OpenGL: Textured Primitives + High Framerate
- by James D
Short version: What's the best practice going forward for efficiently rendering large numbers of independent texture-mapped, lighted 2D/3D primitives (circles, rects, etc.) in OpenGL?
For example: a typical particle system using billboarded quads/triangles, point sprites, or whatever other technique, with blending.
Because after reading this thread on the messiness of OpenGL versioning/deprecation I'm starting to have my doubts.
My specific question is not the ABCs of displaying primitives in OpenGL, but rather how to do so efficiently in post-deprecation (or pre-deprecation) OpenGL, in a way that's going to be compatible with a wide range of commodity hardware and in a way that's not going to break or itself get deprecated, five years down the line.
Thanks!