Yes, I’ve discovered another bug in one of the Warp3D Nova tutorials. The tutorial itself has been corrected already, but let’s take a closer look at this bug. The problem is with this line of code: // Transform the normal normal = normalize(NormalMatrix * vec4(vertNormal, 1.0)).xyz; Can you see the mistake? It’s a really subtle […]
The author of AmiCraftNova recently released a new demo called StarBoxDemo. While everyone has been posting new fps benchmarks with it, how it uses shaders should be of greater interest to aspiring developers. So download the demo (if you haven’t already), and take a look in the Shaders directory.The big advantage of shaders is that you […]
Recently, the AmiCraftNova author was having issues with GLSL shaders, which got me thinking about how to debug them. Shaders need debugging, but standard debugging tools can’t be used. So here are a few tips (for both OpenGL and Warp3D Nova). Check the Compiler Logs Both OpenGL and Warp3D Nova provide compilation logs. So check […]
Alain Thellier recently ported his Cow3D demo/test-program to Warp3D Nova, which allows Warp3D Nova and Warp3D to be compared. Results have been coming in thick and fast, along with speculations as to why the results are what they are. I was expecting Nova to deliver a larger boost, and it actually does; it’s just partially hidden. […]
The previous tutorial’s source-code included animation, but I said that would be a topic for another day. Well, today is that day. I’m going to go through the code I added to animate the cube. IMPORTANT: While this tutorial is about Warp3D Nova, the animation code below is almost 100% generic. You could reuse it to […]
Time to put the theory learnt last time into practise. This means turning the phong model into shader code, and feeding the GPU the extra data required (surface normals, light/material properties, etc.).Step 1: Copy the Previous Tutorial’s CodeAs usual we’ll kickstart the process by reusing the previous tutorial’s code. So download the code now, and […]
Simulating lighting is critical to realistic 3D rendering. After all, light is what allows us to see the real world. Our first 3D rendering in Warp3D Nova looked pretty flat due to the complete lack of lighting. It’s time to fix this by adding light to the scene.IMPORTANT: 3D lighting calculations involve vector algebra. If […]
Curious how OpenGL ES 2 (GLES2) + Warp3D Nova’s performance compares to MiniGL + Warp3D? Well, the first comparison is here courtesy of the Entwickler-X team. They’ve just released (as at 1 Nov. 2016) a video showing an upcoming game running on both MiniGL and GLES2. The game is built using X-Engine, a game engine […]
Like other Application Programmers Interfaces (APIs), Warp3D Nova has little “gotchas” that catch programmers out. These are common pitfalls that new programmers fall into. Even experienced programmers can make these mistakes; yes, even the API’s designer (i.e., me).Binding Vertex Arrays to the Wrong Shader InputsSetting up vertex arrays is a multi-step process and there are […]
A few weeks ago I created a survey for AmigaOS developers. The goal was to gauge developer interest in Warp3D Nova, and the OpenGL ES 2 wrapper. I want to get more developers using these new capabilities. Well, the results are in. Drum roll!First up, game development is the big winner (see the graph below). […]
