Explosions

#1 Explosions are often a mix of different things. Almost always though, particles are animportant aspect, depending on what kind of explosion. Examples of particle systems: railgun trails in quake2, smoke trails from grenade launcher/mortar in tribes, flames, etc. If you're building this in OpenGL, here's something to take a look at:

http://nehe.gamedev.net/tutorials/lesson19.asp

It's about building a particle system using triangle strips. Triangle strips are a more effecent way of passing data to the OpenGL API because you don't pass in redundant vertices, and it speeds things up. (To the best of my knowledge, this is the advantage)

Hope that helps.

#2 I started to write a short reply, but then I thought I would post little HowTo on the subject and add it to the database :) Here's the link: HowTo

#3 I just thought I should pick up on that mention of Nehe at http://nehe.gamedev.net/. If you are interested in 3D programming using OpenGL then Nehe is one of the best sites I have found period.

Except for garagegames of course... :)

#4 Thanks to all of you for the ideas; the HowTo was particularly helpful. I've been to Nehe before and it's a great site. I can't wait for this site to become developed as it will be a great resource for anyone who likes gaming and wants to have their try at it.