Well it has been way too long since my last update, and yes I am still wanting to update the site. I have just found the first 5 parts of my PhysX tutorials, so I have uploaded them and made them available.

I am also planning many more Game maker, GLSL, PhysX tutorials as well as a Java section as that is the main language I use at the moment in University.

I have alot going on, so please don't expect too much, but do expect something to happen every now and then. If it does, I will post it on this page.

Stay tuned.

Updated 03/07/08

Hey all, just received an email request for a third person camera tutorial, so on the OpenGL Tutorials page, you will now find a tutorial for creating your very own third person camera :-)

I am working on more GLSL tutorials, Terrain tutorials and PhysX tutorials :-)

I love having a spare moment here and there, I now have time for the site again ^_^

Have fun all. Hope to have some more tutorials up soon.

Updated 21/12/07

*NEW* Terrain Tutorials *NEW*

I am still leaving the terrain tutorials on the OpenGL page that I have previously built, but I have a new section with more in depth and more advanced terrain. The journey is not finished yet, it goes up to part 6 of about 9 to 10 parts.

I am also working on PhysX tutorials for all of you still waiting ^_^

Updated 19/12/07

Ooo, Long time no Update

It's nearing the end of the year. And what better way to finish it off than to work some more on my website. It had been so long since I worked on this, that I had seriously forgotten that I even had a website. But now that I remember and finally have some free time here and there for the next couple of months before University, I am going to do as much as I can for all of you out there. I have plenty of PhysX code samples to turn to tutorials thanks to my Extension Studies class last year in which I studied Computer Game Development. I also have more code on the heightfield tutorials and more on shaders. I will also be adding a sound section using OpenAL and making my way into networking tutorials.

As for the forum, that is gone for now, I am debating whether or not to put it back up. I infact made my own forum using ASP and VBScript in my Information Technology class at school this year, and am looking at adding to that, making a tutorial on it, and possibly using it myself on the website.

I am working vigorously on my WIP Zigai, I made quite a bit of progress on it during Extension Studies and am still working on it. At this stage, I need to model, rig and animate at least one character (because I cannot find one that I like in .X format) so I can start working on an actual beta instead of just testing different aspects of the game in their own little development projects.

If anyone has any suggestions or tutorials they would like created, my email address is always open for business at swiftless@gmail.com

As for now, I will get to work on the tutorials whilst continuing on my game project. Check out the WIP section for updates on my game.

Updated: 06/12/07

Another Update

Welcome :) This latest update just fixes a few little problems with the site, and updates the WIP secion of the site. I have implemented z-fail (Carmack's reverse) stencil shadows with a GLSL vertex shader for the extrusion of the shadow volume from the light source. At the moment, it covers only one light source, but it is easy enough to implement multiple light sources (will be even easier when I start using geometry shaders). Because I now have this working, you can expect a tutorial on it, just don't hold your breath for many more updates just yet. I am still busy :'(

Updated: 23/01/07

Update - Yay :)

I have been extensively updating the site recently, mainly to fix errors. I believe I have fixed most, if not all of the errors on the site, and the Forum is now available from links now on every page. I have uploaded a couple more GLSL tutorials and am working on some OpenGL tutorials. The PhysX tutorials are on hold, due to work and soon school, but when I get a chance, I will start them. I also just found out recently that school starts in only one week, I was under the impression that I had about another month left of holidays, but nope... As for my game that I will be focusing on this year for school, I have been making some models for it, which I will be posting in the WIP section of the site.

Updated 19/01/07

New Update

I have just fixed a few image and link errors, and have uploaded a paper of mine entitled:
Techniques for Simulating 3D Geometry on Planar Surfaces
It covers several different methods including normal mapping, parallax mapping, relief mapping, displacement mapping, and more.

I have also added links to the Visual Basic and Photoshop sections, they were inaccessible before. (You can find them from the Misc page).

I am also working on a site map, and several more tutorials, mainly GLSL at this point in time.

Have Fun :)

Updated 08/01/07

Even More Major Update!!!11 ZOMGWTF?!?!?

Ok, if you have been here before, you may have noticed that the site has changed a little bit, well maybe a big bit, I have totally redone the entire website, especially the layout of the pages (I found them too cluttered and the whole site seemed too busy). If any of you used the Javascript Skinning Engine I made for the site, sorry, but it is gone for now. I will be bringing it back at a later date, but at the moment, I am too busy to integrate it.

In this update I have also added some more sections to the site, those being GLSL (OpenGL Shader Language), PhysX (Ageia PhysX API), WIP (Some of my current projects), Misc (A group of random tutorials on things from overclocking to general programming) and Resume is self explanatory.

