Swiftless' Game Programming Tutorials

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OpenGL Tutorials
Okie dokie, I have made a fair few of these, so after all the work I have done, I better get to it. Each page has commenting and C++ code, if you scroll to the bottom, you can also download the seperate source code files which are available for C++ and Visual Basic. Also these were created in Visual C++ 6, so in other compilers you may need to manually link the OpenGL Lib files found in the needed files below, or if using DevC++ you will need to download compiler specific library files. Here are all the files needed to get started with OpenGL, I had one hell of a time finding them when I first started, so I thought I would be nice and put them all in one place for everyone :).

Direct3D Tutorials
Here you can find the Direct3D tutorials that I have been working on. These Direct3D tutorials cover the more basic functions of Direct 3D but will become more advanced as I learn more. I have tried to get these Direct3D tutorials to do what is done in the OpenGL tutorials so that people can see how each does a different task.

OpenCL Tutorials
*coming soon*
OpenCL is a new API pushed forward by Apple, designed for CPU/GPU computations. The name OpenCL stands for Open Computing Language. It allows for computations that can be threaded, to be threaded both across the CPU and the GPU at the same time. So for example, if you have a dual core CPU, you will get two threads. Or if you have a GPU with 256 cores, you can get 256 threads. Or combine the two and get 258 threads (lol), all doing your calculations at once. This opens up possibilities for real time ray tracing, large matrices, intense physics and artificial intelligence. My favourite part about OpenCL is that it is designed to work with OpenGL :D

GLSL Tutorials
GLSL is the OpenGL Shader Language, and does for OpenGL what HLSL does for DirectX. GLSL allows for you to keep control of the screen on a per texel basis allowing for per pixel lighting effects, volumetric fog, high dynamic range rendering, reflections, refractions, blending, blurring, you name it, you can do it. Now GLSL does not just cover the graphical side, it also covers the object side. You can manipulate vertices on a per vertex basis using shaders. Along with GLSL, OpenGL can also use CG which is Nvidia's shading language. Personally I prefer GLSL because it uses similar syntax to OpenGL and hence making it easier to learn.

Visual Basic Tutorials
OK, after a little wait I have uploaded some Visual Basic tutorials for those of you who are learning visual basic ( VB ), at the moment the VB tutorials cover pretty basic controls, with some VB tutorials a little more advanced. I will be commenting on some of my previous VB programs, and turning them into vb tutorials. They are pretty advanced vb, but you should be able to get the hang of them.

Game Maker Tutorials
Game Maker is a program created by Mark Overmars. Game Maker is designed to help even the very beginner make his or her own computer games. Now it can be a tad difficult to begin with if you are like me and never read the help files. Now I started off with Game Maker and thought wow, I thought I was becoming pretty good, I knew a fair bit of the GML (game maker language) used for more advanced game maker users, but then I started using Visual Basic and found Game Maker so more limited than I could imagine. So I started integrating Visual Basic programs into the Game Maker games, and eventually left Game Maker altogether. Below are some games I made in my time with Game Maker, and below that are 2 Game Maker tutorials, which I would have killed for at the time.
As Gamemaker was the first step in learning to make computer games for me, I think you'll do fine by learning to make games in Game Maker to start with too. Game Maker is an excellent introductory level program to learn to write computer games. If you're like me, Game Maker is the first stepping stone to bigger and better things. In just about two years, I've gone from mastering Game Maker to writing game progams at school in notepad in my spare time!

Terrain Tutorials
I have always had a thing for beautiful landscapes and as I have progressed with OpenGL, I have loved working with terrain and making my own landscapes. Some of them turn out really beautiful so I have decided to dedicate a whole section of the site to terrain generation for the use of ingame landscapes.

PhysX Tutorials
*NOTE* These tutorials are out of date, as Nvidia now owns PhysX *NOTE*
I would highly recommend that if you have downloaded the PhysX SDK, also download the training programs, and follow the tutorial documentation that comes with it. This is VERY helpful, and explains quite a bit.
If you do not have the PhysX SDK but wish to develop with it, go to Nvidias website and sign up as a developer, then in the developer support section, you will find all the downloads you need.

Misc. Tutorials
Here I have decided to place all of my tutorials on anything general, from overclocking, to general programming, and possibly just some gameplaying tips and off the computer topics such as cars (I got a new one).

Swiftless Maths Tutorials
Chances are that you are currently asking yourself, why has he got stuff to do with maths on his game programming website? Or, Maths!?!?! I thought that was only at school!?! But no, in programming, especially game programming, you need ALOT of maths, and there is no way around it, except to get someone else to do the coding for you, but that is no fun at all. So I am writing some mathematics tutorials to get you started on maths in game programming.