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

Handling damage response


Before we finish up this chapter, we need to add the elements that will handle damage response to our game. Otherwise, all the guns are meaningless. Here's a list of the things we'll add before we wrap up:

  • Damage impacting shield strength: This is one of the core things we need, to reduce shield strength when the cycle takes damage.

  • Shield and energy recharge: A cycle's shield and energy levels need to be recharged over time, so we'll add in a method to handle that for us.

  • Stability: To keep races tighter and more interesting, we'll add in a system that causes cycles to slow down when they get damaged. That way cycles at the back have a means to slow the cycles up front and catch up to them.

  • Emergency shut down: Because we only have four cycles on the track, it wouldn't be super wise to have a cycle explode or something when its shield drops to zero. We want to keep all the four cycles on the track for the entire race to make it more interesting. Instead, we'll create...