I won't have much time to work on the site, so when I finally get around to updates, expect large ones with lots of new content :)

Updated 07/01/07

Major Update!

I have now started the Direct 3D section. It is starting off with 5 tutorials. But will soon grow.

As for OpenGL I have added the next in my line of terrain tutorials. This one uses the multi texturing extension to achieve a vastly better looking terrain. Next I hope to implement a LOD function. I have also added a tutorial on orthogonal projections so you can add 2D capabilites into your applications, perfect for on screen information like health, ammo, etc for games.

I am currently working on tutorials for Sub Windows in GLUT and a spedometer, which I had a request for recently. These should be up shortly as they are fairly simple.

Updated Somtime in 2006

I have also been working on my terrain engine a bit more. And I have fixed some issues, added some more levels and improved the water. It now shows the map as a square like in the RAW file, it used to be 3X deeper than it was wide. I have fixed the texturing so I can now colour the heightmaps and have it texture the terrain in the same places that I coloured the texture. So I can map out grass, dirt, sand, etc. It now supports 3 levels, the first is a rocky scene, the second is like a lush island, and the third is a simple beach. The water now supports basic reflections of the world and now have detail texturing that moves differently to the base texture to get a more realistic water effect. It loads the maps instantly and runs them at perfect frame rates. I cannot tell you the exact frame rates as my windows are currently limited to 85 frames per second.

Here are some more screen shots of it:

My next task is to see if I can get it to load all these at once, and display them side by side. This will allow for larger worlds, really really simple octree implementation and, well, larger worlds.

When I get around to it. I will be releasing the source to this in parts 3 and 4 of my HeightMap tutorials.

Have fun until next time. (which should be soon).

Updated 25/12/05

It has been a little while since my last update. But this time I come bearing images of my latest work in progress. I have also added a tutorial on creating basic Particle Engines in the OpenGL section. I have been busily working on an OpenGL eBook that contains all my tutorials and more, my terrain engine and learning Direct X(which I haven't gotten too far in). Anyway, the Particle Engine tutorial also has texture masking, so until I complete that tutorial, you can use the Particle Engine to see how Texture Masking works.

I have made some breakthroughs in my terrain engine, so you can expect a tutorial on Multitexturing using the ARB extension, another heightfield tutorial and a texture masking tutorial.

Here are some images of my current terrain engine that I took today. This engine currently contains Level Of Detail which can be set at runtime, moving transparent water, detail texturing, basic walking, crouching, crawling and jumping commands, gravity, a camera system for a First Person View and it displays a 1536 * 1536 heightfield from a 512 * 512 RAW file and displays the lot at 70 frames per second on a Detail Level of 10 which still looks quite good. These screenshots below were taken with a Detail Level of 5 which visually is not much different to that of a 10.

I am currently working on a skybox, creating the images in Terragen.

Updated 22/21/05

It has been a few days since my last update. So I guess it is time for another. I have added a tutorial to the OpenGL section on how to create and texture a sphere from scratch. That means no GLUT is needed for the creation of the sphere. I have also found out why my Asteroids menu was going soo slow. So now that I have that fixed. I should have the source code and binary(executable) file for download soon.

Updated 03/12/05

Important Message: I have refined most of the OpenGL tutorials. As my tutorial creating skill has arisen. I have seen the error in the way I have created many of them. So I have basically re-commented them from scratch. They are now alot more detailed and understandable.

I have just added another tutorial to the OpenGL pages on how to create circles. Unfortunately there are no preset commands for circles, and not even for spheres that can be textured properly, so my next job will be texturing a sphere, I have created the sphere shape, I just have to get around some issues I am having with filling the edges. Then I should be able to texture it, and have it up for you all. Also, my little Asteroids clone is almost complete, I am now working on the Menu and Levelling system, the actual game engine itself is complete. I am also working on a tetris clone now, it is such a simple game, and yet it is so frustrating to create. There is alot of code involved. I will tell you now, it is over 500 lines of code, and it still doesn't have more than one working shape. Anyways, that is my little bit of news for you all at the moment. I don't know how much of it I will be able to complete within the next month, because I have 1 more week of school, then come the exams. So just keep in touch, and hope for the best.

Updated: 16/11/2005

I have updated the site again. And after having changed the theme so many times over the years I have added a skin chooser. This is a cool little function I made in about 3 days, with no prior javascript experience. I have tested it and it appears to work in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

And for those of you with javascript disabled, the site will still function, but you will not be able to access the Math area or change the theme.

