Blitz GE
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Blitz GE
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| Welcome, - This is the the main post for the Blitz Game Editor or Blitz GE. This is a world/game editor that will be an open source community project for anyone to contribute to. So take sometime to read thru and enjoy. I plan on posting an example on Sunday. ------------------------------------------------------------ UPDATES ------------------------------------------------------------ Updates can be found here: http://www.blitzbasic.com/logs/userlog.php?log=330&user=1377 |
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| Cool. I'll probably contribute. I agree on the GUI. I suggest commenting follow the cod2doc method - http://repeatuntil.free.fr/cod2doc/help/CommentYourCode.htm 1. Standard core program 2. GE standard file format (I can do this) 3. Creation of primitives/models/lights 4. Transform tools 5. Modification of all properties of entity This is actually a fairly tall order (#5) |
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| Or you could just buy ALE and Gile[s], saving yourself a years worth of heart-ache for no reward. But hey, whatever floats your proverbial... |
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| @bot builder - I cant seem to access the link you have for how to document the code. I tryed coping and pasting but that didn't work. You have some good ideas so based off your feature list I modified mine. 1. Standard core program inteface control and flow 2. Blitz GE standard file format 3. Creation of primitives/models/lights 4. Standard transform tools. eg, move, rotate, scale 5. Modification of standard blitz entities lights, camera, and meshes. @Skitchy - Yeah I love Gile[s] and ended up buying a copy myself. Definatly one of the best programs made with Blitz but it doesn't do everything one may need for a game. I don't imagine this project will create such an editor but what I hope is that it will cover the basics and then if a person needs something more specific to their game engine they can code it themselves. And this editor will be free and open source. |
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| I'm working on a Game Manager app that will use existing apps to do all the grunt work, plus new apps to fill in the blanks in the pipeline between model and game, eventually to produce configuration files and scripts that you load to make use of everything created. The whole idea is based on plugins to support various apps, templates to create scripts, and windows INI style config files to store information that cant be handled elsewhere. What you are describing is my app plus a few external programs, some existing, some that need to be created. Would you rather hold off a few days for me to get the alpha test ready to go, then help me with configuring plugins for existing apps, modifying existing apps where source code is available, and creating new apps to fill in the complete tool chain ?? I'm working in C# for the main IDE, but external apps can be any language of course :) |
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hate to burst your bubble ;) Well obviously be free, don't know about open source just yet.. depends entirely if people actually want to use it. currently todo or done. ; Objects ; \-- primitive objects to ; Map (done) ; Entity Types (done) ; Collisions (done) ; Textures (done) ; Parents (done) ; Lights (done) ; Animations (to do) ; Nodes (to do when I can work out the UI for a spline pathing, and spline pathing in the first place) * current thoughts on this, is I'd like the pathing to be, point to point, ping pong, loop, each node can be spline or linea, so you could curve and then go in a absolute line. ; Particals (more or less done) uses Lotus Partical System ; World (to do) ; Sprites (to do) ; Images (to do) ; Cameras (to do) ; Audio (to do) |
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| Well, this doesn't mean it's a bubble. Though I must say, TOME looks pretty handy. |
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| jfk: yeah problem bad choice of words there :) sorry about that. |
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| Will blitz GE be used for programing as well as graphics? |
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| Nice app there Inner! RiverRatt- I don't believe so. It might have the possibility of generating code, but not an actual code editer. We could use TOME as a base for the community project if Inner releases it opensource, or start from scratch. |
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| bot: I'd only consider releasing source when I've completed at least basic functionality of the current todos, few days work, and commented the code. |
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| Cartography Shop 5.0 is going to own all y'all. I see that green brick texture I made turn up everywhere. There is also a snowy version, but it doesn't seem to be as popular. |
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| Probably halo, probably, but the point of Blitz GE is that it'll be free, and opensource, so in the absence of a game-specific editer feature, you can add it. And don't say "yeah. that's why I have plugins" becaues plugins can't do everything. |
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| @inner: awesome :) Would you mind if I bundled it with my package when you have it ready ?? |
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| Mojokool, Great! Looks like we need a separate forum for Open Source Projects (hint), however, a 'sticky' will do:) |
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| @bot builder: True, plugins cant do everything if the plugin interface is too limited -- look at 3dsmax -- kick ass plugin system :) |
