Question

I have a few questions regarding what graphics platforms are utilized when making professional games (like WoW, starcraft2, diablo 3.. etc).

First, would WoW look different if rendered in OpenGL, rather than Direct X? Would performance be significantly different if rendered in OpenGL?

Second, What is the main process when creating a game, specifically in terms of using a model created in Maya, or 3DS Max in the video game? Does one create the model, then export the model to readable OpenGL/DirectX code, with all of the shader programs exported, and all vertices and triangles created in code, and finally utilize the code in a C++/c program?

OVerall, I’m curious on how video game designer/programmers export actual 3DS MAX/Maya models into their code

Answer 1

First, would WoW look different if rendered in OpenGL, rather than Direct X?

It is rendered in OpenGL (well, it can be with a setting). And no, it doesn’t look different in D3D rendering. (note: DirectX is more than just Direct3D.)

Would performance be significantly different if rendered in OpenGL?

Unlikely. There are some things that OpenGL implementations can be faster at, but WoW doesn’t use any of them.

Does one create the model, then export the model to readable OpenGL/DirectX code

Neither OpenGL nor Direct3D has a model format. Even .x files are deprecated at this point; those were part of the D3DX library, which was just a Microsoft-written layer on top of D3D.

Second, you don’t export them into “code”. You export them into files, which you then read in your game. Well, generally, you process those files into more digestible formats for you game, as exporters tend to optimize meshes differently from what you might want in your game.

So it’s export to file -> process to final file -> read in game.