I've noticed that many programs use extremely complicated shader code in order to extrapolate geometry from a small number of polygons, thereby reducing the number of polys but presumably slowing performance to a crawl?  Unless I'm missing something, wouldn't it be far better just to generate a larger number of detailed polys ?  To give a example of what I'm referring to, here's a video of a program which renders waterfalls and uses pixel shaders to extrapolate the rock details, creating extremely elaborate rock formations from just a few rough polys - amazing programming, but it seems like an unnecessarily slow way of doing it ? Click on the top video, labeled "Cascades: Technical Overview"  - http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_cascades_videos.html

Once I've generated the textures I need via my code, what's the easiest way to transfer that array to a usable texture graphic which jPCT can use?  I assume for a .bmp, I just need to reverse the array so it's "upside down" and then add a header?  Or is it best to use premade conversion code from a library? Or am I way off base...?

Billboards are described as a quad, but is it possible to use only a single poly if that's all that's needed for the particular shape of the billboard? Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places or confused about the entire issue, but I haven't been able to find any information on this.

Are there any plans to add the ability to define an RGB color for each vertex so the colors can be automatically blended by the video card, similar to DirectX's custom vertex data such as the one at the following page (scroll down to the colored triangle screenshot at the bottom and the code just above it)
http://www.directxtutorial.com/Tutorial9/B-Direct3DBasics/dx9B4.aspx#still

How large is the jPCT code within the jar file for an application?   Is there any way to reduce the size?

I'm wondering if anyone has any idea how to produce an effect similar to the flowing water you can see in the following video of "Big Game Hunter 2010" at c. 4:26 onward and again c. 5:07 onward - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H458jdZov48&feature=related

It looks like they've got a refraction effect as well as the obvious surface foam flowing along (which is easy enough). I guess my question is: how do you produce the refraction effect?

I assume that the frame rate will be far higher if the terrain is formed from 'billboarded' objects rather than quads (two polys) ?  I.e., let's say you start with a typical terrain mesh formed from quads which have a flat 'grass' texture, then replace each of those with a billboarded 3D object representing a tuft of grass with billboarding set for all but the closest distance (or even when right in front of the viewer). I would think that since a 'billboard' is just a bitmap image, it should be faster to render than a polygon, hence a landscape made up mostly (or entirely) of billboard images should have a higher frame rate than a polygon mesh? Or am I missing something?

Is there any disadvantage to using separate Object3D objects for each quad in the terrain rather than using a single object with a large number of quads?  I.e., would it use a significantly greater amount of memory or take longer to generate the terrain, or some other disadvantage?

I had adapted Egon Olsen's terrain demo so that it uses my own procedurally-generated terrain and water, but I ran into two odd problems:
1) occasionally there are random polygons which are stretched out of position, so that one vertex is in the wrong place and the whole poly is therefore elongated to a random point on the map. At first I thought it was a problem with my terrain generation algorithm, but the problems are random.
2) Low-lying terrain at or near a Y coordinate of 0 allows you to see part of the water plane underneath, even if I lower the water plane to -3 or -5 etc; there is still a patchwork pattern of water showing through in many spots, and the problem increases as the viewer position elevates.  The original terrain demo didn't have this problem.

I recently got a new computer, and the webstart demos no longer run - apparently lwjgl.dll doesn't work with 64 bit systems.  The applet demos still work fine, however.
 Here's the error log for the Blue Thunder demo:
------------------
java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeApplication(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeMainClass(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.doLaunchApp(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: C:\Users\Allen Williamson\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\cache\6.0\13\12c04e0d-2de90f37-n\lwjgl.dll: Can't load IA 32-bit .dll on a AMD 64-bit platform
   at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(Unknown Source)
   at org.lwjgl.Sys$1.run(Sys.java:75)
   at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
   at org.lwjgl.Sys.doLoadLibrary(Sys.java:68)
   at org.lwjgl.Sys.loadLibrary(Sys.java:84)
   at org.lwjgl.Sys.<clinit>(Sys.java:101)
   at org.lwjgl.opengl.Display.<clinit>(Display.java:108)
   at com.threed.jpct.GLHelper.findMode(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.GLHelper.init(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.GLRenderer.init(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.FrameBuffer.enableRenderer(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.FrameBuffer.enableRenderer(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.FrameBuffer.enableRenderer(Unknown Source)
   at com.threed.jpct.demos.bluethunder.BlueThunderRel.initWorld(BlueThunderRel.java:75)
   at com.threed.jpct.demos.bluethunder.BlueThunderRel.main(BlueThunderRel.java:52)
   ... 9 more
------------------------

