No, I've not thrown in the towel yet, although at times I was inclined to do so.
Its been a long hard haul with many stops, starts, and re-runs.
My main problem has been in integrating my surfing wave (a 1024x64 mesh) with the surrounding ocean (a 1024x1024 mesh) My first attempts were having the surfing wave seperate from the main ocean grid, and moving forward by sliding over the ocean grid surface.
The problem with that was it just looked too damn unnatural...it was a battle to try and get the wave's material to blend in seamlessly with that of the ocean grid...the lighting effects just buggered things up completely. Also the ocean surface was not flat, but composed of its own waveset to provide a gentle swell. So all that work ended up in the rubbish bin.
I decided to make a fresh start following the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle. For this attempt I made the surfible wave a part of the actual ocean grid....so now the properties of the ocean become also those of the wave, and I now have a seamless surfing wave which is pretty indistinguishable from the surrounding ocean. I have been using shaders to provide some special coloration to the wave as it breaks...lightening and whitening effects.
At this stage it is still very crude...I'm currently looking at particles to provide some lipspray and foam (Frank Luna's Particle System is going to help me here). My first attempt is not wasted completely...I'm still using all the code that flattens the wave and provides transparency and foam at the shoreline.
Here's a short video of what I have so far...waiting at the breakline for that perfect wave!
This last year of DirectX exploration has taught me much.
I've come to realize the vast amount of man-hours that is required to master the inner workings of a 3D game engine.
Although I've progressed quite far with my 'Surfing Simulation' project, I definately need a good 3D engine to provide all the sfx, sound, music, character animation, physics, UI and final packaging.
This exercise has enabled me to more fully recognize my requirements in a 3D game engine, and with this in mind, the past few months have seen me testing out a number of engines listed on the Slant "best 3D game engines" website. I've finally decided that my new home base is to be Unity3D. I'm halfway through the Udemy online Unity course (and lovin' it), and excited to getting it completed by year end.
So... 2017 should see my 'Surfing Simulation' once more with a new and, hopefully, final home.
Good luck with the new engine. It's been great and really informative watching you develop your project to where it is and I wish you luck for the future and its final completion. We will miss you!
