[WotLk] [QUESTION] Creating a landscape

[Grimtonz1337]

Okay, so you might have seen Neo or Noggit, they have a rendered window where you can edit the world in 2 clicks. I know this is OpenGL kinda stuff, which is why I don't understand fully, so this is why I am making a thread here, cause I thought it was the best place to find people who know this stuff.

I've studied how the files work in WoW, but I can't really understand how the adt, m2, wmo files are rendered correctly into the OpenGL screen (or WoW). Can somehow explain this to me with anything (code, theory etc.), any way I can follow it and learn from you guys.

Thanks.

[Steff]

Why not just have look at neo or noggit code?

You also find all file ddefinitions in the wow dev wiki.

[iindigo]

A word of caution for reading noggit code: unless I'm mistaken, it's written with OpenGL 1.x which at this point is entirely obsolete — if you can avoid learning it you should. Graphics drivers may start dropping 1.x support over the coming decade, leaving you with skills you can no longer use.

Neo is written with fairly modern DirectX if I'm not mistaken, so it should still be relevant, but keep in mind that DirectX is tied to Windows.

If you're unfamiliar with programming languages I'd advise studying those first, but whenever you feel ready, here are a few places that will guide you through the basics of modern (version 2.0+) OpenGL, including rendering polygons to the screen:

http://www.opengl-tutorial.org
http://learnopengl.com
http://antongerdelan.net/opengl/#onlinetuts
http://www.davidbishop.org/oglmeta


EDIT: If you're curious specifically about how the WoW data files are read, Steff is right in that reading Noggit's code may be of some help in understanding. Just don't use it for instruction on 3D rendering.

[Steff]

Noggit use 3.5 it even dont run on 1.0 gfx boards...

[iindigo]

OpenGL 3.5? It's been a while since I looked deeply at its source but I remember seeing quite a few OpenGL 1.x function calls...

Yeah, I just had a quick look at a couple of the implementation files on bitbucket and there's definitely old-style OpenGL going on. Can't say to what extent since I'm on my phone right now but it's definitely not all modern.

[schlumpf]

I wouldn't know that there is any OpenGL call over 2.1, if even that. I guess 1.5ish would be enough.