CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java3d
Ewen
Ewen

Reputation: 1028

what is the best 3D java renderer?

I need a 3D rendering engine that is easy to learn, and modern styled (not like java3d). I've tried lwjgl and jmonkeyengine but i find them really confusing. What other good engines are there?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Upvotes: 2

Views: 644

Answers (2)

Michael Berry
Michael Berry

Reputation: 72284

JMonkeyEngine is actually rather simple to learn as far as 3D libraries go if you follow it through properly - you'll struggle to find a fully featured 3D engine that's simpler.

Read up on scene graphs first, a proper understanding of them is critical to understand how JME works - then try following some of the basic tutorials through (of which there are quite a few.)

If you still struggle with that, it may be that you need to familiarise yourself more with Java (or programming) in general. You may want to give Greenfoot a try if you want to start with 2D games and work up - it provides an easy IDE / framework for creating and sharing 2D games in Java.

Oh and I agree with staying away from Java3D - it's rather old now and pretty unsupported.

Upvotes: 1

mikera
mikera

Reputation: 106351

No 3D renderers are easy. You will have a lot to learn regardless of which one you choose.

You have probably already found the best two:

  • LWJGL is basically a fairly thin wrapper for OpenGL. Lots of game developers like to use OpenGL, so it is a pretty good choice if you are in that camp. Use it if you want speed and control, and don't mind building a few "engine" parts yourself.
  • jMonkeyEngine is a more complete game engine. Use it if you want to get up and running with a full 3D engine pretty quickly. It uses LWJGL underneath, but adds layers on top of it (like a scene graph) so you don't need to use OpenGL directly.

In your case I'd probably go for jMonkeyEngine - I think it's a bit "friendlier".

Alternatively there is Slick2D, which is great for making 2D games if you decide that you don't really want to wrestle with the learning curve of going 3D.

Upvotes: 2

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