Book Image

jMonkeyEngine 3.0 : Beginner's Guide

Book Image

jMonkeyEngine 3.0 : Beginner's Guide

Overview of this book

jMonkeyEngine 3.0 is a powerful set of free Java libraries that allows you to unlock your imagination, create 3D games and stunning graphics. Using jMonkeyEngine's library of time-tested methods, this book will allow you to unlock its potential and make the creation of beautiful interactive 3D environments a breeze."jMonkeyEngine 3.0 Beginner's Guide" teaches aspiring game developers how to build modern 3D games with Java. This primer on 3D programming is packed with best practices, tips and tricks and loads of example code. Progressing from elementary concepts to advanced effects, budding game developers will have their first game up and running by the end of this book.From basic concepts and project creation to building a complex 3D Game, you will learn to layout 3D scenes, make them interactive and add various multi-media effects.You will find answers to common questions including best practices and approaches, how game characters can act and interact, how to simulate solid walls and physical forces, how to take it online to play over a network and much more.From Zero to Hero, start your journey to make your game idea a reality.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
jMonkeyEngine 3.0 Beginner's Guide
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Time for action – let the hover tank be groovy


Currently, the surface of the hover tank looks a bit like a cheap toy: the grooves in the material look painted on, and the material looks more like plastic than metal. One thing you want to avoid is adding extra polygons to the mesh just to make the grooves three-dimensional.

Let's try a more professional solution and add a so-called normal map:

  1. Make sure you have the Models/HoverTank/tank_normals.png texture in your assets directory.

  2. This line generates the tangent data that describes your model's surface. Add it before the setMaterial() line in your HoverTank.java's simpleInit() method:

    TangentBinormalGenerator.generate(tank);
  3. Load the normal map into the material. Again, add these lines before the setMaterial() line:

    TextureKey tankNormal = new TextureKey("Models/HoverTank/tank_normals.png", false);
    mat.setTexture("NormalMap", assetManager.loadTexture(tankNormal));
  4. Run the code sample.

Your hover tank is looking better and better. In addition to...