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Voxels are ideal for representing volumetric objects and perform better in some edge cases for alternative rendering methods. Polygons are faster in most cases
by gavanwoolery 10y ago
Voxels are ideal for representing volumetric objects and perform better in some edge cases for alternative rendering methods. Polygons are faster in most cases and tend to perform better for dynamic objects (i.e. a mesh with skeletal animation). Many claim that voxels have a more "pure" or timeless aesthetic, in the same way pixel art does over vector art, but that is subjective of course.
My recommendation is to dive in and code the simplest thing you can think of. When I first started this, I built a software voxel renderer, isometric, using just a pixel buffer (the original intention was to be able to dynamically create isometric pixel art).
http://www.gavanw.com/uploads/9/5/4/0/9540564/218641_orig.png http://www.gavanw.com/uploads/9/5/4/0/9540564/218641_orig.pn...
I later ported it to the GPU (much harder, and much much faster).
I am mostly "self taught" but would be lying if I said the wealth of information on the web did not help (particularly when hitting obscure bugs). Anyhow, the point is the best part of the journey, in my opinion, is discovering things for yourself, even if you are reinventing the wheel. :)
- tbirdz 10y agoCool! I'll definitely have to try it out when I get some free time. And hey, there's nothing wrong with reinventing the wheel when you're just trying to have some fun!
- cousin_it 10y agoYour isometric screenshots like this one [1] give me the idea of a 3D Lemmings-like game. Throngs of little critters walking stupidly through the environment, turning at right angles, sometimes building little cubical stairs, sometimes blowing themselves up to create spherical holes in everything. I wonder if that's the right gameplay idea for voxels. [1] http://www.voxelquest.com/uploads/9/5/4/0/9540564/5660133_orig.png http://www.voxelquest.com/uploads/9/5/4/0/9540564/5660133_or...
- vanderZwan 10y agoI think that sounds like a perfect match, actually.
- david-given 10y agoThe bad news is that there already was a Lemmings 3D. It wasn't a hit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av994EHazuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av994EHazuo You'll want to try and avoid its mistakes!
- gavanwoolery 10y agoI enjoyed lemmings 3D, it was clunky but ahead of its time :)
- cousin_it 10y agoThat was based on Minecraft-like big blocks though, not small voxels.
- randyrand 10y agohow do you render your voxels? you render so many, what's your technique?
- gavanwoolery 10y agoYou can find some discussion on rendering techniques here [1] and here [2] [1] http://www.voxelquest.com/news/how-does-it-work http://www.voxelquest.com/news/how-does-it-work [2] http://www.voxelquest.com/news/how-does-voxel-quest-work-now-august-2015-update http://www.voxelquest.com/news/how-does-voxel-quest-work-now...