Racing games

[zparticle]

I was just wondering if anyone was attempting to create a racing game using LWJGL. I bought "The Need For Speed 2" this weekend and it made me want to try making a simple racing game. Thought I might use LWJGL.

[Harley Rana]

Hey i don't think theres going to be anything simple about a 3D racing game!
Would be a very cool project though!

[Herkules]

Maybe people should think of creating a 3D engine first?

Something that allows to load 3D models, create environments, have a production path for the artists ready ....

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[swpalmer]

I would like to see a team (or a few teams) try to make the exact same racing game in Java with LWJGL, Java3D, and in C++.  Write up the whole development process and benchmark it.

It would provide great insight into where the strengths of each technology lie.  Everyone would learn a lot and we would have a racing game in the end...

No commercial guys could afford to spend the time on it.. but maybe if the scope of the game is kept small a dedicated team of java-gaming.org guys could pull it off?

It's what everyone wants to see before they decide which route to go... we are all just waiting for someone else to do it

[zparticle]

That does sound like a good idea. Unfortunately I'm totally new to OpenGL and LWJGL so my efforts will be educational for me and probably not of any use to others.

By simple I meant something along these lines:

1> Image based terrain height map. (pixel color defines height 0-255 grey scale)
2> Image based terrain texture map. (pixel color defines which ground texture to use at the location 0-255 grey scale)
3> Image based terrain object map. (pixel color defines what type of 3D object should be placed on the landscape at the location)
4> Model loading routines for 3ds format.
5> Image based track height map. (pixel color defines height, above the terrain at the location, for the track)
6> Single simple car model with extreemly limited physics.
7> No AI oponents.

Seems to me that 1-4 could be implemented in a generic fashion for use in other projects. Perhaps this is part of the engine Herkules suggested be built.