Book Image

Panda3D 1.6 Game Engine Beginner's Guide

Book Image

Panda3D 1.6 Game Engine Beginner's Guide

Overview of this book

Panda3D is a game engine, a framework for 3D rendering and game development for Python and C++ programs. It includes graphics, audio, I/O, collision detection, and other abilities relevant to the creation of 3D games. Also, Panda3D is Open Source and free for any purpose, including commercial ventures. This book will enable you to create finished, marketable computer games using Panda3D and other entirely open-source tools and then sell those games without paying a cent for licensing. Panda3D 1.6 Game Engine Beginner's Guide follows a logical progression from a zero start through the game development process all the way to a finished, packaged installer. Packed with examples and detailed tutorials in every section, it teaches the reader through first-hand experience. These tutorials are followed by explanations that describe what happened in the tutorial and why. You will start by setting up a workspace, and then move on to the basics of starting up Panda3D. From there, you will begin adding objects like a level and a character to the world inside Panda3D. Then the book will teach you to put the game's player in control by adding change over time and response to user input. Then you will learn how to make it possible for objects in the world to interact with each other by using collision detection and beautify your game with Panda3D's built-in filters, shaders, and texturing. Finally, you will add an interface, audio, and package it all up for the customer.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Panda3D 1.6 Game Engine
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Time for action – demoing Suicide Jockeys


The last thing we'll cover in this chapter is how to load a Panda3D game from the command prompt. Until the game is packaged and ready for shipping, this is how we'll run it. Don't worry, it's easy.

  1. Open a command prompt by going to the Start menu | All Programs| Accessories and choosing Command Prompt.

  2. Open Windows Explorer the same way.

  3. In Windows Explorer click on the View menu at the top, highlight toolbars, and if Address Bar does not have a check before it, click on it. This will show your current directory in the window.

  4. Navigate Windows Explorer to BGP3D/Demo and copy the entire address bar with Ctrl+C or by right-clicking and selecting Copy.

  5. Return to the Command Prompt window and type in cd followed by a space. Then right-click on the Command Prompt window and select Paste. This will insert the directory address you copied from Windows Explorer.

  6. Hit Enter and you'll see the directory in the Command Prompt change. Next, type in python main.py and hit Enter. The game will launch.

What just happened?

Not bad, right? We just learned how to run a Python file from the command prompt, something we'll be doing quite a bit. The python command we used tells the system to use the Python interpreter to run the file we supply.

main.py is the name of the file that starts Panda3D and the game components. We'll go into more depth about how that works in the next chapter, so get ready!