23.1. Introduction

We now introduce game programming and graphics with the Ogre 3D graphics engine. Created in 2000 by Steve Streeting, Ogre is an open-source project maintained by the Ogre team at www.ogre3d.org. First, we discuss basic issues involved in game programming. Then we show how to use Ogre to create a simple game featuring a play mechanic similar to the classic video game Pong^®, originally developed by Atari in 1972. We demonstrate how to create a scene with colored 3D graphics, smoothly animate moving objects, use timers to control animation speed, detect collisions between objects, add sound, accept keyboard input and display text output.