[ODE] Newbie Questions & OpenGL

[Gene Ruebsamen]

Hello Everybody,

I'm new to ODE and OpenGL, so please go easy on me. 
Reading through the FAQ and the ODE documentation, and looking at the
test files that come with ODE, I know that ODE can be used with any
graphics library.  What confuses me is that all the test applications
use the drawstuff.h include file, which I suppose uses OpenGL?  Is this
the preferred method of drawing primitives in ODE? It seems some
primitives are already pre-defined.

What I am really trying to create is a virtual environment where I can
have several virtual robots/creatures interact within this environment.
The creatures will be made of box primitives connected via joints of
some type to be determined later. I would like the option of turning the
display off, and performing the physics calculations w/o the graphics
overhead, and then turning the graphics back on at some later time.

My project will incorporate a Genetic Algorithm that will construct the
virtual creatures that interact in the environment.  I am only at the
beginning stages of the project right now, and am looking for some
insight and/or guidance as to whether ODE is capable of what I just
described (just the physics part, not the genetic algorithm).

Being a newbie, and seeing how the documentation is not all there yet,
can anyone point me to any type of tutorial or provide any suggestions
for starting out with ODE?  

BTW, Ruud van Gaal, I love your Racer game!  That is the one of the main
reasons I decided to look into ODE.

Thanks!

Gene Ruebsamen