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The future of jPCT

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bgilb:
Well, i think even if jPCT goes the way of xith etc it will still be much better. I tried xith and i tried lwjgl and that one monkey one hah. Both times i was let down because the simplicity wasn't there at ALL and thats where jPCT exceeds other ones. We just need more exposure to build the community. When i first came to this site I looked around thinking: "software renderer?! i dont need this!!!" a month or so later i came back and downloaded the fps demo and realized : " what the hell it has a option to change to OPENGL??? why wasn't this set to default!"

EgonOlsen:
If you find jPCT easier than xith3d or jME, then the idea worked. jPCT's goals were ease of use and a small size. That's the reason why its whole functionality is build around the two monoliths World and Object3D. This may also have some drawbacks and it doesn't look very "stylish" but it's easier to understand and its clear where to search for specific methods IMHO.
It also tries to hide the difficult stuff from the user as long as he doesn't need it. That's something where the other approaches fail IMO. It's ridiculous to follow a discussion in the xith-forums if xith should come with a normal generator or not, or why the collision system is broken and won't be fixed and ODEJava is much better anyway...there's no question that there should be a normal generator in a 3D engine (in fact, it was one of the first things that i've added to jPCT) and it's mandatory to have a working collision system. With jPCT, you don't even have to know that normals exist and what they are good for. The same for collisions: It's one line of code to check for a collision. If you want more info about the collision, implement a CollisionListener and you are done. But you don't have to...
I agree, that the current website has its problems to promote the project. On your first visit, it looks like just another applet demo. The frontpage doesn't tell you anything about what this really is all about. That's partly due to the fact that it wasn't much more than a just another applet demo when i designed the page. I think i could do much better now, but it's a question of motivation. I think i have to do it sooner or later though.
However, when you search for "java 3d engine" on google, jPCT comes second with no trace of xith3d and jME...but obviously, this isn't enough to make people think that it's actually a mature and stable product.

Remo:
I do agree that the main site doesnt promote the full power of jPCT. Its not bad at all tho but I think you should write another catchy demo soon!
I havent worked with xith3d or jME but I have worked a little on some c++ 3D engines and I can truly say that world and object3d make life much easier on the software design side.
Its a great product that I think you should promote more :).

rolz:
I recall the first time I came here looking for a 3d applet engine. The cool thing about jPCT was its simplicity, lightweightness and compatibility with older VMs. I still think it is the #1 solution for applets that need 3D.

  I admit i had a slight feeling of FUD after using jpct for a half of a year. It seemed that the development would stuck after going to desktop.  I did research on other engines jME and XITH and to my surprise they turned out to be even FUDer because of the feeling of incompleteness, overcomplexity and the way they are developed.

The right way to go is to consider JPCT not the silver bullet but stable and usable 3D java middleware. It does have own pros and cons thought but turns out to be well-suitable for most cases.

Talking about the future, i am not sure what are motivations for Egon to make this project evolve. JPCT is not affiliated by any business (I hope this is a subject to change in future to get motivation ), does not have community contributions, lacks demos and promotion. IMO working in these directions should reduce FUD and give the project more marketing value.

Remo:

--- Quote from: "rolz" ---I recall the first time I came here looking for a 3d applet engine. The cool thing about jPCT was its simplicity, lightweightness and compatibility with older VMs. I still think it is the #1 solution for applets that need 3D.

  I admit i had a slight feeling of FUD after using jpct for a half of a year. It seemed that the development would stuck after going to desktop.  I did research on other engines jME and XITH and to my surprise they turned out to be even FUDer because of the feeling of incompleteness, overcomplexity and the way they are developed.

The right way to go is to consider JPCT not the silver bullet but stable and usable 3D java middleware. It does have own pros and cons thought but turns out to be well-suitable for most cases.

Talking about the future, i am not sure what are motivations for Egon to make this project evolve. JPCT is not affiliated by any business (I hope this is a subject to change in future to get motivation ), does not have community contributions, lacks demos and promotion. IMO working in these directions should reduce FUD and give the project more marketing value.
--- End quote ---



How about a demo show. Some of us could write a little app using jPCT :). Something little that shows the strenght and capabilities of jPCT, nothing HUGE.

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