Irrlicht as an EDT group project?

[vortex2]

Hello everyone. The community could really use an Irrlicht extension and as it is such a big job (and the idea has been suggested before) perhaps we should divide the work load up and as developers tackle certain aspects of the extension?

I still think multiple extensions is the best way to tackle the problem of giving MMF 2 3d support and so we would need to be well coordinated as far as how the extensions would interact together.

I have no idea where TurboFerret is on this project but it is starting to look like he might never get around to creating it.

Currently I recommend we start brainstorming ideas about what this extension should have, and what it will be able to do.

Now obviously we will need some sort of "Core" extension, and this could be called the "World" extension. We then need camera extensions, light extensions, "2d" extensions, particle extensions, ect.

Each extension would have a set format and method for interacting with the main extension.

So my proposal is that the user would add a "World" extension, add light extensions, camera extensions, ect, and then link these objects to specific objects in the "World".

The reasoning behind this approach is that it would allow us to make updates faster and it would break the workload up amoung developers. This way the extension will not be some super complex extension.

Something like this would have to be carefully managed however and the entire set of extensions would have to be released as one bonus pack.

I would be the person leading this project and so I will be the person to set formal guidelines for how the extensions will work. I will also be creating the core engine for the extension. It would be my task to make sure that the submitted extensions will work for their inteded purpose and to ensure the existance of the project.

Perhaps someone with graphics skills wouldn't mind making a vector logo.

So what does everyone think of this idea? Perhaps someone can throw some ideas out into the fold .

Thanks for reading this.

[James]

Great idea, and I would be happy to help out.

[vortex2]

Thanks. Every interested developer will need to download the Irrlicht engine and start to play around with it. Small demos that show you know how to use the engine are most helpful.

Once actual development begins, a developer will submit a request (My extension will do this, it wraps these classes, ect). If the request is approved then a formal design of the extension (all actions, conditions, and expressions) will need to be submitted for review. Once reviewed to make sure it follows the guidelines, the extension can be created.

All source code will need to be registered with both me and Clickteam to ensure that if you decide to leave the project, that it does not cripple further development. Of course some credit would be given to the original author even if another developer took up the particular extension.

[Sphax]

It's a very good idea.

But I don't know how it's possible to create a 3D world extension which will be able to have MMF2 extensions that add some sort of objects into it...

I'll help if you want when I can.

[James]

Sphax, the core extension would have an expression to get the address of the engine, and the other extensions would have an action to set the address of the engine that they are working with.

[Villy]

This is a excellent idea would definitely give this place some action. I am in

[vortex2]

Yes Jam is correct on this. In this way the extensions will be linked to the main extension and they will be able to interact with it . Some extensions might have further ability to select particular objects though.

For example there is only one light extension but duplicates can change different lights.

If I had Light1 and Light2 in my scene and I made two copies of a Light extension then I could have one control light1 and the other control light2. Or I could simply use one light instance to control all lights by changing the instance that the object is controlling. If I delete the extension that is controlling a light instance without removing control then the light will be removed from the scene .

I just really wish we knew where Turbo was on his project... We haven't heard from him in so long and the last version of the extension was for MMF 1.5 if I remember correctly. Last I heard Turbo and Francois were working together but who knows, that was two months ago..

[Villy]

Oh one thought, perhaps a cvs/svn system for the project so it will be easy to keep track of the code?

[Sphax]

Ok I understand. It could be wonderful.
CVS system could be nice too for development.

[Novabrain]

For those who may not have been around when Turbo was on the proof-of-concept phase:

Irrlicht for MMF 1.5 was successful to the point of an example where you could move a character around in an FPS castle scene.

The problem was that there were several extension involved, working together. That was because MMF 1.5 had a limit that MMF2 no longer has concerning conditions and actions.

Using the objects was complex, but not impossibly so. We did not get to the point of optimizing the menus and coming up with crafty ways to simplify creating and manipulating a 3D world. This requires some forethought and pre-planning.

I would consider the possibility of editors, (either native to the extension or created in MMF) that allow for world and character setup in order to make it more click simple. For instance, setting up your character and textures could be done in an editor and any details saved so that this could be loaded, rather than painstakingly setup with actions.

I am not sure of what Francois' plans are in this arena or what the status of the source for Turbo's initial work is. More discussion on this matter is a good idea. Let's see where it goes.

Turbo did quite a few interesting things, like a vector extension that was rather powerful and robust, He was quite an innovator. Too bad more of his ideas didn't reach release.