Chapter 18.   3D Sprites

In this chapter, we develop a Sprite3D class, very similar in nature to the 2D sprite class of Chapter 11. Subclasses of Sprite3D are used to create different kinds of sprites, which are placed in a world filled with scenery and obstacles.

Other features illustrated by the Tour3D application:

• Sprite control using Behavior subclasses;
• A simple third person camera that adjusts the user's viewpoint as the user's sprite moves;
• Obstacles which a sprite cannot pass through (represented by cylinders). A sprite is also prevented from moving off the checkered floor;
• A "tour" text file to load obstacle and scenery information. The scenery models (e.g. the castle and the palm tree) are loaded with PropManager objects. PropManager was developed in Chapter 16;
• The world's background is drawn using a scaled JPEG;
• The application is configured to be full-screen.

Downloads

• The PDF file for the draft chapter (the old ch.10) (494 KB). Last updated: 18th Feb. 2003.
  
• Zipped Source code (140 KB).
  (Includes example models but not NCSA Portfolio.) Last updated: 16th April 2005. The book's code.
  
• NCSA Portfolio (zipped) (402 KB).
  

Getting the Code to Work with Linux

On Linux, there are case-insensitivity problems when loading some files. For example, the code refers to "Coolrobo.3ds". but the file is actually called "COOLROBO.3DS". The case difference doesn't matter on Windows. On Linux, it triggers an error message about the file not being found.

The fix is to change the name of the file so its case matches that used in the code (e.g. rename "COOLROBO.3DS" to "Coolrobo.3ds"). There's no need to modify the Java code.

• Up to the Killer Game Programming in Java Index Page
• Back to Chapter 17. Using a Lathe to Make Shapes
• On to Chapter 19. Animated 3D Sprites