As I update the site, I hope to add more skins to go with it.

Also, I have added a Maths section (currently only available for those with javascript enabled) to teach those of you out there a little more about maths because it is crucial in programming.

In the OpenGL tutorials section, you can also find a new tutorial on bounding sphere collisions, and if you want to know about bounding circles, just check the math area.

Please note that the Math area is still under construction, but I believe most of the pages work.

If you have any questions, dont hesitate to email me at swiftless@gmail.com

I have updated the site today to include Visual Basic conversions of the C++ OpenGL code. If time permits, I will also be converting them to C# and VB.Net. I am currently working on a clone of the old arcade game Asteroids. When this is complete it will be available here for download, along with the source code. For the time being, enjoy the VB conversions and keep visiting as there will be more updates coming soon (Had 4 wisdom teeth out, so I have about a week of free time).

The next lineup of tutorials will cover:

Collision using Bounding Spheres and Circles

Antialiasing

Creating Textures On-The-Fly using a pre-rendered scene

Circles

Spheres

And the VB conversions I didn't get around to this time.

Updated 07/11/05

It has been a while since the last update and that has been because I have been working on a web editor with a few extra features to make it ALOT easier to manage my website. So now that it is alot more sustainable, I will get back to the tutorials. Anyway I have been working on Visual Basic conversions of all the OpenGL code and should have that up sometime near the start of next month. (I have a week off school due to 4 wisdom teeth). Also I am working on pages for the maths tutorials on my forum, and pages for the items I am working on that I mentioned earlier. There are also 2 more OpenGL tutorials I have completed, that I will upload soon.

Updated 22/10/05

I have just uploaded some more OpenGL tutorials. I have uploaded ones for Vertex Specific Alphas, Vertex Specific Colors, Basic Shadows, Basic Reflections, and my favourite - Normal Calculation in a Heightmap. This gives the heightmap shadows :) I am currently working on tutorials for spheres, circles, cylinders and other shapes.

I am also currently working on a sitemap which I will upload soon. I am also going to add a page devoted to my current projects in OpenGL such as my Game Engine and my GUI.

Updated 22/09/05

On this page you will now be able to find everything easily with the new search feature I have implemented. I have also uploaded two new OpenGL tutorials. One of them is for a more advanced camera system with mouse implementations and a strafe feature so it is like most basic First Person cameras. The second is part 1 of my Terrain Engine tutorials using heightmaps. Anyway I hope you enjoy it and you can expect more tutorials soon. Hopefully for photoshop if I get around to it.

Updated 03/09/05

I have just corrected to corrupt links in the OpenGL tutorials page. The one for Texturing under windows, and another on Popping and Pushing Matrices. I am also currently finishing up tutorials on how to do your own terrain generation using heightmaps. Also there will be one on making a basic particle engine. I have also written an introduction to trigonometry in the forum for those going into game programming and don't know any trig. I am guessing that this would be for those who are at a young age and suddenly decide they want to go into game programming. Like I did, only now it is all falling into place for me. And I am only 16 :) I like my life.

Updated 07/08/05

I have a layout that I like, I have plenty of tutorials for the moment, and I am currently working on alot more. I have moved the site under a subdomain at www.cdadc.com This means I have alot more flexibility in how I work the website. It is also alot more search engine and user friendly. I have reworked alot of the code in the site to be compatible in a wide variety of browsers. I am also hoping to have the forum pretty active within the next few months. Keep in mind that if you have anything about the site you would like to discuss, you can post on the forum, registration is free.

Updated 09/07/05

There can now be found a few more tutorials in the OpenGL section. I will also be making some more advance Visual Basic tutorials for those who want to take it a tad further. As for the Photoshop tutorials. I would make them but I do not know what people want them for. I am currently taking requests and can be contacted either in the forum or at swiftless@gmail.com. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any queries in either Visual Basic, C++, Opengl or Photoshop. Maybe even Game Maker, although I don't see a point to it since I got into programming.

Updated 08/07/05

Ok, I have finally kicked my friend into gear and he is pouring out the tutorials for Visual Basic. I have uploaded his completed ones so far, along with some of mine. The site is finally coming together. If you have anything you wish to contribute, then feel free to email me. I almost forgot, I have now made it 100% compatible with Internet Explorer. So it should work in most web browsers.

