Hi there i've been programming in java for a while and working in 3d modeling for ages but am really new to 3d game programming and i would just like a little insight as to how these things are achieved.
How are fireballs, frostbolts, novas, bubbles, etc in games like wow produced? is it really just amazing animated billboards? or are they using a particle engine of some sort?
PS: I havnt played wow for 3 years. lol
I have never played WoW, but spell effects are very often particle effects. Various other tricks can be used also.
Probably particle effects in which every particle is an animated billboard. 
Particles (animated or not), animated quads, trailmeshes, billboard nodes, and anything else, in various combinations, in the modeling/toolset that gets the job done.
Thanks for the reply everyone. Makes it a lot clearer. So does anybody know a good book on programming these special effects for games in opengl? or some tutorials?
jME already does the job for you (mostly). It supports particles (animated also) and ribbons/trails, moving billboards can be done using SpatialController.
Oh using the classes in this package com.jmex.effects.particles? Looks like it will take a while to learn!!! lol
cyn9431 said:
Oh using the classes in this package com.jmex.effects.particles? Looks like it will take a while to learn!!! lol
That's the one. Also check out the renParticleEditor to get a jump start on how particles look and behave.
Beyond this, if you want to see some basic turn-based combat special effects in action (that were "rolled by hand") you can check out the following link:
http://www.jmonkeyengine.com/jmeforum/index.php?topic=9575.msg80463#msg80463
There are particles and trailmeshes in thar, put together in various combinations and sequences to "get the job done".