[birbilis7]

Hi all!

i have to do a project, it will be a 3d world where agents are trying to do certain tasks on it.
Agents are not controlled by the user, the user can only put an agent in the world and see the progress of each agent...
that means that the agent's movement and further actions are defined by an algorithm.
Furthermore, there need to be stored information about the agent's progress...For example, every (X,Y,Z) on the world(Z will be the same, because the world will have the same Z for all the places)
must be stored(in a database maybe). When an agent meets an other agent(when they are next to each other) every place(X,Y,Z) that are marked as visited on the one player, will be marked as visited on the other player's database...

I am new to 3d programming, I don't know which software/tools to use...
I need to use a database in the program to store multiple information for each one of the agents, and this information in the databases can be changed many times until the agents finish their job.

Which software do you suggest? XNA or gamestudio or flash are good for creating a 3d world and a menu for the user, but are good when we have to use databases?

[ButchDean]

Is this a school project? They should have provided you with the theory and recommendations on which tools to use. If not a school project, have you done any programming before?

[RevTorA]

What you are proposing is quite the task for someone new to 3D programming. 3D programming is something that takes a lot of time to learn and practice to get good at all the techniques. You are also talking about implementing AI, which is also quite a heavy subject.

If you want to try such a project, you first need to learn 3D programming and AI programming. As for which tools, there are a lot of 3D engines you could use (Ogre, Irrlicht, XNA), or you could program one yourself with DirectX or OpenGL. Perhaps going through Nehe's OpenGL tutorials would be a good start: http://nehe.gamedev.net/

By the way, you said you have to do this? Why?

[birbilis7]

yes it is a school project, I have enough theory for Intelligent agents, but they don't give us much info about the tools to use...Someone has mentioned javascript with VRML and REVE

the main goal is the good algorithm for the movement and the communication between the agents

i find many books for XNA and C, do you think that a program with a database will be easy to be developed there?

since I am new, finding a program with many books and an easy programming language is the main priority...

lol, english is not my native language, the phrase "I have" does not mean that I am not happy with the project...

This post has been edited by birbilis7: 09 May 2011 - 07:46 AM

[ButchDean]

To be honest I doubt this is going to be an easy project for you (and maybe the whole class if that is the way your teacher teaches). Have you asked your teacher which tools to use? The reason why this is very important is that it gives you some scope for the project; no point learning an entirely new environment if it wasn't necessary.

Find out from your teacher and come back for more focussed advice.

[birbilis7]

the previous teacher last year, used REVE worlds, and i think that he mentioned that javascript would be better than java...
this year unfortunately, the course is taught by an other teacher, the course is more theoretical now but it requires a project...
they mentioned only that we can use .NET , we can use the platform jade(which needs java) and not more....

[ButchDean]

Okay, so that cuts out GameStudio and Flash options. Without know specifically how good you are at programming it is impossible to tell you where to start. What have you coded in the past? Did you enjoy it? What problems did you encounter? Things like that.

[birbilis7]

ButchDean, on 09 May 2011 - 08:07 AM, said:

Okay, so that cuts out GameStudio and Flash options. Without know specifically how good you are at programming it is impossible to tell you where to start. What have you coded in the past? Did you enjoy it? What problems did you encounter? Things like that.

C++, Java until file I/O (not graphics), SQL server/MySQL, Visual Studio Projects, php
learning Visual Basic for visual studio projects now

This post has been edited by birbilis7: 09 May 2011 - 08:18 AM

[birbilis7]

birbilis7, on 09 May 2011 - 08:17 AM, said:

ButchDean, on 09 May 2011 - 08:07 AM, said:

Okay, so that cuts out GameStudio and Flash options. Without know specifically how good you are at programming it is impossible to tell you where to start. What have you coded in the past? Did you enjoy it? What problems did you encounter? Things like that.

C++, Java until file I/O (not graphics), SQL server/MySQL, Visual Studio Projects, php
learning Visual Basic for visual studio projects now

I have 2 months to do this project, so learning a new language would not be a problem...I ve got enough time

[stayscrisp]

Wow! 2 months is nothing, seriously!

You need to keep this extremely simple if you expect a polished project within 2 months. But if you are really going for it then I would say use something like XNA or Dark GDK

[ButchDean]

stayscrisp, on 09 May 2011 - 05:45 PM, said:

Wow! 2 months is nothing, seriously!

Exactly.

[SixOfEleven]

stayscrisp, on 09 May 2011 - 12:45 PM, said:

Wow! 2 months is nothing, seriously!

You need to keep this extremely simple if you expect a polished project within 2 months. But if you are really going for it then I would say use something like XNA or Dark GDK

I'd also so try XNA and Dark GDK. They are easy enough to get up and going in rather than writing something with a lower level API/SDK/Framework like pure DirectX or OpenGL. I've not used them personally but a lot of people like Ogre3D and Illritch. (sp on that one)

[birbilis7]

Ok, thank you very much for your help!
then I should buy 1 or 2 of these books
http://www.amazon.co...k+GDK&x=14&y=21
and
read ΧΝΑ gamestudio tutorials

This post has been edited by birbilis7: 09 May 2011 - 01:08 PM

[stayscrisp]

Whatever helps you learn. There are tons of resources online though