Updated 16/05/05

Hmm, I have officially given up making this page work in Internet Explorer. I still say switch to Mozilla, it is free and works like a charm. Do a simple google search and it will take you to the Mozilla home page, and from there you can download the Setup along with it's source code. Yes! It is open source :)

Updated 23/04/05

Lol I am really on a role today, second update to this page already. Now so that you know I have just finished and uploaded ALOT of the OpenGL tutorials. I have also come to notice that in Internet Explorer the site doesn't look right. It works perfectly in Mozilla though, which I recommend to all who come to this site. About 10 more minutes and I will have this fixed. Oh and until I can find a better host, try to ignore the ads, it does look alot better without them.

Updated 23/04/05

Ok, here is the new site I have been talking about, I have only just put it up and for the next few days you will find a fair bit of content, especially in the tutorials section, that just is not there. You will just have to bear with me until im done.

Updated 23/04/05

Hey all, this is my new site. You will be able to find most of the content from the old site here along with plenty of new stuff. The thing you may notice most is the modification to the theme and the increment of tutorials. Specifically OpenGL related. The site no longer requires flash so I don't have to worry about compatability issues any longer, and will work on most screen resolutions. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at swiftless@gmail.com.

Updated 19/04/05

OK, after a LONG break from the site I am back, and now able to touch type :) The pokemon game I was working on, forget about it, I started the conversion to VB using Direct X and learnt ALOT more, and just left it. It got old in other words. Now I am starting in OpenGL (3D programming) and if it takes off, I might be starting a little game. Hopefully a First Person Shooter. I will hopefully be doing some more with the site, but at the moment shool is like hell. I missed out on a week and a half of Year 11 with a case of Acute Apendicitis and have not yet caught up. If anyone thinks they can contribute to the site, maybe some artwork, photoshop tutorials, any OpenGL knowledge, then email me. Now OSDevil, it is down, probably for good. I'll let you know as soon as I find out whats happening. And the server updated the PHP and caused me forum to crash. I might fix that up, but for now.... Its dead.... I have just remembered, I have added a wallpaper to the photoshop page. Have fun.

Updated 29/03/05

I have now updated the flash on the right. I have added a shoutbox and a hit counter, so I no longer have a third party counter. I have also been doing more on my Pokemon game and should hopefully have a demo up by the end of the year.

Updated 31/10/04

In case you have not been here before, I have change the theme of the site ALOT. I have a habit of changing what the site looks like. But I have to admit that it does look alot better than anything else I have tried. Also I have added another c++ example on how to use the 'for' function. I will be adding more soon, along with some more photoshop tutorials I am still working on. Also I will soon be releasing a demo of the pokemon game I am making as soon as I finish the shop system. It will only have movement, battles, and a shop system to begin with, but I will keep on it if school doesn't become too demanding.

Updated 17/10/04

I have now put up my first Adobe Photoshop tutorial. It is for making a realistic fire from scratch using only clouds. It is in the photoshop section of the site.

Updated 20/09/04

Way back when I used Game Maker frequently I was in the middle of making an Pokemon remake, like the gameboy games. I have now decided to continue the game, only I am going to swith it over to Visual Basic so I have more control. Also I am going to do a little more work on my tony hawks, isometric view, type skating game " Junior Skater " and hopefully release a demo soon. Also for those wondering the Photoshop tuts are still in progress.

Updated 12/09/04

I have officially fixed all (hopefully) of the broken links. If you find none that work please email me.

Updated 09/09/04

I'm updating the site for the first time on a month. I have updated the forums completely which can now be accessed through the button added to the menu on the left. I am partway through some of the photoshop tutorials which should also be put up soon.

Updated 28/08/04

I have put up some more information in the Windows Longhorn section along with screenshots of DWM (DCE) enabled. If you are interested in doing this visit www.osdevil.com where I have proudly put up some infomation on doing this and what can be achieved.

Updated 21/07/04

The joys of my world. I have now added a forum. It was only just put up so I still have to get a better theme for it. Swiftless Forums

Also a friend of mine has set up a forum. It is here at Betanet Forums

Updated 06/06/04

I have now fixed the links for the images in the photoshop section and the downloads in the Game Maker section. Please remember that the Game Maker Examples are on my AngelFire server so if I get any requests that they cannot access them I will transfer them to this one. Some people often have trouble accessing them due to Filters and such that filter out AngelFire. And the Visual Basic links will be up ASAP. I have to re-upload the programs to this server as it will not link to the other. I have also added a Guestbook so why not sign it while you're here.

Updated 01/06/04

Welcome. Incase you havent been here before or just havent noticed I have redone my site (again) and this time I will stay with it. On this site you will find: Game Maker Examples, Visual Basic Code, C++ Code, Some programs I have made, Images made with Adobe Photoshop, Information about the new Windows - Codename Longhorn and possibly more.

Updated 05/05/04