C++ with OpenGl. We are learning the basics of how to draw on the screen through utilizing the graphics card, and how to move a camera in a 3D environment. I recently learned how to render a 3D scene with one one buffer in OpenGl using vertex arrays. We are writing our own shader code and sending it directly to the graphics card. We are learning the graphics pipeline including how the depth buffer works. I hope to learn OpenGl quickly and be able to render objects that I make in Maya in the OpenGl environment.

First Game Made in C++ - Galaxy Protection

This is my beta version of a game I coded in C++. I have been working on it for about 8 weeks. To play this game please do the following:

1. Download the zip.
2. Unzip the folder.
3. Keep all contents in the unzipped folder.
4. Open the folder.
5. Run the exe in the folder.

Here is the link to the file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbsulesl8qxb55p/GalaxyProtection%20BETA%20V1.zip

Or you can use:
http://goo.gl/kCkYmp

I have been working hard on this game for 8 weeks. There have been many obstacles in creating this game. Such as creating particle effects without killing frame rate, reading in and writing out to a file for high-scores, restarting a game instance an infinite amount of times, detecting collision with objects and lines in a game world, spawning objects in a game instance at random time intervals at random places, creating random paths for objects to follow when they spawn, creating music and putting it into the game instance, creating pop up windows for instructions, high-scores, and a game over condition, and many other obstacles.

Pictures of the game are below:

Learning to Learn.

College life at Neumont University is very different than most schools. It's a college based on teaching it students industry standards. Their high standards lead to very rigorous classes. I have always been a student to put in 110% effort in all that I do. However, this can cause my mind to "burn out" quickly. I felt "burned out" earlier in July after working very hard in my college classes. I was spending 6+ hours every night working in Maya a 3D creation software, 2+ hours working on my C# homework, and trying to find time to learn C++ early, by working on the "Wrestle" assignments given to me by the professor of the class. I became frustrated by all of the workload. While discussing my problems with my peers, I realized what my main problem was. I was putting too much pressure on myself. I realized that I tend to set extremely high goals for myself, which end up hurting me more than helping. I put too much pressure on high grades and impressing others, than actually learning the material. I need a balance of both. So now that is what I am teaching my self to do. I'm focusing on learning. I still want to impress others and receive high grades for my best effort, but learning is priority number one.

After working in Maya for 45+ hours I ended up creating a Ford C/K Pickup 1994 Truck:

Both my teacher of the class Ryan Bown and the head of BSGD Jamie King were impressed with my model, I received an A for my work, but most importantly I learned how to work in Maya. I learned how to create a 3D model from reference images, how to figure out where to start, how to solve n-gon and triangle problems, how to use the least amount of geometry, and much more.

As I continue working in this class I will continue to learn more. We are now starting to learn how to work with textures. On Monday, 8/26/13, We, the class, will start to make a model of our college building. This will include all of the rooms, walls, stairs, furniture, chairs, desks, TV's, projectors, etc. I'm really excited to work on such a big project. We will use all that we have learned to create the building. I can't wait for it.

Currently I'm working on a recipe application in my C# lab called Cook it!, I'm learning C++  early through wrestle assignments and talking to my C++ instructor, Jamie King, and I'm learning how to use Photoshop to create tile-able textures in order to apply them to textures/Materials in Maya. I really look forward to expanding my knowledge.