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| halo: your missing the point entirely, maybe it's a concept your not formilure with, "free". |
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| I not to fond of Cartography shop but I think Halo has definatly contribute quality apps well worth the money he charges. I am looking foward to the animation tool he has been talking about. But as far as Blitz GE goes yeah the purpose of this project is to be free and open source. I would prefer we start from stracth that way the community could decide from the start the best way to get at this program. But because this is a community project if we decide to go with something else like using Inner's editor as a base I'm all for that too. One thing I'm not too sure of is the use of Yappy's Xlnt 2 for Inner's application. Would we be allowed to release the editor as open source and free if we used Xlnt 2? I only ask because I thought there was a fee to pay if we were to release this. I would prefer to use Xlnt 2 as the GUI because it has popup menus and Blitz UI does not, but only if there is no fee that would need to be paid. ZombieWoof's program also sounds intresting as well. The only thing I'm not too sure of is that it's sounds like it isn't being programmed in Blitz. ZombieWoof can you provide more details, screen shot, or example? |
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@mojo: its not in blitz, its C#... alpha release in a day or 3.... most of the external apps will be blitz, but even with some of the nice gui stuff out there, doing my app in anything other than an OO language would have been torture. |
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| I have started coding a small interface for Blitz GE. It something to start off with to see if people like where Blitz GE. I think that Blitz GE should still be developed even though Inner and ZombieWoof will be releasing some intresting apps. If Blitz GE is release as well it will provide more variety much like how the Blitz community has a bunch of GUI libraries to choose from. |
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| Hey! This looks really cool. Can't wait to see it! |
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| Mojokool : I agree with this too, and since mine is free too I could use some of the features in the open source project just as your free to use source in mind ;), perhap we could be map file compatable ;) |
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| Excellent idea Inner. |
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| Sounds like we are all wanting to go to the same place I'm doing something a little weird though, which may impact how you handle your saved map data... since my setup is so plugin based, its possible to have multiple plugins enabled for a given file, each plugin managing its own data.. say for instance a building that has an interior visibility matrix, exterior visibility matrix, door/door controller data, NPC placement data, etc... each dataset created by a seperate external program. Here is where it gets wierd... I'm setting up so all these external apps store all their data in a single shared file using windows INI style storage. Its the best idea I could find for allowing each app to manage its own data, but still keep everything in one place so other apps can easily use the data. The eventual result will be scripts/includes generated from the saved data to load and manipulate models in accordance with the saved settings.. taking a lot of the setup and initialization grunt work out of coding up a game. Interested in hooking it all together ?? @inner: Tome3D too :) |
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| my map data storage is hex based, non-ini.. I did it that way for space considerations, that and I'm planning on in the future, to add all the media into the .map data (optional) depending on user. should have some sort of beta in a few days or so, just gotta nuckel down and tie up lose ends, and finsh off the image loader, which is basically completed, and the sprite stuff too, and I had better add the camera stuff before beta too, that could conclude the main part. |
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| alpha release of mine in a coupla days -- doing all the little stuff -- context menus, defaults, sample plugin and external app.... If you arent interested in full integration, at least publish the file specs so I can write plugins that read your map file and generate scripts/entity lists/etc |
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| Just a suggestion guys, but rather than ini or hex, why not XML, it's much more portable and structured. |
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| Do an XML library for blitz and I might consider it -- there was already and INI library, so I used it :) Since I'm going to have multiple apps/plugins accessing the data, INI made a lot of sense cause it supports modifying the data on the fly without touching other info in the file. My apps and plugins dont have to worry about what another app may have dropped in that they know nothing about, and couldn't care less about :) XML would require my apps be at least somewhat aware of what other apps may have dropped in the file. |
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| Jump Around, which was a community effort had a XML parser in it, maybe you can ask to use it? :) |
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| I'll worry about it for V2 -- I've already got the main app, one plugin, and one external app setup on the INI system, and its working smoothly :) Now I'm just trying to think if there is anything critical I have forgotten to do before alpha release. |
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