pouët.net

What's wrong with the NeHe tutorials?

category: general [glöplog]
Not a joke post, just me wondering.

Ok, I haven't read them much, only when I did the CloseGL demo and only 10 first chapters. Now I am doing things on my own. I don't remember them. But most people for some reason say that they suck. Why is that? Specifically?
added on the 2009-01-26 20:14:53 by Optimus Optimus
I have to admit to that I didn't look into them since around 2003. Back then, the main problem with them was that the guy who wrote them knew less about OpenGL than I did after 3 days of learning. And the code sucked ass anyway.
added on the 2009-01-26 20:17:04 by blala blala
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added on the 2009-01-26 20:20:27 by havoc havoc
What the fuck is that shit? What do you imply with that???

I hate it when the big images have me scroll horizontally to read the rest of the text that might or might not be posted here in the near future.
added on the 2009-01-26 20:22:39 by Optimus Optimus
Optimus, the solution is easy: [image disabled]
I'm still considering making the Argon-Selenium opengl tutorials, as "competition" to the Neon-Helium ones.. =)
added on the 2009-01-26 20:26:01 by sol_hsa sol_hsa
It probably means havoc doesn't give a shit about whether they suck or not, and that the thread is useless in his opinion and pollutes the pouet BBS.
...just a random guess...
added on the 2009-01-26 20:28:49 by raer raer
There is nothing wrong with Nehe imo when you want to get started the easy way with OpenGL or have a glimpse. It has basic examples on all platforms that are really easy to understand.

A few lines to show newcomers how to make simple things using OpenGL, that's what it's all about. Those tutorials never claimed to be anything more.

Once that step done, you can indeed get a serious book or read the specs.

Some people hate having specs and boring serious stuff thrown at them at the begining of a learning process. I prefer this kind of "teaching" : experiment first, then learn the rules and the boring theories afterwards, once you managed to find it not too appaling. It's a good way to make sure people don't get disgusted at first contact.


On a sidenote, I know a lot of very well known groups (using OpenGL) that started with Nehe's code for their first prod(s) but they are probably too shy to admit it ;)
(I did)
added on the 2009-01-26 20:30:10 by keops keops
Quote:
I'm still considering making the Argon-Selenium opengl tutorials, as "competition" to the Neon-Helium ones.. =)


Ar-Se tutorials! Do it! :D

About the subject, there is nothing wrong with tutorials. And If you want to learn the specs you can always go to the proper books.
added on the 2009-01-26 20:39:22 by ham ham
What keops said. Nothing wrong with NeHe per se.

But that's beginner stuff, and when you try to do real shit (tm) with OpenGL, then you have to un-learn everything you read in the tutorials and find a proper way (tm) to do it. That's one of the problems with OpenGL - there's always a bazillion ways of doing the same thing, and 99% of them are crap (in performance, in stability etc.). The remaining 1% is, of course, different on each platform and graphics card that you want to support.
added on the 2009-01-26 20:42:03 by NeARAZ NeARAZ
what havoc said *sprays natural fertilizer from multiple pipes simultaneously*
ah, ok then...
added on the 2009-01-26 20:58:16 by raer raer
Better ask: what's right with NeHe's tutorials.
Let me start:
-they have samples in lots of languages.

Ok, I guess that ends the list.
added on the 2009-01-26 21:11:16 by xernobyl xernobyl
I still don't get what is wrong. I never got the feeling the guy knew less about OpenGL than me after 3 days of coding. Any examples? Did I learned something wrong that I have to unlearn now?
added on the 2009-01-26 21:36:35 by Optimus Optimus
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That's one of the problems with OpenGL - there's always a bazillion ways of doing the same thing, and 99% of them are crap (in performance, in stability etc.)

So you're using ATI ?
(sorry, couldn't resist)
added on the 2009-01-26 21:51:51 by hfr hfr
Its wrong because it aint direct3d
added on the 2009-01-26 21:56:19 by the_Ye-Ti the_Ye-Ti
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Its wrong because it aint direct3d


lol yes
Bill Gates says Direct3D is best, so it's gotta be!
added on the 2009-01-26 22:59:06 by kusma kusma
I started reading the Nehe tutorials back in... hm maybe mid 2001, by then I already knew opengl. I got the code for setting up a window (lesson2) and since then all the demo executables of all demos we actually did are actually an offspring of lesson2 (the exe name is lesson2.exe, changed to whatever the name of the demo is by ren).
added on the 2009-01-26 23:06:57 by Navis Navis
Quote:
Bill Gates says Direct3D is best, so it's gotta be!


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Nothing wrong with NeHe per se. [...] then you have to un-learn everything you read in the tutorials

ah, ok, it's much clearer now :)
added on the 2009-01-27 03:14:33 by blala blala
Navis: CODE RIPPER!1!"" ;) (i thought Life Force looked familiar)
added on the 2009-01-27 05:12:40 by button button
thx to whoever fixed the image resolution shit, now I can read the thread. Also, wtf are people thinking when they send a 3200x2400 px image? I mean, why? Seriously, I cannot believe there is sceners without a clear understanding of what a pixel is, so, please tell me, why do you do it? Why?
added on the 2009-01-27 12:28:39 by iq iq
On topic, I would use Nehe as a starting point for having an opengl project up and running with some textures. But, imho, once you are at lesson 08 stop and do not go ahead with nehe. Instead, search on the net for a way to 1. use FBOs, 2. use VBOs, 3. Use GLSL shaders. The resto of the gl api is useless, and most of the tutorials/way_of_doing_the_effects in nehe not relevant, from my point of view.
added on the 2009-01-27 12:36:24 by iq iq
learning from nehe certainly doesnt help when it comes to learning system design :/
added on the 2009-01-27 12:37:25 by Gargaj Gargaj

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