Chapter 8. Getting Graphic

It’s time to take a break from programming for a minute. I know what you’re thinking: We’ve only been programming for a few chapters and already we are taking a break? Well, because graphics play such an important part in the world of 3D gaming, I thought it might be wise to spend some time showing you how to create graphics that you’ll include in your games. You will need these graphics as you get deeper into the book. Besides, as you’ll soon see, creating graphics can be a lot of fun.

There are two categories of graphics that I will cover in this chapter. This first is heightmaps. A heightmap defines the landscape of your terrain. In other words, it informs the program where any bumps, mountains, and valleys should occur. The next category of images that you’ll create is textures. Textures can include the cover to any type of surface including terrains, the sky, walls, and other objects. From grass to mud to ice to brick, you’ll create several different types of terrains in this chapter.

All of the graphics that you create in this chapter will be made using either Corel PHOTO-PAINT or CorelDRAW. Both of these programs are found on the accompanying CD and are arguably the most powerful graphics applications on the market. As with most of the technology you are learning in this book, the specific tools you use aren’t all that important—it’s the process of creating and the thinking behind it that is most important. For that reason, to create the same effects we will accomplish here, you can use almost any graphics applications, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, PaintShop Pro, CorelPainter, and many others.