try my game

OpenGL OpenGL: Basic Coding
1

GameDevPlant.com/Pool3D.zip

Actually this version was finished 1 year ago.

15 fps on my Celeron 466MHz, 128 Mb SDRAM with a TNT M64, 32Mb video card.

How to control: (with the mouse)

  1. Move with right button pressed down: to adjust view roughly;
  2. Move with right button and Ctrl pressed down: to adjust view slightly;
  3. Hold left button down: to gather ‘force’;
  4. Release left button: to shoot the ball;
  5. Click the wheel: to toggle view mode;
  6. Wheel up/down: to zoom out/in.

What puzzles me is:

  1. Running speed is up to machine speed; (which I think should be constant and irrelavent to the fps)
  2. Constant color on the highlight points is not constant due to different machines; (may be caused by some slight difference in OpenGL drivers)

Your comments and feedbacks are very welcomed.

Thanks a lot.

2

Can’t extract the file. Are you using some local characters (local = anything but a-z and A-Z) in the file name? If so, don’t.

3

I modified the ZIP file by hand and changed the file name.

Not that bad. Ran too fast to be playable, but if you slow it down, I’m sure it will be fun. Good choise of controls, I liked them. Very nice pool atmosphere.

Just one thing before I post this. When I quit, it doesn’t restore the monitor frequency. I’m left with 60Hz.

4

Controls are nice, although the game ran wayt to fast to be able to accurately select a cue power.

I also had the same prob as bob, where my monitor was left at 60 hz after closign the application.

5

Thats some good GL work down there. Excellent. I liked the controls too. I guess same comments as above.

Need to set pool rules as which player you are. And add spins too. But the looks of the game is great. Good Job.

6

Thanks so much for your kind comments.

The SPEED problem that you pointed out, just as I mentioned in my first post, puzzles me from the very beginning. I think I must adopt a Constant Timing method or something like that, instead of the one I’m currently using, which is based on following:

repeat

   Collision_Detect;
   Handle_Collisions;
   Update_Balls_Status;

   Respond_Controls;
   Modify_Scene;

   Update_Scene;

until Game_Over;

thus the running speed varies due to different machine speed. But how to set up a Constant Timing system? I haven’t got an idea yet. Please help.

As to the 60Hz problem, I haven’t noticed it before. Thank you so much for pointing it out. Yeah, I’ll soon be working on it.

And, I’m not sure what on earth the game looks like finally on your machine. Just as what I mentioned in my first post, I’ve found that it looks a little bit different on different machines. On some the room looks dark but the pool table well lit up by the light above it, which creates a very realistic visual effect; on some others the whole room looks averagely bright, which seems less realistic. The highlights on the balls encounter similar problem. I’m using the so called two pass rendering. Refer to this: http://www.opengl.org/discussion_boards/ubb/Forum2/HTML/006547.html I’ve checked OGL version on the DIFFERENT MACHINES, but they seem to me just the same. To clearify this problem, I’ll put some screenshots here soon.

The SPIN feature, as GUNSBOY mentioned, seems a little bit hard. You must have noticed the rolling of the balls in the game. Seems cool, right? But actually the effect is only a SIMULATION to the reality. To achieve the right thing requires quite some Physics talents, which may be beyond me, who is an Economics major after all :wink: But I do hope to have your opinions. Please help.

I’m totally a GL fan, but you know, I’m a Chinese, sometimes I’m not so sure about whether what I say exactly expresses what I mean to express. Anyway, this forum helps me greatly. I always hope to be your friend personally.

BTW, GameDevPlant.com is my personal GL website, but in Chinese :wink:

Regards,
Dong Ke
GameDevPlant@sina.com

7

Just now I’ve changed the filename of the archive from Chinese Characters to English. The problem Bob raised should now be solved.

Welcome to try it.

8

Here’s part of a screenshot on my Celeron 466, TNT M64 32M, 128 SDRAM:

Pay attention to the lighting & shading effects on the balls. If they differ from what they look on YOUR machine, let me know how, and don’t forget to tell me your OGL version, please.

Thanks a million.

9

Hi guys,

Please. I’m right here waiting for your kind feedbacks :wink:

Thanks so much!

10

New Updates:
1, Game speed problem solved;
2, Background music added;
3, Some bugs in code fixed;
4, A cool pic of me posted on the wall

The game speed problem has been solved: the running speed is no longer up to the machine speed. As a compensation, the FPS is limited to 20 or so. But it still feels quite smooth. Welcome to try the updated version.

I’ve invested the 60Hz problem as Bob first mentioned, but no such problem occurs on my computer. I’ve also tested this on many other computers in Beijing and some other cities in China, but the result is the same: no such problem occurs. I guess it’s due to some slight different in Windows versions, for example, the charset, etc, between China and USA. But what on earth the problem is? Please help.

Thanks in advance.

11

Very nice! I really like it.

My suggestion is you’d better not slow your game down to 20 fps. You should let the game run as fast as it can and take care of physics to be time independent.
Something like:
ball_position_vec += ball_speed_vec * frame_time

Anyway good job.

12

Was good, only complaint I have is the refresh rate issue. I really do not like it when a game changes the refresh rate of my monitor. You should probably change your mode switching code so that it does not change the refresh rate. Or at least give the user an option to prevent it from doing so. Windows XP, with NVIDIA drivers at least, seems to forget what the previous refresh rate was.