OpenGL & WinApi

Do I need to include any WinApi code to create Windows OpenGL applications?

http://nehe.gamedev.net/tutorials/lesson01.asp

alternately you can use glut: http://reality.sgi.com/mjk/glut3/

[This message has been edited by BwB (edited 03-20-2001).]

hmm…

The Tuts at Nehe use WinApi.
But if you use WinApi your programs
aren’t portable to other OSs, aren’t they?

That is correct, I should have mentioned that above, glut is the preferred portable method. Glut works on many systems. I figured since you were asking about the Win32 api you wanted to use it

Are there any Tuts introducting OpenGL using Glut (instead of WinApi)?

http://www.nvnews.net/articles/opengl/introduction.shtml

This happens to be the current top entry on the OpenGL.org home page It looks really good. Also there are many examples in the Glut distribution and glut is used exclusively in the Red Book (THE OpenGL specifications book).

Where can I download Redbook & Bluebook?
I heard that the Redbook is too difficult
for OpenGL rookies.

The Red Book was my prime introductory material, its the theory of how to do things right thats the hard part but I’ve always been really good at learning from books (learned C out of a book and it got me a job ). I dont know where you can download the Red Book but I know its online, I’ve seen it before. I have a hard copy Hopefully somebody else will see this and point it out

Also to be perfectly honest I’ve never read any part of the Blue Book so I dont know how good it is (but I presume it is just as awesome as the Red Book).

[This message has been edited by BwB (edited 03-21-2001).]

http://romka.demonews.com/opengl/doc/files/pr_guide1_1.zip

That is a link to a zip file of the redbook in html format, there is pdf foramt but i don’t know where. Anyway, html pages are easier to copy, and search for specific words etc. NeHe.gamedev.net has links to the red book blue book and super bible (online version) on his site (left hand side as far as I remember). You can spend a few hors saving it all if you want. I used a mixture of the redbook and NeHe’s tuts to get me started. NeHe’s tuts were good at throwing you straight in the action (in a day you can get to lesson 10 and make a simple 3d game). (If you want a level editor for these engines (lessons 10 and 23) then ask me becuase I am currently making an editor at the moment it only saves to these types and so is ideal, a first release should be out soon after I have got some selection working (see post gluUnProject.)

But I’d like to have version 1.2.
And, for completeness, I’m still searching for the Bluebook.
(to download!)

I am not sure if this is the versions that you are looking for but he has both links to the Red and Blues Books (along the left and side about 1/5 of the way down the page)
http://nehe.gamedev.net/

Originally posted by Douglas:
Where can I download Redbook & Bluebook?
I heard that the Redbook is too difficult
for OpenGL rookies.

I used the red book as my first text for OpenGL, and found it not too difficult to follow. Just skip the clearly marked “advanced” sections on your first time through, and you should be fine. (Note: I only have a few basic math courses under my belt - I’m by no means a strong 3d math student who is glossing over hard concepts.)

Another alternative to GLUT is SDL, which also offers sound, timing, multithreading etc. It is available for Win32, Linux, BeOS and MacOS. I think a port to HP-UX is on the way.
I like SDL more, because it is not as limited as GLUT is regarding MainLoop etc.

Get it here: www.libsdl.org