Irrlicht Engine

I've never actually done any 3d programming, while i have started some directX on C# i havent had much time to get into it...

would you guys consider irrlicht as a good idea for first time 3d programming? or am i better off with something else, and coming back to irrlicht when i have some experience?

i'm already experienced wtich C# just not in 3d

it doesn't matter what you use for first timers in my opinion (I am a beginner using irrlicht and 3d programming btw), what does matter is learning the 'concepts' behind 3d development, you could start out with a language such as blitz or darkbasic to help you concentrate on the concepts first without getting confused by the actual language, then once you've understood the concepts then start learning the language syntax etc...

if you've already used C# then continue to use it as once you've got to a good standard in C# your probably find that it will help you to understand C++ better (IMO is the language most should be learning to understand OOP)

Irrlicht is very good if you want to get fast results in 3D. Also i think it's rather good for learning to work with a 3D engine, as the engine code is clean and it's easy to dive in.

But to learn the real basics of 3D i'd recommend starting on a lower level - with OpenGL (or DirectX). Once you worked with that for a while you will just know a lot better what's actually happening when 3D-graphics are send to your graphiccard. And that knowledge will be useful no matter with which engine you are working. But that's certainly just my opinion :-)

I suggest checking out Irrlicht.NET CP. (http://irrlichtnetcp.sourceforge.net/) It's a .NET wrapper around Irrlicht and has more functionality that the full-fledged Irrlicht.NET port. I've never used DirectX but have done tons of work in OpenGL. Now that I've found this, it's sort of depressing that I haven't known about this or other libraries like Ogre until now. Irrlicht is SO much simpler than straight up OpenGL. So yes, I'd say it's a very good place to get started. CuteAlien is right about learning the basics of 3d but I still think that Irrlicht is a good place to learn the basic basics before getting into more details if you want to be able to produce better results.

In short, yes. I believe that Irrlicht is a great way to get started playing with 3D. It's simple enough you can hit the ground running (unlike Ogre and Crystal Space, IME), and if you're interested in seeing what's actually going on at a lower level, all of the openGL / directX calls are nicely encapsulated. It's not the most advanced or efficient engine around, but that's probably not what you're looking for at this stage.

when i found out abou irrlicht i had no clue wtf is a mesh. i was total noob in 3d programming. irrlicht is so simple and documentation is so great that learning 3d programming is realy easy. i think choosing irrlicht is good for both, beginers and advancers

I personally think that Blitz3D http://www.blitzbasic.com/ is a pretty good environment for 3d-starters.

What I found nice:
+ never saw an easier or faster way to get results
+ every programmer knows BASIC
+ free demo version available for download. works 30 days (?)
+ huge active community (in germany too)

What I didn't like:
+ BASIC sucks for bigger projects - that's worst for me
+ just for Windows
+ uses only DX7 (for beginners enough)
+ costs about 100 Euros (I think its worth the bucks)
+ today the website seems to be down

Regards
Ayman

when i was total beginner i didnt know BASIC, so dont now

well ok, thats mixed opinions right there.. but i think i've heard enough yes's to give it a go, i've been looking at the example codes and they are well commented... i'll experiment myself with it soon enough

thanks alot guys.. i might not have started out yet, but as far as i can tell irrlicht sports a great community at the very least. so i think i'll enjoy learning with irrlicht

enjoy the ride

just for the record.. not that it matters to anyone here...

my software lecturer, whose somewhat of a mentor to me, has taken great interest in irrlicht, which means 2 things:

he might use it for a commercial product:

he learns it, and helps me learn faster!