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 – meshing around with spheres


What about round surfaces, such as spheres are they triangle meshes too?

  1. Go back to the WireframeShapes class you just created.

  2. Comment out the line that creates the Box() mesh.

  3. Replace the box mesh with code that creates a sphere mesh instead. Use the Sphere class from the com.jme3.scene.shape package: Sphere mesh = new Sphere(16, 16, 1.0f);

  4. This line of code creates a sphere mesh with a radius of 1.0f. The other arguments of the constructor specify the smoothness of the sphere.

  5. Run the class. Move around using the W, A, S, and D keys and the mouse, and inspect the polygon mesh that outlines the shape of the sphere.

What just happened?

When you run the sample application, you realize that even a sphere is quite a triangular business, from the point of view of a 3D engine!

The quality of a sphere is determined by its radial samples; that is, the number of triangles along the equator and meridian of the sphere. This is why the sphere constructor takes...