Message-ID: From: Bryan Murphy To: "'djgpp AT delorie DOT com'" , "'Alan Wilson'" Subject: RE: DJGPP & Quake/What have you learned??? Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 14:52:56 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: bulk >Has anyone actually learned anything by studying the Quake Source??? >If so what? > >Alan Wilson I'll admit it, I've downloaded the source and looked at it. I'm really intrigued by the work John Carmack does. I'll tell you what though, you really are not going to learn a lot from the source. He is a genius. His work using standard compsci algorithms with games (BSP trees) definately was revolutionary. Now, looking at the code, it looks like standard C, a hodge podge of routines thrown together to make a functioning program. So, you aren't going to learn much of anything from the code. That's just the way process oriented programming is. If you really want to learn, you have to study algorithms and vector math. Read the articles he has posted about his techniques (or articles others have posted dissasembling his techniques). Those are much easier to understand and much more "generic" so they can be applied to more situations than just his 'type' of game. And lastly, learn a bit about design. That's what I'm doing at the moment. I'm taking a CPS499 Object Oriented Analysis and Design class. My whole philosophy behind programming is changing right before my eyes. Knowing what you need to do before you do it makes programming so much easier. I've always wanted to write game, and I've made attempts at writing large programs before. It is possible using the brute force method (just start coding), but the design will pay off more than anything else in the long run. > >