[moved] Request: Barebones OpenGL Game-Ready Sample/Template for N8 (and Symbian^3)

[PoVRAZOR]

Hi,

This article is very negative and old regarding OpenGL ES being "weird and different" than the OpenGL "we are used to".

http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/3D...sing_OpenGL_ES

Well it's 2010 now (almost 2011), and OpenGL ES is anything but "weird and different" now.

What would make our jobs 1000x easier is if we had a sample program or article that didn't treat use like we've never done this before, but want to start making high performance games for Symbian^3 right now. Some 90%+ of the API's are meaningless to game developers, yet we have to spend hours/days combing the docs for fundamental details that are incredible common for us. Such things as:

- Take over the full screen as either OpenGL ES 1 or 2, in whatever way provides best performance (i.e. not sharing with any window manager, etc).
- How to get the screen resolution
- Where to request things like a Stencil or Depth Buffer
- Call a draw/refresh function either sync'd with the LCD refresh rate, or 60 times per second (if impossible)
- Get touch events
- Get orientation change events (or accelerometer data)
- Get key press events
- Exit (if appropriate)
- What common messages to watch for (Kill, Low battery, lost focus, gained focus)
- Where to read our files from
- Where to write our files to
- Playing a Music track using the DSP, making the song loop, adjusting volume.
- Detect when a music track is being played by the OS, so not to interrupt.
- If there's no Sound FX mixing API, tell us where to send raw PCM audio data so we can have sound fx AND music.

It doesn't even need per-line documentation. More than likely, the functions already are well named (GetKeypress). We can always drill down in to the documentation if we want to know more.

Thanks

[ltomuta]

Valid request I'd say. But while the wiki article may not be of much use to you, you are welcome to update it based on your expertise.

How do you find the OpenGL examples provided in the Symbian^3 SDK? Are they answering at least partly your questions?

[lenclud]

Quick answers:

- Take over the full screen as either OpenGL ES 1 or 2, in whatever way provides best performance (i.e. not sharing with any window manager, etc).
Have an empty RESOURCE EIK_APP_INFO structure in your RSS file.
Then SetExtentToWholeScreen on your container CCoeControl

- How to get the screen resolution
CCoeEnv::Static()->ScreenDevice().SizeInPixels() or something like that

- Where to request things like a Stencil or Depth Buffer
Can you not use OpenGL for that?

- Call a draw/refresh function either sync'd with the LCD refresh rate, or 60 times per second (if impossible)
I use CPeriodic object to tick 32 times per second.

- Get touch events
CCoeControl::HandlePointerEventL

- Get orientation change events (or accelerometer data)
void CMyContainer::HandleResourceChange(TInt aType)
{
switch( aType )
{
// Dynamic screen resize changes by calling the
// SetExtentToWholeScreen() method again.
case KEikDynamicLayoutVariantSwitch:
SetExtentToWholeScreen();
break;
}
}

- Get key press events
CCoeControl::HandleKeyEventL

- Exit (if appropriate)
AppUi::Exit() or User::Exit()

- What common messages to watch for (Kill, Low battery, lost focus, gained focus)
ControlEnv()->AddForegroundObserverL( *this );
HandleGainingForeground()
HandleLosingForeground()


- Where to read our files from
RFs::PrivatePath

- Where to write our files to
RFs::PrivatePath

- Playing a Music track using the DSP, making the song loop, adjusting volume.
- Detect when a music track is being played by the OS, so not to interrupt.
- If there's no Sound FX mixing API, tell us where to send raw PCM audio data so we can have sound fx AND music.
There use to be a sound mixer example on forum nokia try look for it

Good luck!

[Hardline]

Valid request I'd say. But while the wiki article may not be of much use to you, you are welcome to update it based on your expertise.

How do you find the OpenGL examples provided in the Symbian^3 SDK? Are they answering at least partly your questions?

Are those projects importable into Carbide? I tried to do this but I couldn't figure out how. Of course, I've used Carbide for all of 2 hours now....

Any hints?

[wizard_hu_]

If you mean importing any project, it is done via the File menu, Import and check for something saying Symbian project from bld.inf file. And pick the bld.inf file of the given project ("traditionally" in the group folder).
If you mean some specific issue with the OpenGL examples, please provide some details about what you have tried and what happens.

[Hardline]

If you mean importing any project, it is done via the File menu, Import and check for something saying Symbian project from bld.inf file. And pick the bld.inf file of the given project ("traditionally" in the group folder).
If you mean some specific issue with the OpenGL examples, please provide some details about what you have tried and what happens.

Ok well for instance, I tried to import Nokia_Symbian3_SDK_v0.9\examples\symbian\gui\openglex\Particles\group\bld.inf into Carbide which seems to work. I select the GCCE\Debug build which builds fine but when I try to Run As "debug" I get a TRKProtocolPlugin failure. But then in another window Carbide says "c:\sys\bin\particles.exe" was sucessfully launched.

So I go to project settings. Carbide.c++/Build Configurations -> Add. For the .pkg name I select the Particles.pkg (for GCCE) and select self sign .SIS.... build... deploy... error due to file being accessed by another process.

It's quite annoying when we have to FIGHT the system to get our code onto it!

[lenclud]

My tip: I never use Carbide Remote Debugger. I simply Bluetooth my SIS files to the device and install them there.
OpenGL examples using ES 1.1 should run on the EPOC emulator too though very slowly.
For developing OGL ES application I do it on Windows using the PowerVR SDK from Imagination Technology and layers of portable C++ code.
Then I target specific devices and optimize code for each GPU.