Quote: "I like you, you don't seem to be a twat"
Yeah I like him too. Stay enthusiastic man and welcome!
I'm with flibX0r on the "Check out the Dark Basic" stuff. If you can wrap your head around C# - then reading the (sometimes syntax shoddy but functional) Dark Basic Pro examples and forums will help immensley!
So far there are only a few things I've run into so far that deviate - namely - multiple cameras don't seem to work the same way - but some one disagreed with me on this - but others didn't in times past - so - stick with Camera 0 (default) to get started is a bit of advice.
I'm still new to the DarkGDK lib myself - and I'm using the C++ version - and ramping up my C++ fluency - but I always toss in a few DarkGDK commands to try things and so fars its pretty slamming.
Especially after programming in DarkBasicPro and seeing the performance differences using DarkGDK. One test I did (a simple cube with nearly 100% identical code for both .. on my slow machine) 208 fps DarkBasic Pro versus 340 fps in DarkGDK. So you should have plenty of horse power. I haven't done a C# test to gauge/compare but I'll bet it's right up there too.
I haven't used LightEngine but I did explore the classes a bit - and frankly - the author is doing a fine job - and using his code might be helpful for either/both learning from and gamemaking.
So - have a blast. I'm rewriting my current DBProject "Iron Infantry" to DarkGDK in hopes that I'll be able to get more going on with scenery and action while retaining high framerates - wish me well.
Oh - Terrain - I guess there are three or four approaches (see DBPro forums for a lot of material on this)
1: Load a direct x or dbo model, use raycasting via Sparky's DLL to calc ground height. (Sparky's DLL is available for C++ Dark GDK and probably C# also by now - I'm almost positive) Great for RPG'ish stuff IMHO - You can texture however you want this way.
2: Use Matrix Commands - kinda limited but has ground height like commands - has a neat looping set of commands to make "never ending" terrain but takes work to get it going and still has that sharp low poly look to it - Limitations on texturing this though.
3: BSD - Binary Space PArtitioning. I hear bad reviews from people in these forums - but many tought BSD as "Superior" and it is supposedly smart about drawing only necessary poly - but I never played with this.
4: Advanced Terrain (Don't be confused by what in DBPro was STOCK Terrain) Advanced terrain was an addon to DBPro and is part of DarkGDK. It works very well IMHO but has texturing limitations but builds the terrain with limbs and hides/culls and possible optimizes the mesh for Level Of Detail ..not positive. LOD - If you don't know is the art of making things close detailed and far away things use lower resolutions models/textures to lower the overall polygon count for screens increasing screen draws - making your framerates go up usually...usually has a dramatic positive effect.
Ok - that's my brain dump for now! Good Luck! Good Choice!
