Hi I’m new here (first post). I know this topic comes up a lot, and I’ve looked at the “getting started for absolute beginner” topics and read through most of the manual to see all the wonderful things you can do. Unfortunately I am not a programmer (yet) but an artist. A sample of my work in Maya, based on a character from Namco’s Klonoa:
After viewing the videos about the scene editor, it seems to me it could really help people who are just starting out and don’t know all the coding rules, if not to build something useful at least to get started. Unfortunately it appears the scene editor is not supported anymore / was never supported.
So I am wondering, how did you guys learn python? If you were already familiar with programming, how did you first get started? I’m interested in building a small idea into a prototype level.
I figure I will start small by loading a character on a simple grid and map the controls to w,a,s,d. BUT! I want to do a game level where you can walk around, enter into/out of rooms fighting monsters with a sword (think Zelda). This will also require a HUD for things like health and items (which I guess will use aspect2d but the documentation doesn’t make it very clear how to use it). For example, how do you store certain information in the background, such as current health or what items have been collected?
Anyway, please give me whatever advice you think will help out someone who is interested in learning how to code in python and getting into panda3d.
edit: Also, I have tried using the exporter for maya2egg8 (using Maya 8 ), and it seems to work but no .egg file is actually generated. If I launch the preview after export, a blank (gray) panda window opens. ?? Any advice on how to export models from maya…
for exporting and most of your questions… please read the topics in the manual. http://panda3d.org/manual/index.php/Main_Page
to get started it’s quite good to check out the sample programms. together with the manual it should help you to make your first steps.
if you have specific questions feel free to ask on the forum or the panda irc channel ( irc.freenode.net#panad3d)
the python wikibooks are also very helpfull to learn python itself.
well … learning by doing and in 2 weeks coding will go by itself.
btw… amongst modellers… your model looks really good. well made mesh and nice textures. good job
I’m learning python myself but have roots in C++ so the cross to python isn’t that hard but when I started with C++ and also now with python I found that most programming books (may they be Ebooks or paperback doesn’t matter) are lacking some basic fundamentals that you have to figure out yourself.
Some (read “most beginner”) books will treat you like an infant and almost talk down to you, just get used to it and grind along.
Can’t really see the use of the “Hello world” start that almost every book begins with and skipping the part about how programs acctually work, learning to program is more than learning code, code itself is almost secondary to understanding the actuall goals with the code.
When they start throwing variables, identifiers, strings ect in your face without giving a more comprehensive “the bigger picture”, many tend to get tangled up in trying to figure out what it’s really for? because all you see is simple stuff like 1+1 = 2 and [color=red]print sends to screen, how do I use that when I’m designing my program (or in this case maybe game)?
First of I recommend, since I guess you want to learn python for panda3d, to look at the code of various samples and code snipplets while you are reading books on how to learn, this way you can get a better understanding of how the code works and actually can amount to something, try to figure out what happens in the sample code and why and use the books as a refrence.
These three books are pretty good, specially the first one
thanks guys, I think I will start by reading the wiki and bookmark the others for later… while trying to get the maya2egg exporter to work for me. I seem to be having the same issue as someone who has already asked for help so I will need to dig deeper to find my answer.
As for my modeling/texturing, I have been doing it as a hobbyist for a few years so I feel pretty confident about that! But I’d like to make a small game too.
reading the python tutorial was a good start, but I really grokked Python when I read a books on Lisp. Beneath the surface, they are very close language.
Another good learning tool, it’s helping me out a lot ( i’m still learning too), is the Dive Into Python book. It’s available free of charge on the web ( e-book). Just Google “Dive Into Python”.
I second Dive Into Python That’s the first one I used, but it’s easier to understand if you’re already a programmer. I also like Byte of Python. It might be easier for a beginner to understand.
I also use http://docs.python.org as a refrence. I think the library refrence is particularly important.
Hi there… after trying some C(++) and Java at the university ( I was forced to learn that ) and some own coding examples I stumbled upon Panda3D.
I didn’t hear about Python before and my first impression was “hell… nice thing, but learning a new programming language with all the unlogic stuff where your mind has to bend to follow the programming rules?!?”…
But that went away after reading the first “Beginners” tutorials about plain python. It was as simple as real life thinking (compared to C or Java) and whatever you did, it worked (after you managed the formatting stuff) most of the time right away. - That got me hooked.
If you are looking for an simple to learn language, Python is the choice.
I find that whenever I learn a new language I always get stuck and can’t seem to find some simple bit of info. The best place to go when stuck is IRC. You can go to the Python one or the Panda3d one. It is great for quick answers to stupid questions or finding your way out of some silly place.
Douglas
