   3d Level representation
  Ok, i have changed the topic name. Lets discuss 3d. original message:---Hi,i would like to learn more about working with levels, but i dont know how are those different kinds of scenes called. So i cant search for some articles.I know just TileMap, Isometric Map what is the name of this?http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/wogedit/nfs/project/w/wo/wogedit/c/c5/SC_WOGEditor_ImpaleSticky.jpgi wanna read about how to implement and store this scene representation and about another techniques of course.please, share type names or links to articlesthanksL.[Edited by - liquid11111 on April 7, 2010 2:39:40 AM]
  I'm not aware of a specific name for this type of level representation - they are storing image layers and manually specified collision geometry.Implementation of this type of scene is fairly straightforward:Decide what primitives to allow for collision geometry (e.g. rectangle, triangle, circle)Decide on an in-memory representation of these shapes (e.g. a class including position, size, specific point coordinates or whatever variables you require)Create a GUI which allows "drawing" of these shapes and selection of one or more background images. You will want to keep a list (e.g. a vector or similar) of these collision primitives as they are createdCreate level files by serializing the objects however you like / load by de-serializing these collision objects back into memory. They will probably be passed to a physics engine more or less directly (unless your own collision/physics has been implemented)You may want to try asking more specific technical questions in the For Beginners or Game Programming forums.   ;  WavyVirus pretty much covered this, but I'll still move this from Game Design to For Beginners, where I think you'll get additional help.   ;  thanks for your answermy task is write about 40 pages about different kinds of 2D level implementation (i want to learn it, so i have chosen this topic for my bachelor thesis). So I need to read about them. The picture I have posted above is showing WoG level editor, but I dont wanna talk about level editors. I have posted it just because of the image in the editor. Becouse of the scene composed of bitmaps and shapes for bounding volumes. I want to know where can i read articles about this kind of scene representation, how does it works and which is the best way to implement it. This is just one type of scene and i need to write about as many techniques as it is possible. So i need to study technique from the WoG pictureanother one is Tile Map and Isometric map (i am familiar with both of them)So i would be very glad if anybody can post some links, articles, experience etc.Thank you(I know my English is poor, but i am working on it :) If there is some fatal error in my Englis, please, feel free to correct me)   ;  I don't think '2D level representations' is a particularly interesting research subject, from a scientific point of view, but oh well.Isometric maps (levels) often use a tilemap, bytheway: tilemaps are not restricted to rectangular tiles. You can use hexagonal or rhombus shaped tiles just as well. A tilemap saves you some memory, as you don't need to store the position of every tile: you can calculate that from it's position in the internal data structure (usually a 2D array). For an isometric or hexagonal map, you'd just perform a different calculation than for a rectangular map.Now, 'free-form' sprite placement allows you to place sprites or tiles anywhere. Of course, you now have to store the location of each sprite. It's also not as easy to perform spatial culling - with a grid, it's easy to determine what rows and collumns are visible on-screen. That's why, for larger levels, it's often useful to have another data structure in place - a grid or quadtree, for example - which holds references to these sprites, and allows quick spatial culling.Of course, it's possible to combine the various approaches. In my 2D game framework, I've got both a tilemap and a sprite collection object, and I can use several tilemaps and sprite collections together in a single scene. Whatever works best.Collision handling is yet another area - you can treat tiles in a tilemap as rectangles, or you can add collision polygons, or use bitmap masks... or a combination thereof.Then there's something called a 'scene-graph', which is a way to organize your visual objects into a hierarchy. Useful for parallax scrolling (organizing everything in layers) or for composite graphics (turrets that move along with the boat they're attached to).   ;  ok, thank youi consider extending it to 3d, are there any interesting links? but i think 40 pages is too little to cover whole 3d scene;  You may already be doing this, but once you find different methods of storing a 2d maps, you might want to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each. Could be interesting stuff in terms of how AI interacts with it, how collisions and binning works, how terrain deformation works, how easy it is to manipulate, if it can be streamed in easily.the only kinds I can think of are:* tiled* object (geometric shapes with materials already on them)* bitmap background with object collision* bitmap (technically a subset of tiled, just with really small tiles)* some combination of the aboveThe problem with talking about 2d is that it's too easy to brute force things. You don't run into 3d pathing issues, you don't do frustum culling, binning is simple. I would definitely look into doing 3d, or 2d and 3d before you decide to do just 2d.   ;  great sum up, than you for thati have decided to bring up the 3d scene management... So are there any books covers this topic? articles?It is very wide topic...Thanks!   ;  Ok, i have changed the topic name. Lets discuss 3d.I would like to put together a list containing all terms about 3D scene management / representation / storing in files etc.  so i can google them and read as much as possiblei would be glad if you help me for example with some articles, or with some book containing some chapters about levels...I know some basics, i have read "Multiplayer fps programming with DX" and there was one chapter focused on scene management... So, if there is books like this describing 3D scene management / representation / storing , please, give me name and author... THANK YOU   ;  anything?   