I haven't been able to find any information on this, so I'm posting a question.
What's the best way of rendering water so that it reflects the landscape?   

[Edit: Ok, it turns out that my program modifed config.farplane in several places, and I was trying to extend the range by foolishly changing the first one rather than the last one..... Nonetheless.... I'll leave a few of my previous comments below just in case someone wants to look at the unusual viewing distance achieved in Wurm Online, a Java webstart game which uses a rendering engine somewhat similar to JPCT except JPCT seems considerably faster and doesn't bog down my HD the way Wurm does. Perhaps someone can use JPCT to make a faster version of Wurm, a game which not only allows you to see for miles into the distance, but also modify almost every aspect of the landscape.
If you want to see what I'm referring to, here are some links to screenshots from Wurm - not very good ones, but it's difficult to convey the effect in a still photo.
This one shows the variation in detail - individual grass textures in foreground, billboarded trees in midground and minimally-detailed mountains in the distance - and the mountain is distant enough so that it would take you a considerable amount of time to walk there in the game - http://wurmonline.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=390
Another good view, this time from a high elevation that allows a panoramic view of a city and the distant mountains miles behind it - and to get some idea of the distances visible in this view, take a look at the city in the midground: the large complex of buildings on the artificial mound is large enough to fit hundreds of players, and the statue to the left of it is a "colossus" perhaps twenty times taller than a player character - http://wurmonline.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=367
Another shot of distant mountains - http://wurmonline.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=572
A YouTube video showing a tour of a (now abandoned) fortress called Fort Mole. The video allows you to see the game in motion. As with nearly every location in Wurm, the entire fortress was built by players one brick at a time, one plank at a time - in fact the bricks, planks, and nails have to be made by players as well. You can also terraform the landscape and build entire islands, one shovelful of dirt at a time. -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKcF8TFWO3w&feature=related

(Edit - I think I solved the problem)

I couldn't find any information on this in the docs, so I'm asking here:  what is the maximum functional value for farPlane ?  I've tried setting it as high as possible but there comes a point when it no longer extends the view.

The framerate for one of my programs slowed to a fraction of its earlier value when I (mistakenly) placed all the terrain 'chunks' at the same location - which wouldn't be a problem (easy to fix) except I'm wondering whether any overlap between objects would always slow the framerate, such as if I place trees right on the surface of the terrain, thereby causing a slight overlap for each. If so, this would cause severe problems unless the objects are adjusted so they have a slight gap between them.

In order to have a fairly large map, I need to have only a portion of the terrain in memory at a given time, and then update it as the user moves. I'm wondering whether it's better to : a) have a single object for the in-memory terrain and then add and subtract triangles from the sides as the user moves (is it possible to subtract triangles?); or b) divide the in-memory terrain into several chunks, each of which is a separate Object3D, and then when the user moves too far in a given direction, reposition these objects while deleting the chunks which are now well beyond the viewable area and adding new chunks on the other side. c) Is there a third option?

Since the built-in fog effect apparently works well only when the fog is 'black' (according to one of the files or wiki articles), what's the best way to produce atmospheric haze - i.e., making distant parts of the landscape look bluer? 

I've been looking at the examples which come with jPCT, and wondering whether it's permissible to use them (specifically CarTest) as the starting basis for projects? I.e. modify the code for a new project, including commercial ones?

Does JPCT allow a program to generate 3D objects at runtime?