Should one use freeware physics engines like " Havok " or waste time making ones own

[athar89]

Provided freeware physics engines like Havok and a few others made by professionals in the field should some one take the headache of making one's own amateur physics engine. Aside from this if some one can manage to give me a reference of a book or a website which can give some key concepts about how to make realtime lightening and texturing look realistic. I'll be really grateful.

[emilo35]

Well, I think it depends on what your intentions are. I personally have been playing around a little with some free game engines. Its fun, and they save you a lot of work, that's true. But I think the choice is up to one's personal taste. I get the feeling of cheating when using somebody elses engine, and you often encounter restrictions, especially if it's not an open source engine.

My recommendation to you is that you follow a book or tutorial and learn how to create your own engine first. You will learn a lot, and you will get a hang of what to expect out of other engines.

As for literature on the subject, I suggest you pick a language and graphics library, and then stick to it for a while. Use google and you will surely find a thorough tutorial covering everything you wish to know.

I've been using an OpenGL Library for Java called Jogl for quite a while now. NeHe supplies good lessons for that, so you might want to take a look there.

I hope this helps!
Emil Olofsson

[athar89]

Thank you for your humble reply Emil Olofsson . I think i'll start by disecting some open source engine that way i'll get a hang of it and off course learn new stuff. Yes your right about the feeling and there are certainly some restrictions too. About the later part, thank you very much, that link is really interesting i'll work through it. I'm using c++ and directx for my graphics programming. I find opengl 3.0 better than Dx11, just giving my amateur opinion but when it comes to commercial scale and what is more used in the market Directx wins the race i guess, thats why i have to stick to that, but i'll surely take time to learn opengl also.
Once again much obliged.

[athar89]

Thank you for your humble reply Emil Olofsson . I think i'll start by disecting some open source engine that way i'll get a hang of it and off course learn new stuff. Yes your right about the feeling and there are certainly some restrictions too. About the later part, thank you very much, that link is really interesting i'll work through it. I'm using c++ and directx for my graphics programming. I find opengl 3.0 better than Dx11, just giving my amateur opinion but when it comes to commercial scale and what is more used in the market Directx wins the race i guess, thats why i have to stick to that, but i'll surely take time to learn opengl also.
Once again much obliged.